THELOGICALINDIAN - Bitcoinist batten with Kumar Gaurav CEO of Cashaa a blockchainpowered P2P exchange that makes it accessible to accelerate and accept banknote anywhere in the apple with aught fees
Unfortunately, back it comes to remittances, the poorer the country, the college the fees, says the CEO of Cashaa, a blockchain startup based in Canary Wharf, London. Too often, the atomic of citizens can lose up to 20% back receiving money from away with acceptable casework like Western Union.
Bitcoinist finds out how Cashaa manages to solve this above problem application Bitcoin’s abstruse ‘backbone’, the blockchain.
Bitcoinist: What above botheration does Cashaa solve? What is the abeyant of the bazaar you are targeting?
Kumar Gaurav (KG): We are targeting individuals who ambition to accelerate and accept banknote in altered genitalia of the world, but who are currently accident up to 20 % in fees. There is a banknote remittance industry of ca. $240bn, which is mostly controlled by big-ticket money transmitter companies, which allegation on boilerplate 15%. Sadly, the poorer the country, the college the fees. This is the above botheration that Cashaa solves.
Bitcoinist: What blockchain is acclimated for this service? Is it accessible or private?
KG: In April 2024, we for testing purposes launched BTC2BID, a Bitcoin trading platform. Cashaa, which is activity to be launched in aboriginal 2024, will use Inter Ledger, which enables us to bout traders of aforementioned or 2 altered cryptocurrencies with the banknote sender and receiver. This means, the banknote sender can accord their banknote to a banker who awash their Bitcoin, and on the added side, the banknote receiver can accept banknote from a banker who bought e.g. Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin etc. Therefore, we are cryptocurrency-agnostic and acceptable traders of any cryptocurrency to accompany our belvedere for trading.
Bitcoinist: Why can’t a approved encrypted database be acclimated instead?
KG: We are necessarily application blockchains as our use case is a cryptocurrency use case. Thanks to cryptocurrencies, for the aboriginal time, money can be confused globally after any fees, which was not accessible in this way before.
Bitcoinist: How does your account action a fee-free banknote transfer? How does Cashaa accomplish money?
KG: Cashaa is bringing the cryptocurrency traders added opportunities by bringing clamminess from the banknote alteration industry. Through us, they can barter in an all-embracing bazaar and accomplish added money. Now, for example, bodies would like to advertise their Bitcoin in India, but so far, they would accept had the botheration of how to pay or get paid from addition abroad. We are analytic that botheration alongside as now, they are chargeless to barter at their own amount after cerebration about this issue, as bodies get paid locally in cash.
And we allegation cryptocurrency traders from the accumulation they fabricated during their barter compared to their bounded Bitcoin price.
Bitcoinist: What is Cashaa’s banker network? Can anyone become a allotment of it?
KG: We launched an bearding trading belvedere alleged BTC2BID in April 2016 to analysis the model, we accept more than 10000 traders sign up from 125 altered countries, who transferred added than $2m till now. Anyone can become a banker and allure their accompany – for anybody they get involved, they get 10 $ back they fabricated their aboriginal trade.
Bitcoinist: Does one charge a coffer account/credit agenda to use Cashaa? Do you accept a adaptable wallet app?
KG: Cashaa’s aboriginal artefact is for the cash-to-cash community, with no coffer account, acclaim cards, adaptable money or e-money involved. Not alone are we are analytic the botheration of fees, we are additionally analytic the botheration of bodies not accepting coffer accounts, acclaim cards or alike smartphones at the receiver ancillary – we use a simple passcode that works on any adaptable phone.
As a technology company, we are alive on consecutive articles area users can do coffer transfers, acclaim agenda to coffer or carnality versa. However, as the afflatus for Cashaa comes from the banknote alteration industry which has apparent no addition for years, this will be our aboriginal product.
Bitcoinist: Does one charge a coffer account/credit agenda to use Cashaa? Do you accept a adaptable wallet app?
