Dear PointPay family,
PointPay CEO Vladimir Kardapoltsev answered the most popular questions from our community. From technical questions about our platform and its products to company-related questions concerning upcoming listings or partnerships, he covered it all!
Below is a summary of the AMA held on the 25th of August, 2022.
AMA Transcript
Vladimir (CEO): Hello, everybody. Alina is with me today. She's helping me with your questions, so I hope this is going to be an exciting AMA session.
Alina (Host): Hello, everyone! We're excited to be here. Let's get started with the latest news and announcements from Vlad.
Vladimir (CEO): It's been a hot summer, but we've been hard at work on many updates coming soon. Unfortunately, I didn't go on holiday this year because I don't have enough time for that. Nevertheless, we've had some big wins this month, and I'm very proud of the team and community.
Let's see what we've accomplished by departments in the last month.
In terms of our website interface
- We have improved the 2FA interface for a better user experience and smoother form completion.
- We have also implemented a new design for the following pages to improve the user experience: Contact Us, FAQ, Live Roadmap, Static Roadmap, Fees, and Limits (integrating the backend as well).
- Furthermore, we have improved getting data on KYC,
- and increased Unit Test сoverage to improve the quality of development elements.
- We have also designed confirmation letters for Password change, 2FA code, login to the system from a new device, and successful registration in the new design. This will help us improve the user experience.
- Last month our team made a header redesign, improving display and navigation for users.
- The interface of the Home and Authorization pages was improved by eliminating visual bugs reported by users.
- We were focused on developing Referral Program that should be available for you next week:
- Users can either copy the link, use the referral code or generate the QR code. Plus, there will be a separate tab with banners/pictures available for sharing on social media.
- In the dashboard, the user will see
- the commission that the referrer gets (20% or 40%, depending on the amount of PXP)
- the commission that the referral receives;
- the overall profit made by the referrer throughout the whole period using the referral program;
- the total amount of referrals with specifications of their ID;
- the date of invite;
- and profit made from the particular referral.
As for the mobile app interface, we were focused on the development of our P2P service. It is currently 80% complete. The P2P platform for mobile apps will be released in September.
So now we're moving to our core products. As for the exchange - one of the main pillars of our ecosystem
- This month, our development team has made over 15 improvements by the market date to enhance the receipt of information from the exchange.
- Furthermore, we have created a base for using PXP for commission discounts (PXP holder levels).
- We have also released Iceberg orders - the single large orders divided into smaller limit orders, usually through an automated program, to hide the actual order quantity. It is a great trading tool for big orders, so it’s time to check it!
With regards to our payment system, the second pillar of our platform
- We have significantly improved Sell Crypto performance and connectivity with partners.
- Furthermore, we have released all Sell Crypto and Buy Crypto orders.
- and improved tracking and Payments monitoring.
- We have also configured
- a Test/Staging environment for our Custodians using testnet currencies;
- tested the staging environment with the majority of our payments partners using testnet currencies.
- We have also made some progress with PCI DSS certification,
- and enhanced the Card-data storage environment to support seamless payments.
The third pillar is the PointPay Crypto Bank
- We have made several releases with the redesign of the CryptoBank, including
- transaction history;
- crypto loans in the modal window;
- letters,
- and improvements to individual interface elements such as search in the drop-down list with currencies, etc.
- Furthermore, we implemented checking limits when making transactions in Unified Balances based on the KYC level;
- and conducted the first iteration to cover the CryptoBank with metrics. This will allow us to determine the conversion at different stages.
- CryptoBank team also developed layouts for the bank's main page and released 50% of the volume.
- In addition, we have completed 90% of the work on stage 1 of CryptoLoans 2.1, in particular,
- made the interest rate dependent on LTV (less LTV - less percentage);
- separated the Payment Schedule and History;
- and switched from annuity payments to paying the loan body with the last payment.
For our P2P platform
- We have implemented a system for charging commissions from cryptocurrency sellers. By the end of the month, we have changed it to charge a commission from the maker who publishes the announcement.
- Furthermore, we have implemented integration into the admin panel based on the Escrow product to perform the simplest actions, such as disputes, and setting commissions).
- We have also written the FAQ,
- and implemented an adaptive layout for all screens. The web version is now available on mobile devices.
- P2P team implemented
- a chat between users during the contract life cycle;
- a page with user reviews.
- and the logic and interface for the dispute process.
- We have also made
- a feedback window after the contract for users,
- and a large number of backend add-ons for the P2P mobile version.
Regarding the Launchboard platform, we are currently scouting for new projects.
Furthermore, we have implemented a new design for the Apply for listing and Launchboard pages.
As for the HR Talent Platform,
- We expanded the possibilities for opening a dispute by adding the corresponding button to all theoretically controversial points.
