Dec 24, 2019 | Platform | 0 comments

Kriptomat in 2019: A Year of Growth and Innovation
Platform
Dec 24, 2019
Written by Kriptomat

The world of crypto never sleeps, which means that Kriptomat never sleeps either. Our service works tirelessly around the clock and throughout the year, so we rarely give ourselves a chance to take a breath and look back at what has been achieved.

As 2019 is coming to an end, we finally have some time to asses our current situation and make plans for the upcoming year. We see just how much has been done in such a short amount of time as our company is approaching only its 2nd birthday. It’s safe to say that our team is much more than the sum of its parts. Each individual is an important piece of the puzzle and we wouldn’t be where we are today without their relentless push to take Kriptomat to the next level.

If 2018 can be characterized as a year of often challenging first steps, then 2019 can best be described as a year of growth and innovation. We expanded our business considerately and we pushed the boundaries of what is possible with current blockchain technology.

So let’s take a closer look at some of the major things that Kriptomat has been up to in 2019!

Expanding Our List of Available Cryptocurrencies

The first large-scale plan of the year was to list all of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. We already supported Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a dozen of ERC20 tokens, but we wanted to reach a larger market and provide fiat pairs that didn’t exist anywhere else.

We had a clear goal in mind, and by early March, we added 13 additional coins from the list of top 20, expanding our offering to a selection of 30 cryptocurrencies which accounted for more than 95% of the total worldwide trading volume. 

Although we believe that our current selection is enough to cover the needs of most people, we are constantly on the lookout for new coins with interesting potential. We are also still open to your suggestions, so don’t hesitate to contact us if you believe in a certain project and wish to see it listed on Kriptomat. We will make our due diligence and add it to our platform if we deem it suitable for our service. 

See the full list of supported cryptocurrencies.

Partnership with Enjin & The Kriptomat Multiverse

In February we made a super exciting announcement that Kriptomat would use the Enjin Platform to integrate next-generation Ethereum-based ERC-1155 tokens. This signified the first time that a cryptocurrency exchange has chosen to adopt blockchain-based virtual items to gamify user experience.

The so-called Kriptomat Multiverse was born. Our first step was to create unique blockchain items, now known as “Kriptomat Founder Tokens”. 

Kriptomat Mint Portal

During our ongoing relationship with Enjin, we recognized a massive potential in this technological movement. We realized how easy it would be for us to create our very own minting portal. And so we did! In just a couple of months, we created and launched the Kriptomat Mint Portal. You can use it to create your very own Fungible & Non-Fungible Tokens.

“The Dragon Riders of Kriptomat”

In the summer month of July, we broke new ground as we launched a revolutionary blockchain-based rewards program powered by Enjin, the very first of its kind in the world. Our intention was to fully redefine the way retail rewards are designed and executed. 

The Dragon Riders of Kriptomat is a complete gamified experience and we launched it through our exchange on August 12th. It features an interactive game called “Wheel of Destiny”, tangible assets, collectibles, and cryptocurrency savings or discounts. We are very proud of our team for launching such a complex product in such a short amount of time. There were some growing pains because it’s cutting edge tech, but the Rewards Program now works as originally intended.

The partnership with Enjin has been fruitful and we are happy to say that blockchain-based rewards programs can spark impressive levels of user engagement that drive better business outcomes by providing tangible value to customers.

New Payment Methods

We are constantly promising to create the most user-friendly experience and we are staying true to our words. In 2019 we have introduced awesome new payment methods that now enable people from 87 countries to buy cryptocurrencies. We have added Skrill, Zimpler, Sofort Klarna, and last but not least — Credit Cards, for which we are offering competitive fees of only 3.65%. We negotiated hard to make this happen, and to our knowledge, these are currently the lowest credit card fees for crypto purchases in the world. 

Our users already regularly use bank transfers and a variety of other popular payment methods for exchanging between fiat currency and cryptocurrencies, but all of the above-mentioned payment options provide an additional layer of convenience.

Each new payment method brings us one step closer to a world where everybody can instantly and easily buy cryptocurrencies.

Founding Members of INATBA

In March, together with 105 organizations representing the full distributed ledger technology (DLT) ecosystem, Kriptomat became a founding member of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA).

