Transcript of AMA with CEO of PointPay

PointPay CEO Vladimir Kardapoltsev answered the most popular questions from our community during an "Ask Me Anything" session on September 29th, 2022. He summarized our achievements for Q3 2022 and shared company goals for the end of the year.

Below is a summary of the AMA held on the 29th of September, 2022.

AMA Transcript

Alina (host): Hello, everyone! Time to get on with the AMA! Vlad, what are the latest news from PointPay?

Vlad:

It's great to see you all here. Q3 is over, so we want to recap our achievements for the last three months and share our goals for the end of the year.
We've had a lot of fun this quarter and look forward to sharing the highlights with you.
The community's response has been amazing, and we couldn't have done it without you!
Let's begin by looking back at the exciting things we've done in the third quarter of 2022:

Interfaces

Website

We completed and released the redesign of the Personal Account, adding the following pages in a new design: KYC Settings, Notifications (extended), Device Management, Password Change, Customer Support, 2FA, and User ID Settings (Country and Name Change). Now you can also upload your avatar to personalize the account.
Furthermore, we have also implemented a new page design for Contact Us, FAQ, Live Roadmap, Static Roadmap, Fees, and Limits.
Our interface team also redesigned the Home page, changed the location of the main links, and set up the work of the Reviews section.
Last but not least, we have improved the authorization process and 2FA;
and completed the implementation of the Referral Program.

Mobile

As for our mobile apps, we have improved the UI display of the new KYC terms.
What’s more? We have spent a lot of time and effort developing our P2P service, released earlier in Q3 for the mobile apps. We have finally implemented the main P2P tab, where users can buy or sell cryptocurrencies for fiat.

Exchange

We have redesigned Quick Exchange to make it more convenient for users;
This quarter we have also introduced new order types, such as Iceberg, Fill or Kill (FOK), Immediate or Cancel (IoC), and Good Till Date (GTD).
Our team developed the API for CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko;
and added new cryptocurrency pairs.
In addition, I’m happy to share that we have implemented a discount on commissions for the PXP token holders.

Payments

This quarter we have implemented a new Payment System design to simplify the flow and reduce the number of clicks.
Our team also started integrating new payments options such as ACH payments via Plaid / Circle;
and started the implementation of the PCI DSS environment and seamless flow.
Finally, we have established an alerting, reporting, and monitoring system to proactively identify critical events across our key services.

CryptoBank

This quarter we have completely redesigned CryptoBank.
We have also changed the principle of the payment schedule;
and implemented the dependence of the interest rate on a CryptoLoan on LTV. This allows our users to determine interest, starting from 0.012% daily. This is the lowest rate among competitors. In addition, we do not charge commissions when taking out or repaying CryptoLoan.

New Products

P2P

This quarter we have completed the development of the first basic version of P2P with the movement of money within the contract.

We’ve also implemented the following features:

most of the logic for getting information in the admin panel;
collection of fees from the maker;
integration into the admin panel based on the Escrow product to perform the simplest actions, such as disputes and setting commissions;
adaptive layout for all screens. The web version is now accessible from mobile devices;
a chat between users during the life cycle of the contract;
a page with feedback about the user;
and logic and interface for the dispute process.
Furthemore, we’ve created the FAQ;
Developed a feedback window after the contract for users;
and made a large number of backend add-ons for the P2P mobile version.

Launchboard

Improved the logic of the voting module by adding the recalculation of PXP into votes.
Listed our first project - Pitbull!

Redesigned the following pages and transferred all the functionality to version 3.0 of the design:

The LaunchBoard main screen;
The Voting Module;
and The LaunchBoard / listing application form.

HR Talent

We have added the following features to our HR Talent platform:

the ability for both the talent and the client to add the language to the profile/vacancy;
the ability to set a commission for the Talent and Client when making transactions on a deposit/payment for work to the admin panel;
the ability for the client to leave feedback on the talent upon completion of the work;
and push notifications to all events related to the moderation of contracts and profiles.

Our team also implemented

moderation of the talent and client profiles and created contracts;
a feature that allows copying any contract;
a messenger module for the communication between the client and talent;
the ‘My Talents’ page, which contains all talents who worked/work for a particular client;
an extension for the talent profile to enable adding information about education and previous work experience;
the logic for hourly contracts and tracking settings within the contract;
and a desktop application for tracking time in hourly contracts.
We’ve also expanded opportunities for opening a dispute; and created a landing page with basic information about the platform.