- Furthermore, we have implemented the ability for the user to edit or delete the contract after publication on the marketplace.
- and reworked system messages in the Regular Contract, making them more informative and correct.
- Our team added push notifications to all events for the moderation of contracts and profiles,
- wrote the FAQ,
- and created a Landing page with basic information about the platform.
- We have prepared several options for multi-level monetization. We have implemented the commission collection for payments under the contract and deposits on contracts.
With regards to our Escrow platform, we have implemented a page in the admin panel where you can view statistics on created and completed contracts and on commissions received from these contracts for a certain period.
We have also provided the National Bank of Georgia with all the documents for the Fintech sandbox (authorization) in Georgia. We await the conclusions on this matter by the end of the year.
So let me sum it up for all of you:
- We have the Referral Program that is going to be released next week.
- We have released the Iceberg orders for our exchange.
- We have done the preliminary work for the PXP holders so that they will get a discount for their commissions on the exchange.
- We redesigned the main pages of our CryptoBank product.
- P2P is almost ready to be released within weeks on our web and mobile phones.
- Regarding the HR talent, we have added the disputes and the multi-level monetization.
- We are on the way to obtaining the fintech authorization in Georgia.
So now let’s move on to the community questions.
Alina (Host): Okay. So the first question is: have you made the final decision about adding PXP to PointPay?
Vladimir (CEO): First, you can trade PXP on five exchanges listed on our website: Bittrex Global, Bitrue, Whitebit, Bitglobal, and Solidbit. You can also trade our token on CoinTiger and Uniswap. So you have seven markets for trading PXP, which, I think, is more than enough.
Nonetheless, Solidbit offers zero commissions on PXP trading. Not many people use it, but I highly recommend it to all of you to check it out.
In the past three months, the PXP token has performed incredibly well; I think two weeks ago, it increased by about 70%. It is now trading nearly 15% higher than its average in June and July. The average 24-hour trading volume is around 4 million USD, which is already a pretty good number.
Going back to your question, we're still considering it. I said before that we might consider listing by the end of the year, but this crypto winter put a spanner in the works for us, which means that we had to reconsider our listing strategies.
I think seven markets for trading PXP are more than enough. Hopefully, by the end of the year, one major one will be added, or we will add the PXP pair to our platform.
Alina (Host): Perfect. The second question is: is it possible for PXP to be listed on Binance later this year? Have you already pre-registered for Binance, or are you going to wait for the entire Pointpay ecosystem to be up and running?
Vladimir (CEO): I know what you're referring to because I'm active on Twitter. If you haven't followed me on Twitter, please do follow me - @VladimirKard on Twitter.
I saw this post from CZ on August 20, 2022. We submitted our application for Binance last year. However, we immediately submitted the documents again.
I want PXP to be listed on Binance. That is one of my dreams.
We're not waiting for our system to be completed. We are at the stage where our system is fully functional. We obviously have a lot of room for improvement. As our platform improves, the token's price will improve as well.
But at the moment, we are holding talks with at least three Tier-1 exchanges. They gave us certain KPIs that we had to fulfill. Some of them gave us quite high listing fees, which are counted in millions, but we are prepared to pay for them because that will, in the end, benefit our users, which we think is one of the most important things.
We're still committed to listing on the Tier-1 exchange by the end of the year.
Alina (Host): Next question is: will you conduct PXP token burn again?
Vladimir (CEO): I know that we did not do a token burn last month, but we've conducted them every month since the program began. So after six months, we skipped one month.
We are sticking to our schedule. You might interpret it in any way you want. Unfortunately, I can't disclose our schedule to you for legal reasons, but we're still committed to our token burns.
To date, we have burned 32.5 PXP tokens. That was 21 burns in total. The burns are not free, so every month, it costs us what—$60,000? It costs $60,000 per month, equivalent to 10 or 15 employees' salaries. So we must prioritize whether we spend this money on tokens or platform development. And what is most important at the end of the day - whether the token price goes up, people sell it, and then it crashes because we don't have a good product - or we spend the money on developing the product?
We spend this money on salary, and the token price will go up because the platform is fully ready. Binance doesn't do it as often as we do.
We will do it in the future, but we will do it less frequently.
Alina (Host): There are several questions regarding withdrawals, so I have combined them into one. Could you please clarify the core issue behind the suspension of PXP withdrawal and when this issue will be resolved?
Vladimir (CEO): Yes, I'm aware that some customers are experiencing issues with their PXP withdrawals. They're usually done within 48 hours. It affects every single currency as well. If it isn't done within 48 hours, there is an issue. Most of the withdrawals are finished within 48 hours, though.
We're trying to improve this thing as much as possible. This happened due to some withdrawal issues and the fact that we are trying to improve our system. That means we have to suspend everything. We have to deploy a code and reintroduce it again.