Supported by the European Commission, INATBA promotes the use of blockchain technology by developing a predictable, transparent and trust-based global framework. One of the main objectives is the development and promotion of interoperability guidelines, specifications, and global standards to enhance trusted, traceable, user-centric digital services. 

We decided to join the initiative because we have very similar values and ambitions of bringing this exciting new technology into the mainstream. Our platform allows non-tech-savvy users and crypto beginners to enter the world of DLT based digital currencies easier than ever before, giving them a user-friendly interface and a secure, regulated environment to ease into the new economy.

Ongoing Giveaways

We believe that we’re doing some awesome things, and giveaways provide a perfect opportunity to spread the word about our work. This year we hosted successful giveaways of our own (Dragon Riders of Kriptomat, Everybody Deserves Crypto Campaign), but we also had a chance to offer some awesome prizes in partnerships with Enjin and Loopring.

The Loopring Giveaway, in particular, was an unexpected success due to the sheer number of participants. The giveaway went viral, so it offered us a glimpse into a larger world that we are ultimately trying to reach.

Security Token Offering

We at Kriptomat strongly follow the mantra that, in business, you either win or you learn. And one of the biggest learning opportunities for our company this year came in the form of our attempt to raise funds through a mechanism called a Security Token Offering (STO). 

Let’s quickly summarize the entire ordeal. In April we announced that Kriptomat would become the first digital currencies platform to share profits with its users. We never wanted to go down the route of unregulated wild-west fundraising via an ICO, so we decided to partner with a compliant Security Token Issuance platform to issue an STO. We worked tirelessly to prepare a legally bulletproof security token offering which opened to the public on the 22nd of May.

But due to an unfortunate turn of events, we had to cancel the offering one month later. We truly believed in the idea, but to summarize, we ultimately concluded that the market wasn’t (and still isn’t) ready for security tokens.

You can read the official statement on the canceled STO here.

The Conferences

We visited events and conferences on a monthly basis and they provided great networking opportunities with people from every corner of the industry. We’re not gonna list every event, so here’s a selection of our favourite three.  

Romania Blockchain Summit (Bucharest)

The event is the largest Summit of the industry organized in South-Eastern Europe, bringing together the Romanian public sector, political decision-makers, developers, researchers, global entrepreneurs and leaders, and innovators from the blockchain industry. 

“The event was held at the Palace of Parliament, one of the most astonishing and breathtaking buildings I have ever visited. The Palace of Parliament measures 330,000 m2 (~3,550,000 sq ft) and is regarded as a former dictator’s Nicolae Ceaușescu most cherished jewel. […] I was invited to share our experience on the topic of raising funds for a company and I participated in a panel on the main stage. ” – Dejan Davidovic, Kriptomat COO

Blockchain Convergence (Malaga, Spain)

We are members of a finance group where together with our respected colleagues we participated in a roundtable about Anti-Money Laundering, License Requirements, and diverging AMLD5 implementations.

Shift Money (Zagreb, Croatia)

The Shift conference was smaller than the ones mentioned above, but it certainly didn’t lack the heart and energy. It was our final conference of the year and it’s safe to say that we saved the best for last. We were one of the sponsors of the event and organizers of the after-party. Watch the highlights reel in the video below!

Educational Content, Interviews and AMAs

We continued with our regular educational blog posts about the basics of cryptocurrencies, and about all the latest developments on our platform and the crypto world in general. Make sure that you follow our blog as it provides a wealth of great information for anyone who is just starting out and for people who’d simply like to learn more.

We also hosted a variety of interesting guests in our “Ask Me Anything LIVE Sessions” where you get to chat with us directly via video live stream. We plan on doing much more in the future because they are a great way of connecting with the community in a transparent fashion.

And Much, Much More …

There’s so much more going on behind the scenes that we can’t really talk about, but suffice to say that we are doing everything we can — working late hours and sometimes having sleepless nights — to make sure that our vision becomes a reality.

The belief of every Kriptomat team member is that Everybody Deserves Crypto and we have every intention of following this vision.

As 2019 comes to an end, we would like to thank every single user of Kriptomat for being part of our story. We wouldn’t be here without you. ❤️

The Kriptomat team wishes you all the best in 2020!

kriptomat-nye

NOTE

This text is informative in nature and should not be considered an investment recommendation. It does not express the personal opinion of the author or service. Any investment or trading is risky, and past returns are not a guarantee of future returns. Risk only assets that you are willing to lose.