Finally, our team also changed the client and talent profiles by adding more input fields, such as

a nickname, the first and last names for clients and talents;
and an availability schedule for the client.

Escrow

As for the Escrow service, we have approved a set of functionalities for future Escrow 2.0 and 3.0. versions;
Furthemore, we’ve implemented a page in the admin panel with statistics on created and completed contracts and commissions for a certain period.
In addition, our development team conducted internal refactoring of the transaction system;
and removed the role system inside the Escrow product, switched to a new role system, and a new separate admin panel.
Finally, we’ve made the Escrow contracts marketplace a landing page;
and implemented a transaction analytics page.

Other

Legal

This quarter we worked on obtaining the following licenses: Cayman Islands VASP License; US MTL License in Wyoming and New York; US BitLicense in New York; Kazakhstan Fintech License; and Georgia Fintech License.
We have also registered our trademarks in Estonia, Switzerland; the United States; Ukraine; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and Singapore.
Furthemore, we completed compliance and negotiated the terms and conditions with three projects for listing on the Launchboard.
Finally, we were working on the PCI DSS compliance legal restructuring;
and negotiated terms and conditions for listing PXP token on the top 10 crypto exchanges.

Let's now look ahead to our goals for the last quarter of 2022:

We're aiming to complete the PointPay ecosystem and release the full functionality of our products by the end of 2022.
We plan to integrate APIs for the PointPay products so enterprises, developers, and users can integrate PointPay with external platforms, allowing them to access real-time data.
We aim to integrate margin, futures, and options trading into our platform, creating a new way for our users to diversify their investment portfolios.
Our goal for Q4 2022 is to streamline the user experience by integrating seamless payments.
We plan to add a recurring payment feature so that our users can regularly accept payments from their customers.
We also plan to offer our services to institutional clients through PointPay corporate accounts.
We also work hard to integrate ACH payments into our platform in Q4 2022 so that users can buy and sell crypto with one of the most popular payment methods worldwide.
We plan to aggressively promote the PointPay ecosystem to increase our customer base worldwide.
In Q4 2022, we plan to launch various incentive campaigns, including trading competitions, trading levels, and lifetime achievement awards.

I can continue talking about our successes but let’s move on to your questions.

Alina (host): Great! Now let’s address the questions of our community.

Vlad: Alina, please go ahead.

Alina (host): We have several questions regarding listings, so I will combine them into one.

1) When will we see new PXP token listings?

2) Are you sure the PXP token will be listed on the Tier-1 exchange by the end of this year?

Vlad:

PXP token will be listed very soon
We are still committed to listing on the Tier-1 exchange till the end of the year.
It’s also not a fast process, as a lot depends on the exchange team. But we are doing everything in our power.
We have submitted listing proposals to all Tier-1 exchanges, and we are holding close talks with 3 of them. I have a hunch that we are about to close one of the deals, and get a listing quite soon. I am 99.9% certain that this will happen. However, it can be postponed to the early months next year as it is not down to us. For example with Bittrex we have signed an agreement with them in August - but only got listed in December.

Alina (host): From your point of view, do you think the PXP price will go back to ICO prices by the end of the year?

Vlad:

We are not manipulating the price of our token, so it’s a free market. We can influence demand for the PXP token internally, for example, by increasing the utility of our token, conducting regular token burns, and developing the ecosystem. This can help PXP token price to increase in the future.
However, our token does not exist in a vacuum - its value is also affected by the global economic situation: stagflation, rising interest rates, military conflicts, etc. That is why it is so difficult to predict the value of an asset in the free market.
I don't think the crypto market will recover until the end of this year, but let’s see. Nobody knows when the crypto winter will end.
All we can do is improve the product and create more PXP utility. Eventually, the token price will increase after we have more people on our platform. At the moment we are still working on our products - that's why the price is low.

Alina (host): Why can't we see all PXP holders within the PointPay app? We should have more than 70k holders.

Vlad:

After the ICO, the tokens are stored in one wallet inside the PointPay system. In total, we have around 70k PXP token holders.
Most of our users participate in the staking program, so their tokens are stored inside our system.
That’s why you can see the token holders once they withdraw tokens from our platform.

