Tokenize Xchange CEO on becoming “dominant player in Web3 world”, unveils new NFT marketplace
Not many companies can be said to have been completely unaffected by the crypto winter. After all, the crash that began with the fall of Terraform Labs wiped trillions of dollars from the markets.
Even companies that were once hailed as giants in the crypto space have been brought to their knees.
Cryptocurrency exchanges have been one of the few companies that were consistently affected — Celsius all but abandoned its customers to try and save itself, Coinbase slashed its headcount, and even Hodlnaut has halted withdrawals and withdrawn from its application for a Major Payment Institution Licence in Singapore.
When we last checked in, Tokenize Xchange’s CEO Hong Qi Yu was already a crypto millionaire, as he splurges on a new condominium and Tesla car.
And it seems that far from having bad news to share, Tokenize Xchange is actually bringing some good news to the crypto community.
Staying warm during crypto winter
Despite the many companies that have been forced to press pause on hiring, or have even had to lay off employees, Tokenize Xchange has had no such issue. In fact, Hong credits the company’s conservative hiring policy and prudent spending with the company’s present strength and resilience.
The company has even managed to launch its own NFT marketplace, Elemint.
“What inspired us to create Elemint was the challenge of bringing NFT creators and NFT investors together in a single, secure ecosystem with plug and play ease of functionality,” said Hong.
While this idea itself is not the newest in the world, to launch in the peak of the crypto winter is a bold move, to say the least.
But what makes Elemint different is that unlike many other marketplaces, Elemint will feature both on-chain and off-chain elements for everyone.
Elemint seeks to empower NFT project owners and creators with low entry costs and we also want to eliminate the tech barrier to entry too. Project owners may list their NFTs via off-chain protocols and let the buyer foot the bill if they want to bring it on-chain.
– Hong Qi Yu, Tokenize Xchange CEO
In addition, Tokenize Xchange has already onboarded their own version of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, known as Poker Penguins. The project is an Ethereum-based NFT collection, with a set of 936 digital collectible penguins for minting.
However, the NFTs will also have additional functions, including entitling their owners to perks like coaching for NFT investments, community events, and more.
To add on, the company’s token, TKX also hit a significant milestone in May this year — it hit a market capitalisation of US$1 billion, making it a mid-cap cryptocurrency.
Complying with regulations
With all their progress, however, Tokenize Xchange still does not have a licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to offer Digital Payment Token services in Singapore.
Instead, the company operates under an exemption, and is still in the process of applying for a Digital Payment Token Licence.
That being said, the company has already obtained full approval from the Securities Commission Malaysia for operations in Malaysia.
Hong also assured that Elemint, as an NFT marketplace headquartered in Singapore, will abide fully by Singapore laws protecting both assets and property.
Our platform has been created on the philosophy of both accountability and professional ethics. By holding ourselves to such high standards, we will ensure that Elemint’s users have a secure, enjoyable, and affordable experience — both buyers and creators included.
– Hong Qi Yu, Tokenize Xchange CEO
In compliance with MAS regulations, the company has begun to shift its focus from retail investors of cryptocurrencies to institutional clients. The number of institutional investors that Tokenize Xchange serves has actually doubled from 40,000 in 2021, to around 87,500 during the first quarter of 2022.
Towards a crypto-powered future
These successes, however, do not mean that Tokenize Xchange is satisfied with staying as it is. The company is actually looking to acquire further funding, and are planning expansions into Indonesia and Australia as well.
“We believe in focusing on our original markets first, so Southeast Asian countries are where we would like to focus our efforts.”
Tokenize Xchange has just secured US$11.5 million in a Series A funding round, and is currently preparing for a Series B funding round next year, where Hong hopes to raise a further US$300 million.
With the crypto winter in full swing, new launches are a rare sight — but for companies like Tokenize Xchange, where careful consideration and precise planning are the norm, it seems that the crypto winter is not necessarily bad news.
In fact, Hong has expressed that he is “excited at the larger talent pool which has now become available”.
Far from faltering at the sight of many giants of the crypto world encountering crises, the company has maintained a steady course, towards better products and offerings for its clients and customers, as well as the expansion of its customer base and business presence around the region.
“Just as Grab is the dominant player in ridesharing and food delivery in the APAC region, Tokenize Xchange wants to become the dominant player in the Web3 World”, envisioned Hong.
Featured Image Credit: Tokenize Xchange
Also Read: Helping hand: Crypto firms like Hodlnaut, Zipmex are in crisis – should central banks step in?