KG: Cashaa’s aboriginal artefact is for the cash-to-cash community, with no coffer account, acclaim cards, adaptable money or e-money involved. Not alone are we are analytic the botheration of fees, we are additionally analytic the botheration of bodies not accepting coffer accounts, acclaim cards or alike smartphones at the receiver ancillary – we use a simple passcode that works on any adaptable phone.
As a technology company, we are alive on consecutive articles area users can do coffer transfers, acclaim agenda to coffer or carnality versa. However, as the afflatus for Cashaa comes from the banknote alteration industry, which has apparent no addition for years, this will be our aboriginal product.
Bitcoinist: What is the lowest/highest bulk that a user can accelerate via Cashaa after a coffer account?
KG: Cash senders can accelerate annihilation up to $2,000 a week.
Bitcoinist: You’re based in London. What affectionate of advantages or allurement does UK’s acknowledged framework accommodate for such a blockchain startup as Cashaa?
KG: London is a all-around burghal with citizens from 100s of countries, a affable ambiance for startups and provides an administrator visa. There is no advice or any acknowledged framework for a blockchain startup, but at this stage, we don’t charge that.
Concerning adequacy for Cashaa in particular, London is a all-around burghal with bunch people, which agency a huge bazaar for us. London additionally is a high-liquid Bitcoin market, which makes it the ideal abode to be the aboriginal burghal to accelerate banknote from back Cashaa launches.
Bitcoinist: What affectionate of regulations does Cashaa’s business archetypal abatement under? Are you a money transmitter account by definition?
KG: Cashaa is not a money transmitter, we never blow any authorization or any cryptocurrency, and the traders are absolute and not our affiliates. We are the matchmaker, bringing traders calm with banknote senders and receivers, that`s it. We do an email- and buzz verification, we let traders assurance an acceding that they are afterward the laws of their corresponding country and affliction by themselves about any licenses they may need.
Furthermore, we accept partnered with Coinfirm, which provides KYC & acquiescence casework for blockchain companies, so that no alien wallet is accompanying to any apprehensive or actionable action is acclimated on our platform.
Bitcoinist: How does Cashaa break the “last mile” problem? In added words, how does a being in Kenya, for example, absolutely get banknote into their easily back alone cryptocurrency is traded?
KG: We are analytic this botheration as the banker in Nigeria is giving bounded bill to the banknote receiver. When ablution Cashaa, we will use our traders arrangement that we acquired from testing; later, we are additionally partnering with added business and giving them appropriate software to barter and buy and advertise bitcoins from us, which will advice break this problem, Ex: Uber and Ola drivers in India.
Bitcoinist: Are you targeting the African bazaar in particular? What specific all-around regions angle to account the best from Cashaa?
KG: Yes, we are targeting the African bazaar in particular. We are aboriginal ablution in Nigeria and accustomed huge absorption from altered African countries. Furthermore, we are targeting adolescent bodies to become Cashaa traders, which can be run like a business, commensurable to actuality an Uber driver, but cheaper – instead of accepting to buy and advance a car, they could buy cryptocurrency cheaply compared to their bounded price, and bear banknote to locals.
Aside Nigeria, we are additionally action to barrage in India, which has apparent a acceleration in Bitcoin action back the contempo demonetization. We accept additionally accustomed absorption and abeyant ally in added Asian countries such as Philippines, and in Latin America.
Bitcoinist: If Western Union, for example, auspiciously accouterments a blockchain belvedere agnate to Cashaa’s, who will accept the high hand?
KG: We already activated our archetypal and acquired added than 10,000 traders and confused $ 2m after any academic barrage and the trend will abide already we abutting our allotment annular and launched formally. We additionally charge to accede we are not in the money manual business, we are a technology belvedere with basal amount to survive and agitate the bazaar through our active and angular anatomy which is about absurd for any corporation.
Legacy companies can potentially get dead themselves by technology giants like Microsoft, Apple, Google if they don’t bolt up the race. We will see added Kodak and Nokia in the advancing days. The absolute competitors of bequest companies are technology giants and we as a startup are the alone achievement for these bequest companies.
Will Cashaa’s business archetypal abound over acceptable means? Share your thoughts below!
Images address of shutterstock, cashaa.com, exchangerateiq.com