Alina (host): Withdrawals have been blocked for 2 months now. When will they be reinstated?

Vlad:

At the moment, we don’t have any issues with blocked accounts.
We needed to conduct the system audit because the old team had not kept records of transactions on the platform.
Some users were able to exploit the system's vulnerabilities and affect their account balances. We have noticed this issue and blocked around 50 accounts. At the moment, our legal team is dealing with that.
As for the withdrawals, they work for all users who have passed the KYC-2 tier. Unfortunately, it can take up to 24 hours. However, 99% of withdrawals are working without any issues; some larger withdrawals though might get stuck - as we have to check them more closely. Make sure to contact our support team if you have any issues - this way, we can deal with the problem directly.

Alina (host): Why are you making changes to the project roadmap?

Vlad:

The growth and development of any company is not a linear process. A business may have to reprioritize goals based on market conditions.
In order to stay afloat and continue to develop our products despite the market turbulence, we sometimes have to alter our priorities.
Although some products were not in our initial product roadmap, we released them because we saw the need in the market. In general, we have fulfilled 95% of our promises to our clients.

Alina (host): Do you expect to complete the ecosystem in the next 3 months?

Vlad:

Yes, the first version of our ecosystem should be completed by the end of this year. Today we have released the PointPay Q3 2022 report, where you can see all our plans for the end of this year.
However, our development will not stop here. We will continue developing new products and services and improving existing ones.
On Monday, we will launch a survey for investors. This survey will allow you to express your opinion on the potential direction of the PointPay company. Stay tuned to our social media channels and submit your questions to affect the development course of our blockchain-based bank.

Alina (host): Why have you postponed the start of your company's aggressive marketing campaign?

Vlad:

At the moment, not all parts of the platform are working smoothly. That is why it does not make sense to attract users right now, as we will lose them. So we are working first to complete our ecosystem.
We are now focusing on the backbone development of PR and marketing machines. Moreover, we are busy with future planning for customer acquisition and marketing campaigns.

Alina (host): Next question is related to a suggestion from our member: “I would like to suggest PointPay partner with Western Union, which has cash withdrawal points spread worldwide in that country's local currency. We could send crypto through Pointpay and withdraw in national currency at western union points. What do you think?”.

Vlad:

We are constantly working on expanding our partnerships with payment systems. We are investing a lot of effort toward the integration of ACH payments. In the update above, I already mentioned that we are entering into partnerships (Circle.com) with various payment systems for this purpose.
We also plan to integrate Paypal in the future. This will allow us to cover most of the users worldwide.
Perhaps we will be able to integrate Western Union if we see significant demand from our users in the future.
Though I think its model is very old - before the credit and debit cards were invented. I don’t think such ‘over-the-counter’ businesses will survive very long.

Alina (host): What year is the bank license planned to be acquired, 2023 or 2024?

Vlad:

PointPay is authorized as an Operator of deposit virtual currency funds / Virtual currency exchange operator in Lithuania. This allows us to serve our European clients legally.
For a moment, our main goal is to obtain a crypto license in the US. There are just a few companies that operate there legally. This will open the whole US market for our operations.
After obtaining a license in the US, we will be able to cover almost the whole world. Once we achieve this milestone, we can invest our efforts toward obtaining banking licenses.

Alina (host): Have we managed to make money on PointPay?

Vlad:

As I said earlier, at the moment, we are working to achieve a break-even point. To do that, we first need to complete our ecosystem before the end of this year. After that, we plan a large-scale marketing campaign to attract new users.
The example of companies like Celsius or Voyager shows that it is a mistake to rely too heavily on a single source of income.
We have a diversified range of products, which allows us to build different revenue streams and generate high income from commissions within the ecosystem. We also constantly monitor the cryptocurrency market to be aware of our client's needs.

Alina (host): Are there enough finances to operate for a few hard years and develop the ecosystem?

Vlad:

Although PointPay has been around since 2018, our ICO was completed only one year ago. A break-even from 18 to 24 months is considered standard.
So we are now transitioning from the development stage to profit generation.
Once we complete our ecosystem, we will invest our efforts towards attracting many paying users. Therefore, I expect we will start making a profit next year.

Thank you all very much! I do apologize for the technical difficulties. I will see you all again tomorrow for our traditional Friday update. Don't forget to fill out the 2023 product questionnaire on Monday. Have a great evening!

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