Shauli Zacks
Published on: April 19, 2024
In a recent interview with SafetyDetectives, Dejan Davidovic, the COO and co-founder of Kriptomat, shared valuable insights into his extensive experience and the innovative approaches of his company in the bustling world of cryptocurrency. With a background spanning over two decades in business management, Davidovic’s journey with Kriptomat began six years ago, driven by a commitment to customer protection and a stringent focus on compliance and security. As a leader, he plays a pivotal role in steering the company’s operational strategies, emphasizing the importance of creating a secure and user-friendly environment for engaging with crypto assets. Kriptomat distinguishes itself in the competitive crypto exchange landscape by prioritizing simplicity, accessibility, and regulatory compliance, making it a preferred gateway for many to the dynamic crypto universe. Davidovic’s passion for integrating technology with data to enhance user safety underscores his unique approach to leading a crypto startup that places compliance, customer welfare, and security before profits.
Could you please introduce yourself and discuss your role as the COO of Kriptomat?
I co-founded Kriptomat together with my long-term friends and business partners 6 years ago. I have been building and managing businesses for over 20 years. I am involved in all operational parts of our organisation including Customer Success, Finance, Legal, Compliance and Payments.
We are a dynamic and lean organisation working and building in a very dynamic growing industry. I am passionate about customer protection and financial crime prevention as the fundamental part of that. Together with our team, I am continuously looking for ways hot use data and technology, to create a safe environment for our customers, where they are engaging with the exciting world of Crypto assets.
Over the last six years, I have learned a lot about finance, compliance, investment and exciting technology. I was often told, that I am one of the strange crypto start-up founders as I advocate for compliance and put compliance, customers and security over profits.
Could you provide an overview of Kriptomat and what sets it apart from other cryptocurrency exchange platforms?
Kriptomat is an app that enables anyone to buy, trade, and invest in bitcoin and other crypto assets. Since the start, we have focused on the often underserved markets of Central and Eastern Europe and have been creating solutions for newcomers to the world of crypto.
Kriptomat offers a simple and localized user experience, stellar support, and a variety of simple features for retail investors and traders. We serve more than half a million customers from Europe, and 70% of them use only Kriptomat as their first touchpoint with Crypto.
As an organization, we also stand out as a team that is transparent and cares about the integrity of our company as well as the industry we are part of. We are licensed in Estonia and have regulatory approvals in Spain, Greece, France, Poland, and Croatia.
How does Kriptomat approach listing new cryptocurrencies on its platform, and what criteria are considered during the selection process?
We are quite risk-averse when it comes to listing new assets, and it is sometimes challenging to navigate between the demand from customers and our mission to enable crypto for everyone on one side, and risks and compliance on the other side. That is why we divide the offering into two concepts.
The first includes the assets we list based on our public listing policy, which is available on our website. Those assets are subject to due diligence and ongoing monitoring. We offer approximately 250 assets there.
The second part is our buy-any-token service, which is to be released in a few days. That solution enables our customers to buy and sell many more WEB3 assets after acknowledging the associated risks. We use different tools to audit, score, and monitor the assets to prevent access to malicious contracts and assets. We actively analyze on-chain and off-chain data to be up-to-date with changes and update the scoring of the assets.
Whatever we do, we make sure our customers are aware of the risks.
What are some of the main risks of investing in cryptocurrency, and how can investors mitigate these risks?
Our services are used by individuals who are newcomers to the crypto space. Over the last 6 years, I have learnt a lot about the user behaviour of that group of people.
The biggest risks, in my opinion, are the lack of general financial literacy, FOMO, and of course, fraud, which takes advantage of these factors.
Fraud is like a cancer of our industry as it affects all involved stakeholders. Customers face financial loss, personal stress, and sometimes tragic consequences. Crypto companies have their bank accounts closed, pay fees for chargebacks, lose revenue, are under scrutiny by the media and regulators, and spend resources fighting and managing fraud. Banks, EMIs, and card acquirers are under pressure from regulators, supervisors, and corresponding partners. Regulators and supervisors are under pressure from the general public and the media, and they often take drastic measures that harm the industry. And there is the crypto industry that is losing the main thing that we lack – Trust!
The basic two measures to mitigate the risks are education and research – investors should investigate better what they are investing in and what platform they are using to entrust their funds with. It should not be that hard in the era of the internet. Invest funds you can use – investors should not fall for FOMO and over-invest. If they do, then they should be aware of the risks and accept them.
What are some of the major trends that are currently shaping the crypto industry?
From my perspective, we are in very exciting times. The crypto community is slowly becoming an industry and is maturing. After years of exciting growth, we had two years of cleaning, and over the next two years, we are to see more maturity, consolidation, and wider adoption. We can still see lots of innovation happening in the space, and I am happy to see that regulation did not kill the innovation.
The crypto industry is taking the necessary steps to become an equal partner in the financial world and keeps on offering alternatives to traditional finance. I expect to see many more use cases of crypto, the rise of EUR stablecoins and customer-oriented solutions.
What advice would you offer to someone who is just getting started in the world of cryptocurrency trading and investing?
I am not an investment professional, but if someone wants to get started with investing in crypto assets, my advice would be to spend 14 days, each day 1 hour, reading and learning. No need to go too technical, but need to understand the high-level concepts and most popular projects. At Kriptomat, we offer Kriptomat academy and lots of knowledge base for beginners. Then prepare a clear and basic personal investment plan. Define what is one’s income, expenses, liabilities, risk tolerance, and investment goals. Carefully select the service provider one will use. I strongly suggest using regulated on-shore service providers and learning about the risks of working with off-shore service providers. Start slowly and learn.
When it comes to trading, I have learned it takes a lot of knowledge, time, special skills, and commitment to achieve success. I am not a trader and can only advise people to be very careful.
