Chieh Liu Founder and CEO of Overbit
Chieh is an entrepreneur and investor. Founder of several successful technology and finance companies. He has over eight years experiences in FX trading and derivative products. He also has extensive experience in blockchain and one of the early blockchain evangelists in the professional consulting space. Throughout his career, Chieh has worked in China, Hong Kong, U.K, U.S, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Chieh has a degree in Computer Science from Cal Poly Pomona, California, US.
1. Tell us about your role in Overbit?
I am Chieh Liu, the founder and CEO of Overbit.
2. Can you tell us about your journey into this market?
Bitcoin and Blockchain got my attention back in 2011, and I found it really interesting. I started to study how blockchain adoption can solve the current issues we have with the majority of financial services and products. With my previous work experience, I saw there is a potential market in a crypto trading platform by providing cross-market trading using Bitcoin as underlying asset, which lead to Overbit today.
3. How do you think technology is changing the Financial Sector?
Technology plays a major role in financial sector, mainly in security and efficiency. It prevents frauds, hacks, and money laundry. Especially blockchain technology, it is not only changing the way we used to transfer money/data from one to another, but also improving the transaction time and fees by tremendous amount.
4. How do you think Overbit will differentiate itself from other Cryptocurrency Forex Trading Platforms?
We are a bitcoin based derivatives trading platform. Essentially we enable bitcoin holders to take positions on other cryptocurrencies and instruments – without taking delivery of those assets. So people can use Overbit to hedge existing positions on other exchanges or simply to speculate on the current market. Many people hold Bitcoin and it brings no value to them as they are simply waiting for it to go up in value. However there is an opportunity here to short this volatile and interesting market too.
5. How do you think the introduction of cryptocurrency is changing the market around the globe?
The volatility of crypto market is the main concern for everyone, Bitcoin price drops 50% since last year March. Some people may think crypto market isn’t the market for everyone, but I think while the adoption of crypto and blockchain is increasing, the crypto market will be a wise option for investors and traders to get involved with.
6. Recently we covered the news of the launch of overbit, Japan’s first Cryptocurrency Forex Trading Platform, How big do you see this milestone as?
This project has been in the pipeline for two years. We are very fortunate to have liftef it off the ground and have seen a huge interest from traders in joining the platform. We want Overbit to be the number one trading platform in the world for derivatives using cryptocurrency.
7. Do you think governments around the world have started opening up towards cryptocurrencies?
Certainly we can see countries opening up a clear regulatory framework and trying to lead in the cryptocurrency and regulation. However, some governments still see it as a potential threat or a complex financial instrument to regulate. Therefore they are sitting on the fences and watching how it will work out elsewhere before making a significant move. Whatever happens, cryptocurrencies are sovereign financial instruments free from government intervention – they are here to stay.
8. What advice would you like to give to the StartUps of Fintech Industry?
Fintech is a very interesting space to be in right now. In some parts of the world the standards are poor and change is needed. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. But get yourself several mentors to challenge what you are doing and make it better. Plan well and don’t be afraid to fail.
9. What is the Digital innovation according to you that will mark 2019?
I am personally looking forward to the opportunities that may arise from 5G technology. It is early but a few mobile phones have now been released with 5G support but I am not sure if they can be used fully anywhere yet. It may not happen in 2019 but certainly coming soon.
10. What is the vision, on which you and Overbit are working on?
We want to use an educational approach as many people are new to crypto. So on opening we decided to give away nearly $500,000 of BTC for people trade with and try out the platform. This is a significant investment for us so our users get to know our platform properly. In our upcoming events we will be holding live trading sessions to teach people how to benefit from such a volatile market.
11. What are the major developments you are planning, in recent time?
We want to offer more products to our users including options and futures, and the ability to trade on our API. We will also be offering more instruments to trade with.
12. Can you tell us about your team and how it supports you?
Our team members are from UK, Japan and Hong Kong. Some of them have been working with me for couple years, most of us have over a decade of experiences in quantitative trading systems and financial markets. I am glad to have them onboard.
13. Which Book are you reading these days?
Recently I’ve not been reading many books, mainly reading code and charts!
14. We have heard that you have a very joyful work culture, so can you share with us some of the fun pictures of your workplace?
I will share one with you soon!
15. Can you give us a glance of the applications you use on your phone?
