Eduard Oneci from ZoidPay talks about the revolution in financial payments sector and how Fintech industry is evolving
1. Tell us about your role at ZoidPay?
I’m the CEO and Co-founder of ZoidPay.
I am primarily involved in developing the technology and protocols that govern the whole ZoidPay ecosystem. Secondly, I oversee the daily operations and make sure that the vision is clear to all team members, whether we’re talking about development or marketing. For this we’ve developed our own framework for deploying new releases and pushing the marketing message faster to our community.
Besides this, another important aspect is maintaining a healthy company culture to drive innovation. This reflects on our productivity as a team and also in the enthusiasm of our community.
2. Can you tell us about your journey in the Fintech industry?
The time I joined the blockchain space was in early 2016, less than a year after billion-dollar fintechs like Revolut and Monzo were founded. I was truly fascinated not only by Bitcoin’s fundamental benefits (a limited supply of a digital currency that’s meant for P2P payments with a market cap of ~$6B at the time), but also by the technology behind it.
Fast forward to 2021, we now have blockchain used in dozens of industries, one of the top ones being DeFi or Decentralized Finance, where currently there are over $55 billion in assets locked, used to offer services like lending, crypto derivatives and much more.
3. How is technology advancing the fintech arena?
Technology is engulfing every aspect of our daily life. It’s the same in the business and enterprise space.
The financial services space, in particular, is seeing innovations like never before thanks to technology. Every aspect of the payments segment, for example, is getting revolutionized.
We’ve seen numerous examples of the same including Klarna, Stripe, Revolut to name a few.
It’s an incredibly exciting period, for customers and companies alike. Competition is stiff with every player vying for a space in the customers digital spectrum. This, in fact, ensures companies are constantly innovating and bettering their offerings.
4. ZoidPay recently announced a platform where consumers can shop across from any retailer like amazon, ebay etc. What does that mean for the retail shopping revolution?
According to a recent estimate by Euromonitor International, by 2025, e-commerce will expand by an additional $1.4 trillion, and account for half the growth in the global retail sector. We are at the cusp of a retail revolution, characterised by digital marketplaces.
Just to give you a perspective, the ZoidPay platform which we are set to launch soon enables customers to use their cryptocurrencies to shop at some of the world’s leading retailers, pay everyday bills, subscriptions and even groceries. You will be able to buy a new laptop from Amazon with Bitcoin (BTC), pay the Netflix subscription with Binance Coin (BNB), or buy weekly groceries with Ether (ETH).
Over the last 3 years, we’ve built a gamut of products which traverse the entire shopping experience, online and in-store. In the coming weeks and months, we are ready to launch the Chrome Extension, crypto cards, just to name a few. Each of these products has been built keeping the customers in mind, ensuring a focus on an improved and safe shopping experience.
5. How do you think businesses are being empowered with crypto wallet offerings?
Let me give you an example here, brick and mortar shops can easily accept crypto payments by simply downloading the ZoidPay wallet that turns any smartphone into a proof-of-stake while availing the ecosystem benefits.
We will soon be releasing details of another first in the industry from ZoidPay – the Proof of Purchase protocol. Merchants will have their pools and bid for the Shopping pools created by the community. This will allow merchants to advertise efficiently and shoppers to get the best deals and yields when they purchase something.
6. What are your thoughts about the current DeFi and crypto-to-fiat ecosystem?
Let me explain this with an example of shopping. In spite of the revolution ecommerce is seeing, the fundamentals of shopping remain the same. Doesn’t price, previous experience and access to a wide selection of products matter the most to a shopper? Bring in a disruptor that improves any or all of these elements, and the customer will be willing to explore.
You’re seeing that in the DeFi space. DeFi is offering a viable alternative to customers across every traditional sector of finance, including banking, insurance, payments, derivatives. Hence the widespread adoption and growth.
We at ZoidPay have built products to ensure a transition of all the traditional FIAT mechanisms into crypto. One example being, offering an alternative to Klarna for POS lending.
7. ZoidPay crypto card is the First Crypto card in the world. What are some highlights of ZoidPay that have made it stand out in the crypto market?
We’ve been building ZoidPay for over three years now. For us it’s always been a long term game. We know that the crypto market is at the beginning and we’re building solutions for the next decade.
That’s why the whole idea behind ZoidPay is interoperability and liquidity. Offering a truly easy to use solution for all crypto holders is the most important thing and we’re building in that direction.
When it comes to products, take the example of our Chrome Extension. It is unique within the industry because it allows a user to connect any digital wallet to enable a purchase from any merchant in the world. This allows all crypto holders to have instant liquidity for their assets.
8. What advice would you like to give to the upcoming business and startups?
Be relentless.
Whenever people are planning to launch a startup, one of the most important things to know is, if:
a) the product that you are developing solves an actual problem and
b) the problem is big enough. Being agile and iterating fast is a must, as it will save you months of work and a lot of money, and will enable you to focus on the features of the product that matters the most.
You will also face difficult situations every now and then, so having a team that shares the same vision as you do will be critical to help you scale to the next level.
9. How has the pandemic affected the crypto and blockchain industry?
After the initial downward reaction to the pandemic, I think most financial assets were quick to recover. Crypto was no different. In fact, even after the recent correction from $60,000 to $35,000, Bitcoin is nearly 3 times what it was a year ago. Visibility to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, in general, has grown thanks to the entry of bigger institutional names, be it Tesla, Mastercard, Visa, Paypal.
At the same time, the pandemic exposed the inefficiencies across a number of industries in their traditional sense. Take the case of healthcare. The space has been marred by inefficiencies, especially when it comes to data management, verification and validity. Research has been presented on how blockchain based systems using smart contracts and oracles can streamline the healthcare industry. One thing most would agree is that misinformation has been rampant over the last year across the world. Blockchain offers a solution there. Supply chain is another area where blockchain stands to offer a lot.
10. We have heard that you have a very joyful work culture, we would love to have a look at some of the pictures?
