Transcript of AMA with CEO of PointPay – Vladimir Kardapoltsev, July 25th 2024

Dear PointPay Family,

PointPay CEO Vladimir Kardapoltsev participated in a traditional AMA session on July 25th, 2024. He shared the latest news about PointPay, made several announcements, and discussed a lot of events within the platform!

Below is a summary of the AMA held on the 25th of July, 2024.

AMA Transcript

Vladimir (CEO): Hello, PointPay family. Welcome to our traditional AMA session. Thank you for joining me.

Joining me is Diana.

Diana (Host): Hello, everyone. Let's hear the latest news and announcements from Vlad.

Vladimir (CEO): Thank you, Diana. Let's get started.

Despite it being summer, PointPay is operating at full capacity. I haven't taken a holiday in three years since joining the company, and we continue our AMA sessions on the last Thursday of every month without fail. Today, I'm joined by Miss Diana. Hello, Diana. Hello, everyone. Let's hear the latest news and announcements.

We have several updates this month. We added numerous new listings, some paid and some pro bono for the community. Listings are crucial as they expand our user base and attract new users to our platform. This month, we surpassed 250 trading pairs, a significant milestone. At the start of the year, we had around 200 pairs, and now we're aiming for 300 by year-end.

Here are the new listings for this month:

ZetaChain (ZETA)
UMA (UMA)
Big Time (BIGTIME)
Vanar Chain (VANRY)
Metal DAO (MTL)
Notcoin (NOT)
Starknet (STRK)
Ethereum Name Service (ENS)
Aevo (AEVO)
LayerZero (ZRO)
Lista DAO (LISTA)
Alpine F1 Team Fan Token (ALPINE)
LTO Network (LTO)

These are all USDT trading pairs. We also have some particularly interesting listings, which we'll discuss in more detail right now.

The latest addition to our listings is "MEW"—pronounced as "meow." This novel cryptocurrency, launched on the Solana blockchain, aims to challenge the dominance of dog-themed coins like Dogecoin by introducing a feline-themed alternative. Given the popularity of cat memes, this playful concept has captured significant attention within the crypto community.

Mew has garnered popularity and is listed on multiple platforms. One of its most intriguing features is its tokenomics: 90% of the token liquidity pool is burned, with the remaining 10% distributed via airdrop. This approach is expected to foster an engaging community, appealing to both cat and dog enthusiasts, and potentially serving as a substitute for Dogecoin.

Another notable listing this month is the COSMOS coin. Unlike typical cryptocurrencies, Cosmos is the backbone of an ambitious technological ecosystem. It aims to develop a conglomerate specializing in various tech fields, including blockchain, big data, cloud computing, AI, IoT, and Web3. The token is instrumental in funding these extensive technological endeavors.

Additionally, we have listed two assets from the TON blockchain: TON coin and the stablecoin USDT. These are now available on our exchange and have also been integrated into our payment system. This decision aligns with our development of a Telegram app, making TON a suitable payment method for our platform.

I am excited to announce the upcoming launch of our Telegram app is getting closer and closer. This app will enable users to manage cryptocurrencies directly on Telegram, positioning PointPay as the first Telegram-based cryptocurrency exchange. The app is currently 90% complete and is undergoing the final stages of testing. I have personally tested the MVP, which functions similarly to standard iOS and Android apps. We anticipate the app will be released within the next one to two months, certainly by the third quarter. This development will provide us with a first-mover advantage, allowing us to capture a significant market share. It will be a key unique selling point (USP) for PointPay.

Additionally, we will be listing the SWAG token tomorrow afternoon. This coin is central to the Swag project, which aims to democratize blockchain technology by offering a comprehensive ecosystem tailored to user needs. The Swag project provides various user-friendly tools and services, including Bitcoin mining and wallet management. The new utility token, Swag Token (SWA), will seamlessly integrate into their ecosystem, unlocking exclusive features and enhancing user experience. We encourage everyone to explore the Swag project and its offerings.

Moreover, we are launching a new trading competition tomorrow. We aim to host at least one trading competition each month, and this time it will be the Olympics Trading Competition. The event will start tomorrow, with the opening ceremony tentatively scheduled for the 27th. This competition will feature a USDT trading format, with a prize pool of $100,000 in USDT. We have organized several preliminary events leading up to this competition, and we expect to attract a large number of participants from our community and beyond. We have also engaged key opinion leaders (KOLs) to support and promote the event. We invite everyone to participate and take advantage of the substantial prize pool.

