GLOBAL INVESTOR 1.17 —32 Photo: Thomas Eugster “If you are restricted to physical cash, you can only do face-to-face transactions.” Johann Gevers
GLOBAL INVESTOR 1.17 —33 them ideally suited for retail transactions. And by integrating contracting platforms with consensus systems, you can have the best of both worlds. You can securely store your assets in a consensus system, and efficiently trade those assets in a contracting system. How does the Monetas platform work? Johann Gevers In the Monetas system, only the transaction parties need to agree, then the transaction is completed. You don’t need the slow, expensive agreement of millions of unrelated parties, the way you do in consensus systems. The first application of the Monetas technology is a mobile payment system. Anybody in the world can download our software onto their mobile phone for free and do transactions with anybody else who’s got our software. Users load digital cash onto their mobile phone at an exchanger, such as a kiosk or ATM or bank, and can then pay conveniently from their mobile phone. The great thing about our platform is that it is open, not locked into any provider or device. So you can do transactions with anyone, regardless which mobile phone provider they use, or which country they’re in. You don’t even need a bank account. So our system is a great solution for the 80% of people in Africa who have no bank account. And our transactions are far cheaper than any other system on the market. In fact, they’re even cheaper (and more secure) than physical cash. Physical cash costs the economy about 1–2% of GDP in developed countries, and a stunning 5–7% of GDP in developing countries. Switching to digital cash will provide a tremendous boost to our economies. Has Monetas gone beyond the prototype stage? Johann Gevers We launched a successful pilot of our platform two months ago in South Africa. Our partners are very happy with the results and are now planning to roll out our platform countrywide to over 1,000 locations, as well as to further countries in Africa. So this is a very exciting time for us. Looking down the road, who stands to benefit most from cryptofinance technologies? Johann Gevers Well, very clearly, consumers are going to benefit immensely. These technologies will enable user-friendly services that go far beyond what we have today. You’ll be able to make transactions “The idea of Monetas comes out of my desire to do something that helps the world work better, not through politics but through technology.” Johann Gevers Johann Gevers is founder and CEO of Monetas, founder of Crypto Valley, and founder and president of the Digital Finance Compliance Association. He is an entrepreneur with over 20 years’ experience in business, finance and technology, and has served as strategic advisor to companies across diverse industries, including awardwinning technology start-ups. Johann is a visionary thought leader in the fintech space and was recently rated as one of the Top 100 most influential finance leaders in Switzerland. and safely store your money without having to remember passwords and without having to carry around keys or electronic cards. And you’ll be able to do it all on your mobile phone, with better security than traditional banking (including cloud backups). By connecting billions of unbanked to the global economy, these technologies will enable everybody in the world to generate wealth and improve their quality of life far beyond what is possible today. Today people are excluded from the global economy. Johann Gevers Yes. Billions of people – more than half of the world’s adults – have little or no access to formal financial services, and do almost all their transactions with physical cash. If you are restricted to physical cash, you can only do face-toface transactions. That means you are part of a very small economic network, which severely limits your ability to create wealth. So poor people stay poor. One of the fundamental requirements for generating wealth and improving one’s quality of life is being part of a large economic network. Today, even in poor countries, virtually everyone has a mobile phone. Our mobile platform gives everyone with a mobile phone access to the world’s most advanced financial services, and thus dramatically boosts their ability to generate wealth. People will use their rising wealth to improve their healthcare, education and quality of life in general.
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