1 year ago
According to Ray Youssef, the CEO of Noones, peer-to-peer (P2P) bitcoin trading is the United States’ nationalist force fig 1 due to the fact that its imaginable wide adoption by radical from the Global South represents the “world’s archetypal existent menace to the U.S. Treasury system.” Youssef added that the United States’ disdain of P2P marketplaces is besides owed to its consciousness that peer-to-peer commerce is “the champion way to alteration genuinely escaped commerce successful the Global South.”
‘Turning Bitcoin Into a Medium of Exchange’
However, Youssef, who was precocious appointed CEO of the caller peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace, told Bitcoin.com News that helium is consenting to judge the risks and challenges that travel with starring a P2P level due to the fact that “the payoff is worthy immoderate risk.”
The Noones CEO nevertheless said helium disagreed with the conception that spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) approvals by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) volition beryllium cardinal successful driving bitcoin adoption successful Africa successful the coming years. He insisted that galore radical connected the continent “are [already] turning Bitcoin into a mean of speech arsenic its superior usage case.”
Meanwhile, successful his written answers sent to Bitcoin.com News via email, Youssef emphasized the value of listening to and addressing idiosyncratic complaints due to the fact that doing truthful yet helps companies to “radically improve” their merchandise oregon service. Youssef besides shared a fewer details astir his departure from Paxful and however his consequent efforts to assistance users helped him support their trust.
Below are Youssef’s answers to each the questions sent.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): One could accidental that you had a topsy-turvy 2023, which started with your unexpected departure from Paxful but yet ended with your caller assignment arsenic the CEO of Noones. However, dissimilar others who wilted distant aft going done thing similar, you person seemingly remained committed to the origin and continued to marque the lawsuit for Africa. What motivates you to proceed adjacent erstwhile it seems similar you are losing?
Ray Youssef (RY): Getting deed with a suit connected Martin Luther King play was tough, but having a ngo makes you tougher. There were 2 things that helped and gave maine an epic triumph astatine the end. I americium blessed to accidental that the suit was dismissed, and each my issues were resolved. I ain not a azygous stock successful the company; I gave them each up and received nary payment. My anticipation was that the institution would bash the close happening and wage for the compliance hours needed to unfreeze users’ funds held by regulators. While I locomotion distant with not a azygous ‘SAT’ for 8 years of gathering a company, I permission with my integrity, experience, and my estimation stronger than ever. The full assemblage truly appreciated my transparency and deeds similar paying those that mislaid wealth successful Celsius retired of my ain pocket. Trust is priceless.
First, the accidental earlier america present is virtually the biggest ever successful each history. I don’t mean arsenic conscionable a concern but a benignant 1 civilization upgrade for each humanity. The full satellite is going done a wide awakening each astatine erstwhile and going adjacent to adjacent to empower the radical directly. We person a accidental to beryllium the ace app the planetary southbound needs to interruption done and animate the world. That would get anyone retired of retirement.
Second, I judge successful God and I saw the signs everyplace that helium was ever with me.
BCN: You person consistently talked astir the emergence of the Global South and however this is going to alteration the existent satellite order. Can you concisely picture oregon speech astir this Global South and place who is going to payment from its rise?
RY: Africa, Latin America, and Asia, are the Global South. It is simply a word utilized by immoderate of my heroes similar Malcom X to picture everything different than the Western powers. The Global South, encompassing 80% of the world’s population, possesses little than 20% of the planetary wealth, with the bulk of that wealthiness concentrated successful Western countries. Projections bespeak that the nations of the Global South volition acquisition much than 90% of the world’s colonisation maturation successful the coming decades, and their existent demographic constitution predominantly comprises individuals nether the property of 30.
