Large Cryptocurrency Sums Shouldn’t Be Held in Custody Accounts: Interview with Guilherme Jovanović

BeInCrypto: Indacoin is one of the few service providers that offer crypto purchases with credit cards in Germany. With its implementation of the EU’s AMLD5 directive, Germany has paved the way for banks to offer crypto services. How does the new legislation affect Indacoin? Guilherme Jovanović: In fact, the new legislation does not affect Indacoin, as we were aware that regulations were going to change with AMLD5. Thus, we took several efforts to make the business more stable, complying with the new regulations in advance. There was a large investment in improving the current infrastructure and creating KYC/AML checks. We are also checking crypto addresses to verify where the funds are going, as well as where they are coming from through the blockchain history of those addresses. Since we managed to implement everything last year, we were not affected by AMLD5. BeInCrypto: For many years, ‘Proof of Keys‘ was the prime advice in order to secure one’s crypto holdings. Do you think that this will change with the new legislation? Guilherme Jovanović: I can only speak for our users and honestly, I don’t think that the new legislation will change this, as they are not affected by AMLD5. Indacoin is focused on users that are new to crypto, offering them a simple way to buy cryptocurrency. We don’t require our users to open an Indacoin account, giving them the option to simply send the cryptocurrency they buy from our portal to any wallet they see fit. This could be their personal hot or cold wallet, or an exchange wallet if they prefer. Most of our users don’t hold cryptocurrencies on their Indacoin account, but simply use us as a gateway to obtain cryptocurrency and we don’t want to change that. BeInCrypto: Nevertheless, custodial service providers are getting better at providing security to their customers every day. Many people still think that they really have to hold onto their private keys in order to have possession of their coins. Do you think that this notion will change? Guilherme Jovanović: It could change over time, but it depends on several factors. When our users buy crypto with their credit cards, they usually do so in small amounts. For these sums, it’s not a big deal to hold them in custodial accounts, as these are not the amounts that get targeted. In other cases for instance, where people hold several bitcoins in their exchange wallet, they should be more concerned about hacks. If they are not using their whole crypto balance to trade, they should consider moving it to a wallet, where they control their own keys and don’t have to rely on the exchange. BeInCrypto: Does Indacoin have any intentions of working together with custodial service providers? Guilherme Jovanović: Not at the moment. We are primarily a B2B-platform, enabling users on exchanges or other wallets to buy cryptocurrency using their fiat cards, but we are not in the business of holding coins in custody. Maybe, in the long run, we will expand our services in that regard in order to better target the B2C segment, but at the moment, this does not make sense for us. BeInCrypto: Thank you for the interview. Guilherme Jovanović: Thanks as well. It was a pleasure.