Tokenize Xchange founder on having an early start in crypto and becoming a millionaire by 31
A ‘crypto bull’ is not your usual animal. It arrives without warning and escapes from your clutches before you can finish saying the word ‘cryptocurrency’.
Crypto is often viewed as an unpredictable industry, as seen by how attention grabbing news have been circulating this spectrum in recent years.
We also often revere in reading stories of people who have made it with crypto, as it gives us a peek into a tangible lifestyle created by something that cannot be seen, felt, or heard.
Today, we got the opportunity to speak to 31-year-old Hong Qi Yu, CEO of Singapore crypto exchange Tokenize Xchange, who in many ways actually mirrors the normal man on the street.
NTU graduate, worked as engineer and coder
When Qi Yu was 18, he took up an electronic and communication engineering Diploma course at Singapore Polytechnic. He then went on to Nanyang Technological University to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in electrical and electronics engineering.
After graduating, Qi Yu worked various engineering and coder jobs at Atos, TransPerfect, and Bambu for almost three years.
His seemingly normal life was then changed in 2016, where he was exposed to the cryptocurrency Ethereum when he was a coder for a local FinTech firm. Since then, life has been a dramatic “rags to riches” whirlwind.
“I dove down the crypto rabbit hole…back then, the digital assets industry was in its infancy. There were not many platforms available for me to accept fiat, and fees were really high, thus I founded Tokenize Xchange to allow the mass market to access digital assets in a frictionless manner.”
“Together with a team of passionate crypto and blockchain enthusiasts, we found a need for a safe and secure platform with competitive fees and an SGD-based order book for digital assets,” he said.
Passionate team a key factor for biz’s success
Qi Yu counts his team of passionate crypto and blockchain enthusiasts the reason why his business is where it is today: Over 50 cryptocurrencies listed, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and Polkadot (DOT). The exchange has grown to close to 200,000 users globally in just five years.
In a nutshell, Tokenize Xchange is a centralised exchange platform that utilises trusted custodial solutions. It offers both fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto pairings and has both SGD and United States dollar (USD) markets. It is currently operating under exemption by the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Payment Services Act.
“In terms of volume and liquidity, I believe Tokenize Xchange is within the top two Singapore dollar (SGD) order book exchanges. I would consider ourselves to be a medium-sized crypto exchange. However, our goal is to become the go to fiat on/off-ramp for digital assets in Southeast Asia.”
Although the business is unable to share its total value of assets, Qi Yu said that its own crypto token TKX has recently hit a market cap of US$1 billion – the second token in Singapore to achieve this – suggesting that it’s a force to reckon with.
Early start an advantage
The founder admits that the business’ early start in crypto has helped it focus on building its products and infrastructure way before others joined, and that has allowed its user base to access more products with low fees, which proves to be a selling point to customers. “This has culminated in the doubling of our user base from 2020 to 2021,” said Qi Yu.
Like many companies, Tokenize Xchange also felt the brunt of Covid-19. “The inability to hold live events and workshops to educate and engage our users during the pandemic has definitely hampered our outreach efforts,” said Qi Yu.
“However, we mitigate this by hosting regular webinars and podcasts on topics such as outlook sessions on crypto and equities, streaming sessions with Axie Infinity, or introductory sessions to Tokenize Xchange, to cater to the wide range of interests of our users.”
Crypto millionaire bullish on Bitcoin
Giving his personal view, Qi Yu said he’s still “very bullish on Bitcoin for this year and the next”. “I hope we will be able to see a six digit Bitcoin by 2022.”
Although Qi Yu did not disclose his net worth, based on his physical assets, he’s most certainly a millionaire. He bought his current condominium as well as his Tesla car, with the money made from crypto. A condominium usually starts from S$1 million while a Tesla car including taxes, usually costs S$150,000.
When probed on the types of crypto he holds, Qi Yu said: “In my portfolio, I mostly hold ETH, DOT, and our exchange token TKX.”
Commenting on the evolving crypto landscape as someone who’s been participating in the industry for some time, he believes that playing the long game will be the way to go for investors.
“Crypto is here to stay, but we will gradually move towards a regulated crypto landscape as regulators start to get more involved. Investing in cryptocurrency is like investing in tech stocks such as Google and Amazon back when both firms were listed in the stock market. I personally feel we are still in an early phase for crypto trading and it can be a long-term opportunity,” he said.
As for his business, there are no plans in slowing down and it’s only getting started. “Having rode through the bear market in 2018 and 2019, we have definitely come a long way. We are currently looking at growing our team, and plan to expand to other markets in the region.”
Featured Image Credit: DigitalNewsAsia, Economic Times
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