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BitX Co-founder and CEO Marcus Swanepoel joins Bernard Leong to talk general trends in the Bitcoin and Blockchain industry; including adoption in Southeast Asia

Analyse Asia is a weekly podcast hosted by Bernard Leong and features guests from across Asia’s vibrant tech community. e27 will republish the series covering a range of companies, topics and news analysis. To follow Bernard, and Analyse Asia, check him out on Twitter and Facebook.

Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included):

Marcus Swanepoel (@marcusswanepoel, LinkedIn), CEO and co-founder, BitX.

• How did Marcus get started in his career in banking? [1:07]
• After moving on from traditional banking (Morgan Stanley, StanChart) to startup (BitX), what are the interesting lessons that Marcus has drawn from his career so far? [1:58]

Also Read: What exactly does it mean to be a Smart City?

• BitX
  • An introduction to the concept of bitcoin and blockchain. (Reference: Bitcoin.org) [5:04]
  • Reference: the original bitcoin paper by Satoshi Nakamoto – worth reading.
  • What inspired Marcus to start BitX? [8:19]
  • What is the mission and vision for BitX? [9:12]
  • BitX started as a consumer app in both iOS and Android. How does the BitX app work? [10:10]
  • Who are the customers for BitX? [13:00]
  • What is the business model for BitX? [14:42]
  • What is the footprint for BitX across Southeast Asia? Which countries does it operate in? (Ref: BitX in Indonesia) [15:28]
  • BitX raised financing from Naspers Group (known for their investments in Tencent), Venturra Capital (by the Lippo Group), Barry Silbert (founder of SecondMarket), can you talk about the story on how you have managed to raise funds from these investors? [16:06]
  • Before BitX started, an earlier company Switchless focused on building a B2B bitcoin and blockchain for the largest African bank.  [19:05]

Also Read: Do immigrants make better startup Founders than locals?

• Bitcoin / BlockChain Industry in Asia
  • What are the general trends for bitcoin and blockchain in Asia? [19:50]
  • What are the essential conditions that need to happen in order to take bitcoin and blockchain mainstream? [22:15]
  • References: Marcus’ articles on the issues: Beyond the Blockchain, The Future of Finance and Taking Bitcoin Mainstream in 2016
  • Is it technology or regulatory challenge that make it difficult for bitcoin and blockchain adoption? [24:47] (Reference: The Resolution of the Bitcoin Experiment, Scaling bitcoin: The Great Block Size Debate)
  • In the US, the banks have started to talk about their blockchain strategy and the R3 consortium (focus on blockchain technology with many banks partaking), are Asian banks doing the same and how do they view the blockchain technology? [26:03]
  • Reference: Goldman Sachs bitcoin patent.
  • Is there a space between bitcoin/blockchain startups and banks where they can collaborate? [29:57]
  • How does Asia compare to the US and Europe in terms of blockchain and bitcoin adoption in the near future? [31:40]

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