EDIT:Crypto FinancialSome background:
Members of this company are currently board members in a Medium size bank in Panama.
A few month ago, while Bitcoin was a daily occurrence on the international news, we were approached
with the idea of opening a Bitcoin Exchange account for a potential customer. We examined the idea very carefully
at the time, but were unable to see any potential long term profits for our bank in doing so.
1. The exchange would need to be licensed to be able to handle third party funds on behalf of their customers
2. Funds would just flow in and out from the exchange, leaving us with all the paperwork associated
3. The cost associated with due diligence of verifying and accounting for funds sent in and out internationally would exceed any transfer fees we may charge.
Due to those restrictions and many more we declined the account for this exchange.
Another idea was formed that may be more beneficial to both sides. We explored the option of not only charging in and out wire fees, but to actually
set up a new entity that will be licensed to handle third party funds and open accounts on their behalf, similar to a hedge fund or stock broker. This
new Financial Services company (Crypto Financial) would open and manage the accounts within our Bank but will handle all of the AML/KYC/SAR portion for these customers.
The revenue will be generated by charging fees plus and more importantly by charging a flat percentage fee from the various exchanges that would choose to open an account with
us and offer the Exchange Platform to our pre-approved customers. So we came up with:
Exchanges Profit Sharing Incentive
Many of the current exchanges that deal with Fiat to Crypto Currencies are not currently licensed or equipped to handle the regulatory environment. These Exchanges are great in developing the software platform necessary to carry out and execute a trade between Fiat and Crypto Currency, but are unable to handle the need to verify and manage their customer’s funds in an appropriate manner. They were not setup as a Financial Services company and therefore lack the experience needed to comply with Banking rules and laws associated with Fiat Currencies. With the regulation over Crypto Currency ever expanding, the Exchanges need to concentrate on providing the software and not on hiring expensive lawyers, accountants and AML/KYC personal full time to sift through each transaction coming in and out of their system.
Our solution is to provide the Exchanges with pre-approved customers that they will not be required to verify. The same way a Stock broker handles and manages their customers account, and the actual trades are performed by a trading platform software provided by a third party; so will we offer our customers the ability to choose their own trading platform provided by the exchanges. As the Exchange companies will only offer software, their liability for reporting and compliance will be void and null.
We will offer several exchanges the opportunity to bid for and open an account with our company. Each Exchange platform company will be able to offer their own rates and fees for access to their platform to our customers. This will encourage competition among the different exchanges and offer our customers a choice when choosing an exchange. This will also encourage innovation for the Exchange Platform as the Exchanges will compete and will want to attract our customers by offering the best Trading Platform and Best Rates. The same way the free market dictates the rates offered by different Stock Brokers or Forex agents.
That way both the Bank and the Exchange benefit from each trade preformed, allowing us to share in the revenue and cover the cost of Account Maintenance and compliance.
Crypto Financial will be able to offer our customers the following products & services:
1. Easy Fast Online Registration process to open an account with us, 24-72 Hrs depending on country of origin and paperwork provided by customer
2. Free Online Banking access
3. A Private Individual/Corporate International Bank account
4. Support for more than 20 different Fiat Currencies; USD, JPY, EUR etc. (Regardles of the country of origin)
5. The option for a Visa Debit Card with the ability to withdraw funds at any ATM worldwide
6. Instant re-loadable Visa Debit Card controlled directly by the customer in Fiat
7. Direct IBAN under Customer’s own account for direct funding via transfer wire
8. Low fees for In and Out Transfers
9. Multiple sub accounts, which may be funded and converted to over 20 different currencies
10. Corporate accounts for Merchants with multiple sub accounts for better record keeping
11. Merchants services where Crypto Currencies will be automatically converted to Fiat and placed into the Merchant’s Bank account with us or at his current Financial Institution
12. Free Account and Merchant Services to approved NGOs and Non-Profit-Organizations
We will deal with Fiat currency only, and the exchanges will operate the Crypto Currency portion of the transaction.
Customers, Merchants, Traders and Investors will have a broad choice of Exchange platforms to choose from. We will open our Financial services to any qualified proven Exchange Platform company that will be pre-approved to conduct exchange of crypto currency to fiat currency and vice versa. Since all the customers of our approved Exchange will have opened an account with our Financial Services company, all AML/KYC /SAR regulation will be performed by us and therefore negate the responsibility of the Exchange for such regulation. Allowing the Exchanges to concentrate on the technology side of the business and offer better trading platform to accommodate the demand of the global market place. A simple one click integration will allow our customers to integrate with the Exchange Platform, the same way Facebook or Google integrates today with other web sites and services.
In essence the Exchange platform will serve our customers when it comes to trading Fiat to Crypto Currency and vice versa, the same way a Stock trading platform company provides the software, but the Financial Services Company (“Broker”) represent the customers and takes care of the regulation side of the business.