Andrew Weiner, Director of Affiliates at MEXC Global talks to Ishan Pandey
Ishan Pandey: Hi Andrew, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the story behind MEXC?
Andrew Weiner: I began my career in Crypto 6 years ago working at a KYC and AML FinTech, enjoying incredible success and acquiring a US Patent on Crypto order book technology. On this journey, I met the product team from MEXC and learned about their global expansion plans for the exchange. They had a unique product and inspiring vision for what could be possible in the international markets. I jumped at the opportunity to join them on this mission.
Ishan Pandey: Please tell us a little bit about MEXC? Further, kindly elaborate on the current market condition of the crypto markets and the future?
Andrew Weiner: When MEXC was founded in 2018, the goal was to build a platform for traders. At the time, the industry was still in its infancy. Still, there was significant pent-up demand for a platform that consolidated the best services into a single destination. 4 years later, MEXC is the #1 destination for low-cap gems, offering the widest variety of services, inventory, and industry-leading customer service. Seven million users worldwide enjoy a frictionless user experience on our all-in-one exchange services platform.
Ishan Pandey: Elwood Technologies, the crypto trading platform founded by British billionaire hedge fund manager Alan Howard, has secured $70 million in a funding session that included Goldman Sachs, Barclays, and others. In your opinion, what is the future of the TradFi space now that it is merging with the crypto ecosystem?
Andrew Weiner: The Retail, Commercial, and Investment Banks entering our space will always be at an immediate disadvantage. The overhead and operational costs associated with this kind of digital transformation into crypto FinTech are substantial. Developing, testing, stabilizing and introducing new, secure products that intend to compete with the already-tested business models of a CEX that can charge 0.2% (or less) for profit margin is…ambitious, to say the least. I can’t see TradFi being competitive for quite a long time, but they will bring liquidity, simplified FIAT off ramping, and a number of other benefits to enhance the ecosystem for those that value the ability to do these things.
Ishan Pandey: Investors are requesting that the courts propound a ruling on an existential matter for the crypto market: whether digital tokens are more analogous to stocks or gold in legal terms. From a legal standpoint, what are your views on the same?
Andrew Weiner: In 2019, I was in the office of a securities regulator discussing utility, security, and non-fungible tokens. They were telling me that all of the ICOs their office declined exemptions for in 2018, were refiling as IEOs in 2019, requesting the same reporting exemptions. Leaning all of the ways back in their chair, they let out a deep sigh and said, “If it looks, squawks, and waddles like a duck… it’s a duck.” With respect to the regulations in place today, data dominates our opinion. I do hold the opinion that most courts are going to stand by and enforce what has been written in the offices of regulators for things like AMLD5, the travel rule, and FIU KYC standards.
Our industry has been clever in the way we brand, market, and word our products, promotions, and services...but let’s not pretend that the rules we have today are ambiguous, or that the use-case of what makes security is a source of confusion. For me, it isn’t. To answer the question directly, whether you have a paper or digital share certificate representing ownership in something; an asset is an asset… security is security… and like my friend said in 2019, a duck is a duck.
Ishan Pandey: Do you think we are in a bear market? Further, what advice would you give to traders on how to survive a bear market?
Andrew Weiner: No, this is not a bear market, because the losses are not prolonged across all assets. Were they significant on a few popular projects? Yes, but the entire world economy is in a depression - this situation is not specific to crypto. We have active war, sanctions, and ongoing pandemic, and stress on critical supply channels globally. The cost of housing is at an all-time high, and the cost of food is rising…of course, people are closing their investment positions to cover these emergency events. This is exactly why so many of us put our money in crypto 3-5 years ago; storage of value.
Once the geopolitical situation and global health crisis settle, crypto will enjoy another round of all-time highs. Just look at the indicators; MasterCard’s acquisition of CipherTrace, the emergence of TradFi we mentioned earlier, and the CEO of Shopify joining the board of a Crypto company. These conditions look more like a discount introduction in the typical crypto cycle for the major institutional players and late-stage retail crypto adopters quickly pouring into our space.
Ishan Pandey: Bitcoin is reclaiming its position as the top global cryptocurrency. It currently represents 44 percent of the overall crypto market value, the highest since October, just as the last bull market reached its apex. Do you think bitcoin’s renewed hegemony will last long?
Andrew Weiner: I believe BTC can hold this position for a substantial period of time simply because most of it is never traded or transacted. In the BTC community, the HODL philosophy gives it an edge in its dominance of the market. Unless those wallets suddenly change their mindset and become active, that strategy gives them a serious chance of remaining #1.
Ishan Pandey: Do Kwon, the founder of Terra, the most renowned stablecoin in the highly unpredictable cryptocurrency market, has planned to start Terra 2.0 to help the stablecoin recover from its current perilous situation. What are your thoughts on the launch of Terra 2.0?
Andrew Weiner: Stablecoins are critical to the future of our industry. Mastering the model for issuing, governing, and transacting in that medium is a cause worthy of our support. I believe in the work they are doing, and their sustained success would mean great things for crypto.
Ishan Pandey: According to you, what new trends are we going to see in the industry in the next five years?
Andrew Weiner: With more institutions entering the space, the possibilities for strategic partnerships will continue to grow. Marketplaces like Shopify, and their global competitors, are developing and integrating crypto in ways we’ve yet to enjoy the benefits. Blockchain will also play a critical role in digital identity, allowing for enhanced privacy and security as processes move away from transmitting API to servers in the cloud, and bring the assurance procedures directly onto our hardware with edge computing. All this and I haven’t even mentioned web3, NFTs, and the metaverse - 3 areas we are just scratching the surface. The future is bright.
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