In early July, we conducted a user survey on social media about our trading competitions. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and we identified several areas for improvement. I want to extend my gratitude to everyone who participated. Your suggestions were insightful, and we will closely examine them to enhance our offerings.

Key insights from the survey include a preference for large prize pools and a limited number of winners, with three being an ideal number. Additionally, themed trading competitions were highly favored, particularly the PXP trading competition held a few months ago. Given the international appeal of the Olympics, our upcoming themed competition should be equally popular.

Moving on with the topics, let's talk about mainnet. We have made significant strides in developing our blockchain mainnet. The PointPay blockchain testnet has been released, and the mainnet is in its final testing stages. We anticipate its release within the next few months, earlier than our initial end-of-year target. Visit our testnet page to obtain testnet tokens and explore our ecosystem.

We are also preparing to launch the PointPay Portal, our new onboarding platform. Unlike other platforms that use mystery boxes, we have chosen to reward users with PXP tokens for completing tasks. This approach will enhance the utility of the PXP token and encourage new users to engage with our system. We believe these measures will increase the popularity and conversion rates for the PXP token.

What's more, starting next month, we will implement follow-up email marketing campaigns to increase user engagement and conversion rates. With the launch of the PointPay Portal, new users will be prompted to complete tasks to receive free PXP tokens. This initiative, integrated with our blockchain mainnet, will unify our system and improve overall user experience.

The PointPay Portal and the mainnet, my personal brainchild, are designed to work together seamlessly. Additionally, as we are developing the PointPay Telegram app, set to become the first Telegram-based exchange, these innovations aim to bring more users to our platform.

With accompanying developments we are preparing a large-scale marketing campaign to coincide with the release of our mainnet, PointPay Portal, and Telegram app. Initially planned for this month, the campaign has been postponed due to the market downturn. We are waiting for an optimal market rebound to maximize impact.

We have established partnerships with 75 key opinion leaders and plan to onboard more. Our marketing and influencer budget, allocated during the token swap, will fund this campaign.

Before moving on, I want to remind you that the PXP token swap concluded at the end of May. While we still process occasional requests on a case-by-case basis, this process will end by November or December this year. If you haven't swapped your tokens yet, please do so promptly as there will be no swaps after the cutoff. We have provided ample time and reminders since the beginning of the year. It is crucial to complete the swap now to avoid any inconvenience.

Allright. As I’ve been talking for a long time, let's sum up what is in work. PointPay is diligently working on several fronts:

Mainnet Testing: Our blockchain mainnet is in the final testing stages.
PointPay Portal: The onboarding portal is also nearing completion.
PointPay App Enhancements: We have made significant improvements to our app, hiring expert testers and UX specialists to enhance user-friendliness.
Marketing campaign preparing: looking for partnerships and attracting more KOLs.
Telegram App final tweaks: testing and improving our Telegram app to launch it along with the marketing.

We are preparing for a comprehensive marketing campaign to launch alongside our mainnet, PointPay Portal,Telegram app and mobile app updates. Although planned for early August, the campaign is postponed due to the current market conditions. This delay allows us to refine our products further, ensuring a robust launch when the market rebounds.

Thank you for your continued support and patience. We are committed to delivering an exceptional experience through our upcoming releases and improvements.

Vladimir (CEO): That's all for now! Let's proceed to the questions.

Diana (Host): So, the first question: The strategy of offering contests with prizes paid in PXP tokens has not yielded good results for the token. For instance, the upcoming contest involves a $100,000 sale, which the market capitalization will need to absorb. Currently, the market capitalization has dropped from $6 million to less than $1.3 million. The marketing company relies solely on organic social media traffic and does not invest in paid traffic. Perhaps it’s time to consider changing our marketing agency, as the current results are not favorable. Long-time PXP supporters since the ICO are concerned about the token’s poor performance in recent years. It might be worthwhile to hire a different marketing agency that can attract more clients to PointPay while also focusing on token appreciation, given the significant devaluation since the token’s ICO.

Vladimir (CEO): I acknowledge the points made, particularly about the token's poor performance. The overall market is down, limiting what we can do. However, we are putting in significant effort, and with the upcoming marketing campaign and the release of the mainnet, we expect the token price to increase as the market recovers.

Regarding the trading competition, the only one involving PXP tokens was incredibly popular, generating significant revenue from fees. It's important to emphasize that we gained substantial commissions and broke even on that competition.

The upcoming trading competition will be in USDT, not PXP. Trading competitions have proven to be effective in attracting new users to the platform. As we continue to grow our reputation and maintain a good rating on CoinGecko, we expect more people to join us.