So now we aim to achieve 48 hours within the next couple of months. I think by the end of the year, we will be able to do it within 20 minutes after you submit a withdrawal request. But sometimes, that just happens due to external reasons that are not dependent upon us.
Alina (Host): The next few questions are within the same category:
- What is the forecast for the entire ecosystem of the Platform to be working? PXP withdrawals, exchange, etc.
- On one side, the team is working hard. On the other side, some holders don't see any concretization in the business after one year of staking.
Could you please elaborate?
Vladimir (CEO): Our main goal for the second half of 2022 is to fully complete the PointPay ecosystem and implement the full functionality of our products by the end of the year.
We have released full Launchboard functionality and are now working to find projects for new platform listings.
Partnerships are crucial for us from a business perspective. We plan to broaden our partnerships in the DeFi and NFT spaces. By partnering with other cryptocurrency exchanges, we can negotiate reasonable terms for PXP traders and investors.
We are developing crucial partnerships with external systems such as DeFi and the NFT projects. We are partnering with other cryptocurrency exchanges.
We target at least 100 cryptocurrency pairs by the end of the year on our platform.
In terms of new products, we have already released the P2P platform. Now we are working on improving and developing the mobile version of our P2P platform. We have to finalize our HR Talent and Escrow platforms finally.
We are trying to introduce more payment providers to our payment system.
We're also building the B2B solution within our payment system. We're currently creating a Know Your Business (KYB) process. We're trying to expand upon that business side of crypto, which is quite lucrative right now because all the banks are trying to get into this popular market.
That's our plan until the end of the year and until the end of this month.
Alina (Host): Wonderful. When do you plan to list PP exchanges on CMC, CG, or Nomics?
Vladimir (CEO): I have never heard about Nomics before. I'm sorry, but I'm sure it's a very popular platform, and I will ask my business development people to find out what they are.
It's hard for an exchange to be listed on the CoinMarketCap, as we should meet many requirements. I remember how easy it was to list on Coingecko or Coinmarketcap about five years ago, but nowadays, it's almost impossible.
We are working on the Coingecko listing at the moment. It should be done within the next couple of months. We are holding talks with them. We have an external agency that works on that listing as well. So hopefully, that will be done quite soon.
In terms of timelines, it's hard to determine because it's not up to us. I think we will be listed on Coingecko, and if we are quite successful on it, we will be listed on CoinMarketCap afterward.
Regarding other platforms, our business development team constantly works on listing us on other platforms.
Alina (Host): Next question is: when will the native blockchain be launched?
Vladimir (CEO): Well, it's in our long-term backlog. We want to implement our blockchain, like a PXP20, something like Binance did, which is quite simple and similar to the ERC20 protocol.
It will not happen this year. It might happen next year or the year afterward. It is not something of our top priority at the moment. After we complete the project according to our white paper, we might do it at the end of next year or the following year afterward.
And, of course, in terms of improving PXP functionality, that will reduce our user fees for transactions. But at the moment, we have other, more pressing priorities in developing our business and products to make it economically viable.
Speaking of economic viability, if you had your blockchain, it would cost money to run. So you'd have to get a lot of people joining it for it to be worthwhile. At the moment, that wouldn't even pay for your fees. It is definitely on our backlog, but our focus is on making our products great and getting as many people to our platform as possible afterwards.
Alina (Host): When will we be able to use our new version of mobile apps?
Vladimir (CEO): We've completely redesigned our mobile applications. If you'd think back about half a year ago at what the design looked like, it wasn't very user-friendly. It was quite awful. We now have a new, modern design and layout. Furthermore, we have improved the user interface and flow. It's also a lot faster and more responsive to user reviews.
We've added tons of new features to the app! You can
- stake PXP tokens;
- trade;
- use a crypto wallet;
- watch Crypto School videos;
- swap cryptocurrency via Quick Exchange;
- send gift cards;
- and withdraw and deposit money directly from our applications.
By the end of the year, I think it will have all the functionality of our website. We've made great progress in the last half a year.
Alina (Host): When will we see some options like in other banking apps? I would like to pay with my phone at shops, pay bills, etc., using the PointPay app.
Vladimir (CEO): That is in our backlog. We want to integrate our payment provider into the system. To do that, we have to obtain the PCI DSS accreditation for our payment system, which we are working incredibly hard at.
We're working on different integrations. So hopefully, by next Easter or maybe the following Christmas, you will be able to go to the local pub and pay for your Christmas lunch with a payment card. That would be one of my dreams.
Alina (Host): Very nice. Moving on to the next question. There is two of them, but they're within the same category:
- What's your advantage now after you reduced Staking and savings rates?
- Hello, on 22.08.2022, my staking period ends. I want to restake my PXP for one year. I want to ask if the APR for PXP will increase in 1 year. I am afraid that I will stake now at APR 5%, and after some months, it will be increased to 10% ( I refer to the same condition, periods).
