Every crypto practitioner has a unique narrative that has brought him or her face-to-face with the realities of the true innovative power of crypto technology. Perhaps, this notion is the reason why the crypto community has stood by the viability of cryptocurrency all through its trying times. As such, the crypto space has evolved into a network of mavericks who are not only tech-savvy but have learned to appreciate and nurture the business side of the crypto economy.
One individual who fits into this description is Bryan Seiler, the CEO and Founder of the fast-rising Australia-based TAGZ Exchange. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to have a chat chat with Bryan, and we got talking about how he discovered cryptocurrency, its impact in his career, and how he has been able to translate the underlying principle of the technology into the TAGZ project. Below is an excerpt from my interview with Bryan Seiler.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background?
Bryan: I actually left school at a young age by entering into the workforce early with a series of labor intensive factory jobs that didn’t take me long to realise it wasn’t for me and knew I could offer more. This led me to my first office job as a telemarketing manager for Kirby vacuum cleaners where I learnt very quickly the traits of being a successful manager and throughout every spare moment, I would study and continue to research how to improve myself and add new qualities that helped me shine. It was at this time I discovered my calling and a real passion for direct sales by transitioning into selling Kirby vacuum cleaners and knew I had a gift in this area. I worked myself up to the state dealer manager where I not only trained other representatives but also closed deals and organized teams which helped me gain even more sales and negotiation skills. A few more sales gigs followed suit shortly thereafter from accomplishing my goals and having the deep down hunger to want more with each one of my goals being stepped up higher and higher.
I soon harnessed the business side in me and transitioned myself into adopting an entrepreneurial mindset and identifying industry trends by creating and establishing multiple online businesses from which Twilx Web Solutions was born, an SEO agency where I took $150 and turned that into a multi-million dollar revenue business.
How it led up to your present stint in the crypto industry?
Bryan: Throughout those years of running the business profitably I had learnt a great deal more about marketing and advertising and used this to capitalize on the Crypto wave trend in 2017. Fitrova was founded at this time using blockchain as the main pillar of the new industry trend and at the close of the project I had noticed a big gap pointing toward the regulative aspect of Crypto exchanges. This is when TAGZ was born as I knew something needed to be done to offer greater transparency to users, more benefits and a cleaner way of transacting which has proven to be something that is in great demand right now.
What is the principle of crypto and blockchain technology that first struck a chord with you?
Bryan: I am not a great believer in FIAT currency as a whole and feel safer knowing that Bitcoin is virtually unconfiscatable which attracted me to the concept of Blockchain to begin with. Banks are by far too greedy, mostly corrupt and don’t really offer any benefits in comparison to what Crypto offers.
From what I have read about you, I see that you are quite experienced in business management and leadership. How important are these skills in the crypto industry, seeing that more emphasis is being placed on the technical savviness of crypto entrepreneurs?
Bryan: I believe the best skill set any great CEO needs to have is the ability to know when and where to steer the ship and to have enough foresight to see any obstacles that need to be avoided. A CEO should also be testing different avenues of success much like a tree spreading out its branches in multiple directions to capture the best position for sunlight much in the same way as targeting market verticals and gaps which can be capitalized on.
What are the unique challenges of doing business in the crypto industry, and how have you been able to circumvent each?
Bryan: Competition is everywhere and there will always be somebody else trying to eat your lunch as well as non believers that overtime will be proven wrong. Every business needs to start somewhere and through natural progression and order, things become evident. It’s how we stay ahead of the curve by identifying those challenges ahead of time and strategizing accordingly.
TAGZ is slowly emerging as a force to be reckoned with in the crypto exchange market. What motivated this project, and how have you been able to achieve this much in such little time?
Bryan: It may sound cliche but hard work and dedication will always remain to be the keys to success for many more lifetimes to come coupled with the hunger, determination and tenacity to excel. One of my favourite phrases is: “You try and you fail...you try and you fail...but the only real true failure is when you stop trying…” “Belief in your belief will create the fact”. There are no walls, only barriers which can be overcome through repeated effort.
The major recurring issue plaguing the crypto exchange market is security and privacy. How did you and your team approach these issues? And how have you been able to assure users of the safety of their assets and personal details?
Bryan: Security and privacy is paramount and act as the main pillars for any solid exchange foundation. We have policies in place to prevent data leakage aswell as our KYC & AML duties to AUSTRAC. TAGZ Exchange rund on a multi-server layer system which is secured by SHA-384 encryption and on top of this, only 10% of user funds are held in exchange hot wallets at any given time giving us greater control of how assets are accessed and preventing any unauthorised attempts.
TAGZ is licensed and based in Australia, which houses a very responsive and industrious crypto community. How much impact has TAGZ had on the growth of the budding crypto community in Australia?
Bryan: This is something that needs to be continually worked on as growth will never really cease at all unless we do first. Creating more awareness among the crypto community on a global scale is our aim but being an Australian company, of course our main objective is to capture the trust of Australians first and foremost.
What are the major developments to be expected in the Tagz ecosystem in 2020?
Bryan: Upon our full-scale release targeted toward Q2, we will be adding greater exchange customizability, security upgrades, credit & debit card processing to buy & sell crypto on the spot aswell as margin trading with leverage.
Media outlets have begun to share optimistic insights on the possible resurgence of altcoins in 2020. Do you think that this assertion is feasible?
Bryan: I certainly do not think Altcoins are dead by any means at all as there will always be new businesses poking their head out the ground seeking wide-spread attention. With this being said, it’s about identifying the best opportunities and separating yourself from all the rubbish shitcoins that will inevitably go to zero. I believe bitcoin VS Altcoins go through market cycles every 6 or so months going by past history so it is definitely on the cards that we will see another mad Altcoin rush just around the corner.
Asset tokenization is poised to stand out as one of the major crypto trends this year. What role are crypto exchanges playing in this narrative?
Bryan: STO’s have definitely been the new culture that are slowly being more adopted when comparing them to your basic ICO or IEO. With the greater regulatory crackdown in the future it is my view that we will see STO’s to become the new king and we’ll see a reduction of the number of ICO’s and IEO’s. Exchanges require the appropriate licensing to offer securities in place of utility tokens.
Do you think that a monopoly exists in the crypto industry? If so, how can smaller crypto firms ensure that they get a fair chance of making a statement in the crypto economy?
Bryan: There will always be the first mover advantage in every new industry trend and granted we have seen the likes of Binance, Kraken and others have a firm stronghold at present, does not mean that there isn’t room for new players that offer their own uniqueness. Starbucks have thousands of locations across the globe and people know the brand for good tasting coffee, but yet still there are hundreds of thousands of small cafe’s that are doing well because they too offer their own uniqueness too.
As expected, regulators have kicked off where they stopped in 2019, as Japan’s FSA is moving to enact strict regulations on crypto margin trading. What do you think of this development?
Bryan: TAGZ was founded with the same view of adopting regulation and abiding by governmental policies. I am a big believer in embracing it and also have the firm notion that the likes of popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum will end up being somehow migrated into the traditional market in the long term.
In a closing note, can you tell our readers the trend that you expect to fuel the crypto space in 2020
Bryan: I think we are extremely close to seeing the SEC approve the Bitcoin ETF and this would prove to be an extremely strong contender to act as a catalyst to fuel the next gigantic move where we will see a ton of new money flowing into crypto, not just Bitcoin. It would be great to see this in 2020 but nothing is set in stone as of yet.