Our efforts are aimed at increasing user engagement within the platform. The new competition will not involve PXP, but the previous one during the token swap was very successful, with millions of PXP traded daily and significant commission earnings. While the decline in PXP value is not ideal, we are focused on releasing new products tied to the ecosystem.

With the development of the blockchain and the PointPay portal, we anticipate an increase in PXP value as these elements enhance the platform's overall value and usage. Please remain patient, and we believe you will soon see positive results.

Diana (Host): PointPay doesn’t have new coins, short-term APY boosts, or upcoming projects on the launchpad. There’s no immediate use case for PXP holders either. While adding new trading pairs increases volume, there hasn’t been any major development on the platform lately. Why is that?

Vladimir (CEO): The lack of major changes on the platform is because we're focused on more critical tasks. We are finalizing the Telegram app release, testing and refining our blockchain's mainnet, and preparing for the PointPay portal launch. These tasks are complex and time-consuming, but we have made significant progress in a relatively short time.

Regarding staking options, market conditions have led us to hold off on introducing new options. However, we still offer attractive staking options for PXP, with current APYs around 8-14%.

As for the launchpad, it has become outdated. A few years ago, launchpads were popular and successful in raising funds. However, their relevance has diminished. We have redirected our efforts to developing the token booster platform, which serves projects with their own utility tokens. Although the market downturn has limited exciting new projects, we expect this to change when the market recovers.

To sum up, PointPay is poised for growth with the launch of our new marketing campaign, Telegram app, token booster, and blockchain. We are waiting for the market to bounce back, which we anticipate happening soon. When it does, we are ready to become one of the leading centralized exchanges.

Diana (Host): I would like to know why there are no more offers for Deposits and why the fees are not lower to be competitive with other Exchanges?

Vladimir (CEO): Regarding deposits, you can deposit all cryptocurrencies on our platform. If you mean special offers, we haven't had any specific conditions lately. However, our rates are competitive. Next month, we plan to introduce a new feature: a 1% cashback for new users buying crypto through our payment system with a card. This should roll out next month or in September. We are also planning promotions as part of our marketing campaign, introducing new perks to attract users, which is crucial for our growth.

As for fees, it's a challenging balance. We need to generate revenue to cover operating costs, including salaries and services. While it's plausible to lower fees, we believe they are currently competitive. We regularly review them and may adjust at the start of our marketing campaign. Additionally, you can reduce fees by upgrading your user level. By purchasing more PXP, you can increase your level and receive discounts on platform activities.

Diana (Host): I would like to know if there is a possibility of having the Forex Market on the Platform, considering it already won an award in 2021 and this market has great potential to attract new users?

Vladimir (CEO): Yes, we did win several awards in 2021, which recognized our cryptocurrency trading solutions, not fiat trading. While these accolades were significant, the market conditions were quite different back then. We were one of the last companies to successfully raise substantial funds through an ICO.

We have never offered services for trading or exchanging fiat currencies, focusing instead on cryptocurrency operations. Adding Forex services is an interesting prospect, but our primary focus remains on developing our cryptocurrency platform, exchange, and app.

Integrating fiat currencies is complex and often unprofitable due to high commissions and overhead costs. Many big exchanges have struggled with this, with some rolling back their fiat services.

Moreover, we operate officially in the cryptocurrency space with the necessary licenses and permissions. Introducing fiat trading would require additional, costly licenses. While we may explore this avenue in the future as the platform grows and attracts more users, our current focus is on the cryptocurrency market, which is the most profitable area for us at the moment.

Diana (Host): Why isn't PointPay buying back PXP? The price is low, and it would be a good thing to get the price up.

Vladimir (CEO): Buying back PXP would be illegal and considered market manipulation. Currently, we have no plans to repurchase PXP. However, we believe that with the launch of the mainnet, the PXP portal, and the Telegram app, the PXP price will naturally increase.

Regarding PXP burns, we are not ruling them out completely and may consider them in the future. For now, our tokenomics are strong, and we are comfortable with our current position. Any attempt to manipulate the market would have only short-term effects. Our focus is on developing the right products and finding the best market fit. Therefore, buybacks are not an avenue we plan to pursue at this time.

Diana (Host): When will PointPay collaborate with famous YouTube crypto influencers?

Vladimir (CEO): For our future marketing campaign, we are already engaging with key opinion leaders (KOLs) on Twitter, Telegram, and YouTube. As our campaign progresses, you will see more mentions of PointPay on these platforms.

