Coin Version is getting ready to completely interview Nikolay Denisenko, co-founder and CTO of the Swiss neo-banking startup Brighty App and alumnus of Revolut. Nikolay has in depth expertise in utilized arithmetic, enterprise course of administration and software improvement. As Lead Backend Engineer, he developed Revolut Enterprise, thought of the corporate’s most worthwhile division.
Within the wake of the latest EU regulatory choice, Nikolay shares his ideas on constructing a fintech startup, fixing present issues in neobanking crypto and fiat, and reflecting on the present state of the European fintech, the way forward for crypto adoption and AI expertise.
Q: We have seen a sequence of US and European financial institution failures, and fintech startups are driving the wave. What’s your opinion on this? Do you see this as an issue — or a chance the place you might present your colours?
Fintech startups can’t ignore regulatory uncertainty, market volatility and, particularly, the present belief problem available in the market. I see outdated financial institution failures as a novel alternative as a result of fintech startups are designed to maintain up with altering shopper calls for and resolve issues that have not been solved correctly earlier than – a lot sooner than anybody else available in the market. .
On this state of affairs, fintechs like Brighty App can provide you with new options that prospects want. They’ve the potential to bridge the hole between conventional banking programs and the unbanked (or underbanked) inhabitants, selling monetary inclusion on a bigger scale.
Q: Do you continue to see a niche within the neobanking sector in Europe and globally?
Sure. For starters, that is why we began constructing a neobank. The most important drawback is the shortage of seamless fiat and crypto integration. Many neobanks supply conventional banking or crypto companies, however not each, so there’s a demand for a single answer that would supply higher integration of fiat and crypto companies.
Second, there’s the restricted adoption of DeFi amongst neobanks. DeFi merchandise give customers the flexibility to commerce and earn on crypto stablecoins; But few neobanks supply merchandise like staking, yield farming, and lending. Combining conventional banking and DeFi could be a win-win deal and entice a broader use case: for instance, banks can present deposits and crypto-neobanks can supply entry to DeFi merchandise.
Subsequent, neobanks ought to purpose to offer proof of reserves. This may enable them to construct buyer belief, as all transactions are operated on the blockchain. It is fairly tough, however it needs to be executed.
And at last, the low accessibility is a brake on the mass adoption of neobank cryptos. On the whole, the person expertise nonetheless must be improved. As an energetic person myself, I care and know the way blockchain works, however I do not perceive why the charges are so excessive. We purpose to handle these shortcomings when growing the Brighty App product for Europe.
Q: You’ve gotten already talked about some bottlenecks, and my third query is: what are the principle challenges you see for neobanks globally and in Europe?
The EU market is fragmented by nature: with completely different languages, cultures and regulatory frameworks within the Member States. It’s due to this fact tough for neobanks to increase their operations and set up a uniform presence within the area: every state of the European Union has one thing particular. They should alter the app in accordance with completely different languages and achieve a stable understanding of the viewers. It is tough however attention-grabbing nonetheless.
Then there’s the query of profitability. Typically neobanks give attention to buyer progress however neglect that they should earn income to outlive in in the present day’s turbulent market with out relying an excessive amount of on obtainable investments.
Q: As we all know, the SEC is suing many crypto corporations. As for Europe, how is their regulation and does it infringe on crypto adoption?
The pattern is mostly constructive. There are numerous EU initiatives like MiCA aimed toward offering a transparent and balanced framework for digital belongings, growing crypto regulation, boosting innovation and serving to to make Europe the hub for the event of blockchain and fintech.
I like the place the whole lot goes. All of those efforts will assist drive the mass adoption of crypto within the area and may have a constructive influence on Web3-connected companies in Europe.
Q: What do you assume banks will seem like and performance in, say, ten years from now? How do you see this?
These are simply guesses, however I believe blockchain and AI will dramatically enhance the banking trade over the following ten years. On the one hand, blockchain expertise will optimize day-to-day operations: for instance, the trade of data between banks. Banks will prioritize environmental, social and governmental components and develop into extra human.
KYC (Know Your Buyer) procedures may also enhance: for instance, there’ll not be any have to undergo KYC upon getting opened a brand new account.
Q: What are the principle issues to think about earlier than constructing an app like Brighty App?
We prioritize transparency, regulation, compliance and safety. So, all the choices we make when constructing Brighty App are based mostly on these ideas. Does it make our app safer? Is it user-friendly and clear as we ourselves would love? Do we provide the very best service?
We hold the identical method for all partnerships: what’s the finest in the marketplace and essentially the most sensible for our prospects? We partnered with FireBlocks as a result of they supply the very best guard service in the marketplace. We now have built-in their companies into our app and plan to enhance the general buyer expertise.
This is essential to us: even when the companies are costly, we purpose to offer essentially the most safe and high-performance applied sciences to our prospects, for instance cloud companies like Amazon that are licensed and adjust to all European GDPR insurance policies. As an organization of Swiss origin, we’re satisfied that non-public wealth administration should be within the DNA of the product.
Q: How do you differentiate Brighty App from different wealth administration apps? Or why ought to I exploit your software somewhat than one thing else?
Our aim is to create an accessible and simple to make use of crypto-fiat software. It provides essentially the most safe and dependable DeFi merchandise now we have examined and authorized, humanizing cryptography and making it simply comprehensible. Brighty App will make it easier to use crypto in your on a regular basis life: for instance, shopping for espresso together with your Bitcoin.
We additionally plan to work with corporations offering accounts {and professional} companies for startups and crypto companies. It is an issue we all know all too properly: as a startup, it took us two or three months even to open a checking account for worker funds. It’s due to this fact a wonderful area to increase.
Q: What do you consider synthetic intelligence? Do you hope to combine AI into the Brighty app?
Sure in fact. We now have already began utilizing ChatGPT in our everyday life because it helps to extend productiveness. It’s due to this fact fairly cheap to implement the ability of AI in improvement, operations and, definitely, customer support to make it “extra human”. You see, banks hardly ever care about folks: they impart in technical language that prospects do not perceive, and I believe ChatGPT will assist resolve this drawback.
One other factor AI can do is supply customized monetary recommendation and portfolio administration – however which may require some regulation, I suppose. And the third pillar is safety. We’ll begin integrating AI-based fraud detection programs into Brighty App and have already built-in AI into chats.
I believe a startup must be nimble, react to the whole lot that is occurring round you, what applied sciences are trending, what’s occurring round laws, and so on. That is what it takes to remain available in the market and succeed as a enterprise.