A well-maintained matrix of fiscal apartheid has been holding backmost the radical of the Global South. Bitcoin and peer-to-peer commerce enabled by Noones and a immense satellite of over-the-counter (OTC) transactions is the cure. When the wealthiness of the Global South tin determination freely past we shall spot immense wealthiness being built from the crushed up. Western corporations tin commercialized due to the fact that they tin determination their money, a privilege not uniformly shared by the Global South. Once these barriers are gone we shall spot the emergence of a peer-to-peer satellite and it shall beryllium led by the younker of the Global South.
Every quality being shall benefit, including the West. Humanity volition participate a Golden Age and beryllium a benignant 1 civilization, a translation achievable wrong a decennary oregon adjacent faster. I talk with specified assurance due to the fact that I cognize it has happened before. With NoOnes, I americium committed to fulfilling this vision.
BCN: Over the past year, regulators, peculiarly those successful the United States, person accrued their scrutiny of the cryptocurrency industry. We person seen them people centralised exchanges similar Binance and Kraken, which has analyzable their operations. Do you foresee regulators going aft peer-to-peer bitcoin trading platforms similar Noones? If so, however are you preparing for that?
RY: Peer-to-peer is nary uncertainty nationalist force fig 1 for the US. The U.S. does not privation Bitcoin to go a existent means of speech successful the Global South arsenic it would beryllium the world’s archetypal existent menace to the US treasury system. They cognize peer-to-peer marketplaces are the champion way to alteration genuinely escaped commerce successful the Global South and they are terrified of seeing an full continent interruption away. I emotion a situation and the payoff is worthy immoderate risk. Prosperity and bid breaking retired each implicit the satellite is worthy immoderate terms truthful you cognize I’m going for it.
I respect the powerfulness of the empire and bash not instrumentality its quality to task powerfulness lightly. Noones does not service the U.S. nor the West and does not program to. I comprehend that Binance’s ventures determination provided a susceptible constituent for imaginable attacks. Another misstep was Binance’s reliance connected a heavy centralised operation. In contrast, we are entering each jurisdictions done the beforehand door, collaborating with the astir reputable and innovative regulators worldwide. As for Kraken, I urge a departure from the US, akin to Western Union’s determination to Dubai.
Our biggest defence present are our values. Revolutionary transparency is 1 of them and it volition manifest successful ways that volition acceptable a caller modular for each fiscal services companies going forward. We astatine NoOnes are afloat committed to Decentralisation and volition beryllium the archetypal to integrate CivKit, a afloat decentralised protocol built astir Bitcoin that volition make the world’s archetypal permissionless and unstoppable escaped market.
Civkit volition not conscionable let for a afloat decentralised bid publication connected Nostr, it volition besides supply the required P2P services to standard specified a marketplace, including KYP (know your peer: a peer-to-peer ID system, Civcourts a decentralised tribunal strategy for fiscal disputes and the Civdollar, a bitcoin-backed unchangeable currency. We are not going into this alone. I invited everyone to follow my thought and vie with me. There is capable for each and the much advancement we collectively make, the safer and much prosperous we each become.
BCN: As you already know, a increasing fig of Africans usage cryptocurrency for remittances oregon arsenic a shield against inflation. However, erstwhile it comes to the attraction of cryptocurrencies, galore African countries look to transcript and paste everything done by Western regulators, specified arsenic the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Some judge ignorance is the main crushed wherefore African regulators are imposing inappropriate regulations. Do you agree?
RY: No. While African regulators are a spot down the West successful coming to presumption with regulating cryptocurrency determination are galore astute regulators successful Africa that recognize each excessively good the vantage a cryptocurrency-powered system would springiness the continent. A pan-African clearing strategy would alteration everything and make immense prosperity for African countries.
There are galore dedicated individuals successful authorities striving to marque affirmative changes but determination are fewer radical reaching retired to them. When we archetypal met the regulators successful Nigeria successful 2021, they expressed that we were the precise archetypal institution to ever attack them for collaboration. Many companies typically attack regulators with a income pitch, offering tokens oregon advocating for the adoption of a valueless blockchain. Such approaches, aimed astatine selling alternatively than collaborating, person near regulators wary, fixed their experiences with scams similar MLM and tokens specified arsenic Onecoin implicit the years.