YouTube, with its unique format, will feature platform overviews and related content as part of our marketing efforts. While Telegram and Twitter are currently our primary channels for user engagement, YouTube remains an important aspect of our strategy. Our AMA sessions on YouTube attract around 10,000 to 20,000 viewers monthly, although most watch the recorded sessions rather than live broadcasts.

Diana (Host): Do you have any plans to list pairs PXP/BTC, PXP/ETH, PXP/USDC?

Vladimir (CEO): Yes, we do. Currently, we are satisfied with the trading activity of the PXP/USDT pair. However, one reason for our recent token swap was to support multi-chain functionality for our token. In the future, we plan to introduce pairs such as PXP/BTC, PXP/USDC, and potentially others like Dogecoin. There was even an exchange that listed some of these pairs without our permission. Overall, the token swap was part of our development efforts to support multiple chains, and these pairs will be introduced soon. For now, we are pleased with the performance of the PXP/USDT pair.

Diana (Host): Will PointPay have a DEFI or DEX trading platform within Telegram?

Vladimir (CEO): Not really, as we are a centralized exchange. There might be some misconceptions about this. However, we are considering introducing some DeFi features to our platform, possibly in the fourth quarter of this year or the first quarter of next year. We are working on integrating these elements, but for now, PointPay remains a centralized exchange with a clear vision of our goals.

Diana (Host): The Telegram channel is full of chatbots that fill up 90% of the conversation with useless speech. Could you please clarify whether PointPay pays for it or simply allows them?

Vladimir (CEO): Our Telegram channel is not filled with chatbots, nor do we pay for such activities. The increase in messages is due to the significant number of new users joining our platform weekly. While previously, only a few users engaged daily, now we see thousands of new members participating.

We understand that it may seem cluttered, but these are real users, not bots. The growth in our user base is necessary for our company’s development. Allowing new users to communicate freely, even if it means more fragmented conversations, is part of our strategy to attract and retain fresh talent.

This increased activity is also beneficial for our ratings, as some agencies consider the number of messages in our Telegram chats as a metric. We acknowledge it can be overwhelming, and I too find it challenging to sift through hundreds of messages. If you prefer a more focused discussion about PointPay’s future, feel free to DM me, and I can create a separate chat for that purpose. However, the current chat activity will continue as it positively impacts our engagement metrics and overall ratings.

Diana (Host): How will the Telegram App work?

Vladimir (CEO): The Telegram app will function similarly to a regular Android or iOS app, but you will log in through your Telegram account. This feature is particularly beneficial for Apple users, who face more restrictions on crypto apps in certain jurisdictions. For instance, Kucoin isn't available in the UK, and Coinbase isn't accessible in parts of the EU. With our integration, you can log in to the PointPay app through Telegram, bypassing these restrictions, and use the platform as usual.

Telegram is immensely popular among crypto users, alongside Discord. Its ability to install bots and additional features makes it an ideal platform for crypto engagement. We aim to leverage this popularity and ride the wave of super apps. With our integration, users can log in, trade, and manage their crypto directly within Telegram.

This approach positions Telegram as a potential super app, offering multiple functionalities in one place. We believe this will be a significant innovation for the crypto market. Our early adoption of this feature gives us a first-mover advantage, setting PointPay apart from competitors.

By becoming the first to offer a fully integrated Telegram app, we will capture a new market segment and enhance user engagement. This unique selling proposition will distinguish PointPay in the competitive crypto exchange landscape.

Diana (Host): Well, I guess that was the last question for today. Thank you very much for all of your answers.

Vladimir (CEO): Well, thank you very much, Diana. Thank you very much for your help. I think we managed to do it a lot quicker this time round. So let's summarize today's AMA.

To summarize today's AMA, PointPay is preparing several significant updates to our ecosystem:

Telegram App: We're in the final testing phase. The MVP is operational, and we expect to finalize it within a few weeks.
Blockchain Mainnet: The release is ahead of schedule, potentially within the next month or two, depending on market conditions.
PointPay Portal: This new feature will allow users to earn BXP by completing tasks, similar to Galaxy. Users can engage with external projects, like Stella, and earn tokens by trading on our platform.
Crypto School: We're developing an educational platform within our portal. Users can watch videos, read materials, and complete quizzes to earn more PXP tokens.

These developments are integrated into our broader vision of an interactive and educational platform. Additionally, we're exploring partnerships with external projects to offer educational airdrops.

We've also released our biannual report, showcasing our achievements over the last six months. Despite the market conditions, we're excited about our upcoming marketing campaign, which we anticipate launching soon, possibly next month or early September.

Thank you all for your time. If you have further questions, feel free to reach out to me on Telegram or Twitter. Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy trading at PointPay!

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