Vladimir (CEO): Let's remind ourselves of the situation with companies such as Celsius regarding staking and savings rates. One of the reasons platforms like Celsius went bankrupt was high savings rates not backed by anything user deposits backed them. It's like a pyramid scheme where they use people's money to pay for the people for the staking rates in the future.
We don't want to be a pyramid scheme. We want our product to be financially viable. I worked in investment banking before and know how important it is to create the right financial structures with the proper risk management.
Considering the global economic recession, high inflation, and everything else, we managed to keep those rates for three months. But afterward, it became not economically viable, and we had to reduce them. If you want our business to succeed, it's a hard decision. However, my main objective as a manager is to implement my vision so that our product succeeds.
I know that quite a lot of people are not very happy with how we're decreasing rates, but that will make our product great in the future. So it's short-term pain but a long-term gain.
About the second question, I don't know what will happen. You know, the banks change exchange and savings rates every day. We change them every quarter.
So let's say the crypto market goes up, and bitcoin costs rise to $100,000. If that happens, we might increase our interest rates. But for now, the market is down, so it's not economically feasible to have such high-interest rates.
Alina (Host): Wonderful. The platform generates revenue every day based on transactions. You also have funds from the ICO. Today what % share of daily expenses is covered by platform revenue?
Vladimir (CEO): Well, our company is not at the break-even point yet. We plan to reach it by sometime next year. Our fixed costs are quite low because we have no offices and the people who work for us are contractors. 90% of the company works remotely.
Our highest costs are infrastructure and payroll costs. But in regular companies, you know, the highest costs are office and tax costs. So, I think we're in a good financial position to tackle this task in the future.
Alina (Host): I guess you kind of answered the next question on the revenue expectation, so we could probably skip that one. So let's move on to the marketing category. One of the main questions everyone is wondering about is a promise to start aggressive marketing for PXP. When are we going to see this in action?
Vladimir (CEO): Currently, we are working on attracting a lot of traffic to our website. You might not see it, but a lot of work is being done. We purchase advertising on the website and other services.
We increase the number of people in our user base. As we increase paying members, we're trying to convert low-paying members into high-paying ones. We try to convert our paying rates constantly.
We have completely redesigned our email marketing. A lot of work has been done on acquiring new customers.
What else? Our platform is growing daily. As I mentioned before, we are also developing the referral program, which will be released next week. I think this program will attract many users to our platform.
So you might not see a lot of action, but there is a lot of work behind the scenes. We're testing everything at the moment. We want to ensure that our platform is completely ready before we start aggressive marketing.
We're testing many things right now regarding how we attract customers, how they interact with our systems, and how we track their actions within our platform. If something goes wrong, we can alter our marketing campaigns. Marketing is about 50% of my time, not even platform development.
Alina (Host): So we are approaching our last question, which I think is also a very important question for us to address. What happened to those complaining that the interest rates were not immediately transferred to the account at the end of the staking period? Shouldn't this be automatic?
Vladimir (CEO): Staking rewards are automatic in 97% of cases. However, in some cases, for instance, when the accounts have suspicious activity, we have to check those manually. This might take up to 48 hours.
Also, when the staking rewards are very large, for instance, more than 200 000 PXP, due to our compliance policies, it goes into manual check.
Sometimes that could happen to protect your funds. We use hot and cold storage, meaning 95% of the money we store is not used every day; we keep it in cold storage (vault), and the rest is transferred to hot storage for daily operations (the liquidity reserve).
The ratio changes every week, depending on past withdrawal and deposit statistics. So in case of a hacker attack, only the liquidity reserve is vulnerable to theft. This is how financial services companies and banks operate.
So, imagine a guy comes over. Let's call him Austin Powers. He says he wants to withdraw $10 million. And we're like, "Hey, that's slightly above our threshold. So it'll take a little longer to process that withdrawal." So that means that person will have to wait 24 hours, or we might have to check what this person has done in the system. But if we get such a request, we instantly get a flag in our system.
And for small transactions, wallets are usually filled within hours. But for larger ones, it might happen a bit later because we have to do quite a lot of background checks to ensure that the person has everything in place and that people met the KYC requirements and passed them. If our legal team is happy, we can make withdrawals.
I think that's all for this month.
Alina (Host): Thank you so much for joining us today and having this wonderful AMA. You know, we are very grateful to you for doing this for the community. So thank you so much and thanks to everybody for joining us today.
Vladimir (CEO): Well, thank you all for coming today. I really enjoyed answering your questions. And I hope you had a great summer. I'll see you again tomorrow for our weekly update. So thank you all for coming. And I'm incredibly excited to bring this project even further. See you tomorrow!