What is needed present is simply a caller fiscal designer that tin make a Pan-African Renaissance. The cardinal to achieving this translation lies successful acquisition and corporate empowerment. One of our values astatine Noones is Bullish Education, focusing connected demonstrating however individuals tin gain wealth by gathering peer-to-peer fiscal services businesses to link Africa. Our accent is connected applicable fiscal acquisition alternatively than token investments oregon time trading—a signifier of acquisition that galore of america privation we had received successful school. We person been gathering schools and investing successful acquisition since time 1 and are looking guardant to our Gold Coast field circuit adjacent year.
BCN: Recently, an adept told america that lawsuit oregon idiosyncratic complaints could beryllium a goldmine for betterment if viewed properly. Do you hold with this assertion? Also, however is Noones handling idiosyncratic complaints oregon queries differently?
RY: YES. Every contented is an opportunity, and each enactment with a idiosyncratic who cares capable to really springiness you feedback is precious due to the fact that they tin driblet the look to radically amended your product. Every existent merchandise feline knows this. The Noones squad spent six months successful alpha, improving their marketplace with idiosyncratic feedback, and that impressed maine greatly.
The archetypal happening I did arsenic CEO was spell to Africa and big a roundtable with the apical traders. They virtually laid retired a goldmine earlier us, and these users are present our existent merchandise team. One of my requirements arsenic CEO is that each C-Level indispensable beryllium boots connected the crushed with maine and bash escalations for users conscionable arsenic I do. Empathy and existent interest from the bottommost up is what makes Noones truthful different.
This is simply a existent Global South company, and I spot it much arsenic a distributed Nation. My ceremonial rubric is CEO, but I spot myself arsenic the Chief Advocate, and our customers cognize they tin travel to maine straight and often do. Our eventual measurement of occurrence is not gross oregon nett but rather, “what alteration person we made successful the day-to-day beingness of the astir susceptible members of our nation.” This should beryllium the criteria of occurrence for each azygous civilian servant successful the world. I haven’t been seeing that, truthful we shall acceptable the modular and invited others to follow.
BCN: Finally, we person been seeing varying BTC predictions, and each of them look to constituent to a bull marketplace and perchance a caller all-time high. However, dissimilar successful the past erstwhile an upcoming Bitcoin halving lawsuit was the main crushed for the bullish predictions, galore present spot the apt support of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the SEC arsenic the cardinal factor. What is your instrumentality connected this?
RY: I don’t hold that the support of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the SEC is the cardinal factor. Bitcoin successful the West has sold out, and present lone the Global South tin prevention Bitcoin. As it stands, Bitcoin needs Africa much than Africa needs it. Nigeria leads the full satellite successful cryptocurrency adoption with authoritative volumes astatine 59 Billion per year. However, it is important to admit that the authentic measurement is astir 10 times higher, predominantly facilitated done peer-to-peer transactions.
The radical of Africa are turning Bitcoin into a Medium of Exchange arsenic its superior usage case. Only idiosyncratic that has been connected the crushed understands this. The P2P trading assemblage successful Africa is simply a force. Brothers from the Benin Republic were travelling to Ghana to conscionable different P2P traders and unfastened caller corridors.
It is this enactment that volition marque Bitcoin immensely invaluable adjacent successful the coming years. Every currency archetypal became a mean of speech and past a store of value. While the West is blessed with a favored stone that they tin clasp and currency retired connected the Global South is utilizing bitcoin to lick the biggest occupation successful the world. That takes time, but I judge that wrong six years, the halfway of the enactment volition beryllium done, and break-away civilizations each implicit the Global South volition emerge. Africa volition person galore Dubai-level (and beyond) cities and animate the full world.
What are your thoughts astir this interview? Let america cognize what you deliberation successful the comments conception below.
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