Checksig and the value of bitcoin

Having joined the community only a few months ago, Checksig has continued to grow and make a name for itself. In order to deepen its activity and its projects we asked its founder, Ferdinando Ametrano, to tell us something about them.

How is CheckSig’s business developing? What are the important milestones you have reached?

We have completed the technical developments, perfecting the bitcoin custody solution that has been live since the end of March, but has undergone testing in all possible situations of both stress and attack. We have also completed our regulatory setup to be able to handle everything required or possibly required by the regulator: know-your-customer, anti-money laundering procedures, etc..
In addition to this, we have developed an insurance contract with one of the main Italian insurance companies, so we can also add to the technical security of our custody solution the appropriate insurance guarantees.
Moreover, we have started application for SOC 1 and SOC 2 certifications: these take between 6 and 18 months to obtain but they will be yet another confirmation of the robustness of our processes.

Which customers are you mainly addressing?

As far as individuals are concerned, our solution is aimed at high-net-worth individuals: the minimum threshold to access our services is 10 bitcoins and since July we have been accepting our first customers. We also have an important focus on legal entities, in particular financial institutions. We are engaging in talks with some of the main European financial institutions. For them our custody solution is an important technical enabler to operate with bitcoin. In these cases, however, decisions are also strongly conditioned by regulatory aspects as well as, as for everyone, the degree of risk appetite and the determination to innovate.

How do you think people’s attitudes towards bitcoin have changed and why?

They have not yet changed significantly. The majority of people look at this phenomenon with mistrust because it has been presented as a Ponzi scheme or something interesting only for criminals. When, however, people discover that bitcoin is still alive and well and that it grinds extraordinary yields year after year, they start asking questions and are inevitably attracted by the speculative aspect. Straight after this, they also discover its cultural relevance and begin to appreciate it. At that point the last difficulty remains a technical one: guarding bitcoin safely today is not easy, but this is exactly the moment when our service becomes interesting.

How has covid-19 impacted your business and how do you expect it to impact it in the coming months?

It has not had a significant impact: we were already used to working remotely and our activity is intrinsically based on a decentralized computer protocol that evidently has no interaction with Covid-19. Moreover, we believe that economic crisis scenarios and unbridled global inflationary temptations will play in favor of a safe haven asset like bitcoin.

What growth targets have you set yourselves, in light of all this, for the end of 2020?

From now on, it is important for us to raise capital in safekeeping. Growth targets are 12 months ahead of the calendar year: we aim to reach ten thousand bitcoins (one hundred million dollars) by July 2021.

If you wish to stay updated about news, events and initiatives of the Fintech District, subscribe to our newsletter HERE