Edward W. Mandel
Sep 17, 2018

Not all cryptocurrency exchanges are created equal. Many expert blog about no room for improvement — I disagree — the ocean is still blue for innovations. Certainly, there is significant drive in community of crypto enthusiasts supporting innovative exchange projects. We launched BQT P2P Hedge Exchange to give traders an edge and freedom to leverage their crypto currency. BQT. io released its Whitelisting Beta today and launched an ICO after successful PRE-ICO campaign.

So what is it the market is looking for?

Inventing your inventory

Let’s say you’re starting an exchange from scratch (not just a hypothetical for some of us). The more coins you can trade on it the better, right? Maybe, maybe not.

Certainly, having the right ones is key. BTC and ETH are table stakes, of course, as are their hard-forked cousins BCH and ETC. ADA, LTC, XMR, XRP and ZEC would also be essential. Then we look at such up-and-comers as EOS, NEO or XLM — are they Next Big Things or are they Flavors of the Week? That’s the kind of judgment call an exchange has to make. Then, how seriously are you going to take single-purpose tokens like POT or TIT?

Then it’s off to the races. We call BQTX a token rather than a coin because, in the current environment, it suggests — correctly in our case — that it is intended as a utility rather than a currency or security. You can actually use it for something. But it’s an artificial distinction. Satoshi never uses the term “token,” preferring “coin” on all references. Then again, I don’t think he ever intended bitcoin to evolve into what the market turned it into. BTC was intended as a utility just like BQTX. We can’t help what speculation has done to it.

This raises the question, though: What criteria should an exchange use for listing a utility token?

But that just begs another question: Whatever utility tokens, security tokens or cryptocurrencies you decide to list on your exchange, how can you assure the trading public that they can sell them for whatever fiat currency they need for cash transactions?

The BQT solution

True disintermediation.

Coin selection is just one problem. Yes, you have to ensure the right mix of three-letter codes when founding an exchange, and you have to provide reasonable assurances of liquidity. But while you’re doing that, you also have to ensure security, privacy and keep your fees well under 1%. And, more and more, you have to dedicate resources and executive focus to creating an easy user experience and, because it’ll never be easy enough for everyone, exceptional customer service. Otherwise, people will just go back to cash, credit cards and electronic transfers.

Although how that’s all done organizationally and technologically is incredibly tricky, the strategic direction is simplicity itself.

To boil down the BQT vision to one word, it would be “disintermediation”. But, because that’s too hard to remember no less say no less spell, we boil it down to three words. BQT stands for “Better, Quicker, Transparent.”

“P2P exchanges like ours carry one unique advantage: you deal with an actual person on the other end of the deal,” as I told a blogger at Fintech Connector. “This decentralized approach — which was the whole reason to adopt crypto in the first place — provides the flexibility to negotiate trades one-on-one, then rate and share your trading experience, so that you and everyone else knows the reputation of each of your potential counterparties.”

The selection of coins is left to the wisdom of the crowd, which creates its own liquidity. If someone is willing to sell it and someone else is willing to buy it, you can trade it on BQT. As a decentralized platform, there’s no “honey pot” that makes it an irresistible target on the scale of Mt Gox or Bitfinex. And the only reason why private parties would want to go through an exchange in the first place rather than just find each other on the Dark Web is because of its user interface and support, so that’s why we concentrate so hard on that.

Edward is an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, Blockchain Enthusiast and visionary behind many successful organizations. An avid entrepreneur, Edward has a knack for designing distinctive business models complemented with superior technology to deliver unparalleled service and profitability. Edward also has been advising and consulting for various successful Blockchain technology and ICO projects and recently launched his own BQT. io P2P exchange helping traders connect with each other to leverage their crypto assets.