Blockchain marketplace, interview with Tjasa Tolj, ICONOMI

Dedicated to the global fintech community, it is our great pleasure to continue this series of interview with fintech and blockchain leaders with Tjasa Tolj, marketing representative of ICONOMI, a connection to the distributed economy. 

We hope you enjoy our conversation with Tjasa.

How would you describe ICONOMI to a potential investor?

The ICONOMI Digital Asset Management Platform is a new and unique technical service that allows anyone from beginners to blockchain experts to buy into and manage digital assets. With a broad set of unique and intuitive tools for people of any skill level, ICONOMI enables users to buy into and manage various digital assets and combinations of digital assets called Digital Asset Arrays™.

ICONOMI has introduced the terminology of Digital Asset Arrays, can you please tell us more about it and explain who is managing them?

Digital Asset Arrays, or DAAs, are baskets of various underlying digital assets that can be bought and sold by ICONOMI platform users. Currently, users can choose from 25 different DAAs overseen by DAA managers with diverse backgrounds. We accept DAA manager applications on a rolling basis, and anyone with a strong track record in crypto or financial management is welcome to apply.

Can you please share with us how many users are actively investing on your platform and the level of assets taht are currently managed?

There has been a 32% increase of users in Q1 alone. With each new feature, we welcome a new wave of users who are eager to enter the crypto-economy and are looking for a safe and easy entry point, which will only get easier once we enable fiat deposits and direct purchase of individual digital assets.

We are constantly adding new digital assets and already offer a wide range for our DAA managers to choose from, who then offer their DAAs to all users looking for diversification with a single click. Our goal is to enable DAA managers to create diverse DAAs and our users to build rich and versatile digital portfolios.

ICONOMI has become the first blockchain-based company to be proven to be solvent by a Big Four accounting firm. This is a "Self-Regulated Action" in a "Not Yet Regulated Environment". Why have you done it and which kind of feedback did you receive from your users?

Besides providing that we are solvent (i.e. that our reserves are greather than our liabilities), we also set a new standard for the entire blockchain industry. Being the first blockchain company to be blockchain audited by a Big Four professional services firm was a milestone for the industry as a whole, and we hope it will legitimize the field for skeptics.

A user can invest in DAA using cryptocurrencies, such as Ether or Bitcoin, are there plans to enable direct investment with EUR/USD or with a stable coin such as Tether?

Yes, we plan to have a direct fiat gateway on the platform that will enable users to buy DAAs directly through ETH/BTC in a trasparent single step. 

Can you share with us what ICONOMI has in its roadmap in 2018 and coming years?

The best place to find more information about our 2018 roadmap is the "ICONOMI in 2018" blog post we published late last year. Many of the goals outlined in our blog post are in progress or have already been completed, such as the fiat ramp-up, introduction of fees payable in ICN, and the Big Four blockchain audit. Building, creating, and spreading awareness of the future of the blockchain is a constant theme at ICONOMI.

ICONOMI and many other blockchain companies are based in Slovenia. What is making Slovenia such an important blockchain hub?

Slovenia has one of the highest concentration of blockchain companies in the world, and there is a very high level of awareness in the general public. Slovenia is very open to new technology and respects entrepreneurship, and it is this combination that has led to its rise as a blockchain hotspot.

Where do you see the blockchain based ecosystem in 5 years from now?

We hope that five years from now, blockchain will be mainstream and increasing percentage of software will run on blockchain infrastructure, where applicable.