Today I had the pleasure doing an interview with the Team of Legolas Exchange, They were described by Forbes as one of the key players to get institutional investors into the crypto markets, and are currently running an ICO.

How would you describe the main pillars of the project?

Security:

We are incorporating Ledger Hardware Wallets in a decentralized manner into the Legolas ecosystem, as Cold Storage is the most secure way to protect crypto assets from hacking attacks. Our customers will never have to give their assets out of their own hand to trade with them.

We are incorporating Ledger Hardware Wallets in a decentralized manner into the Legolas ecosystem, as Cold Storage is the most secure way to protect crypto assets from hacking attacks. Our customers will never have to give their assets out of their own hand to trade with them. Professionalism:

We have partnered with global brokerage Makor Capital which will provide our customers with custody of their deposits at major banks, and access to hundreds of financial institutions already onboarded. This will enable our customers to withdraw and deposit fiat currencies in very large quantities within a day. This removes a major bottleneck for large investors and traders who are looking to move millions of dollars in a short period of time.

We have partnered with global brokerage Makor Capital which will provide our customers with custody of their deposits at major banks, and access to hundreds of financial institutions already onboarded. This will enable our customers to withdraw and deposit fiat currencies in very large quantities within a day. This removes a major bottleneck for large investors and traders who are looking to move millions of dollars in a short period of time. Transparency:

All exchange operations are traceable in a public blockchain, so all prices are transparent and hence provably fair and represent the actual market. With this we prevent front running and market manipulations which many existing crypto exchanges are frequently accused of.

All exchange operations are traceable in a public blockchain, so all prices are transparent and hence provably fair and represent the actual market. With this we prevent front running and market manipulations which many existing crypto exchanges are frequently accused of. Quality of Service:

We strive to reproduce the same quality of service that is offered to institutional investors on traditional exchanges: Top tier custody (fiat and crypto), verified trade counterparts through complete KYC checks and automated reports on our clients holdings.

What’s the role of the tokens at Legolas Exchange?

The LGO tokens are used to pay the trading fees on Legolas Exchange, similar to existing concepts like Binance uses.

Furthermore the LGO tokens enable holders to participate in votes, as to which altcoin should be added next. The amount of your LGO token holdings will define the weight of your vote. We will already incorporate this in the ICO process, where buyers can vote for 5 coins amongst over 30 altcoins, which will get listed for the initial launch.

About the team and supporters, what are your strengths?

Building a successful Blockchain project is a mix between two things — good entrepreneurs and blockchain specialists. We have both:

Frederic Montagnon (CEO) has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years and created with multiple Startups more than 400 million dollars in value. He has been in the crypto space since 2011.

Ouziel Slama (CTO) was the former lead developer at Counterparty, one of the first decentralized bitcoin exchanges. He and his team of experts have extensive technical experience in blockchain development.

Additionally we bridge the gap to the traditional finance world with our partners Makor and Oscar Gruss. They are experienced brokers who can provide us with their extensive knowledge of institutional investors so that we can build the best product for them. Makor will also leverage their relationships with major global banks in order to provide a custodian solution for institutions who want to trade cryptocurrencies.

Thinking about the future, do you have relevant upgrades or partnerships on track?

We will launch a closed beta in Q1 2018, which will be open to selected clients only, mostly institutional investors, in order to cater to their specific needs.

The first public version will be launched in Q3 2018. We’re working really hard on our crypto custody solution as well as our exchange platform, in order to build the best product possible. We also strive to achieve a premium UI and UX, as we aim to become the new gold standard for crypto exchanges in all aspects.

What’s the added value of Legolas in comparison with other exchanges?

Transparency:

On Legolas, the price is transparent and manipulation free thanks to the Legolas Protocol.

On Legolas, the price is transparent and manipulation free thanks to the Legolas Protocol. Real Fiat Custody:

The fiat money will be custodied by tier one banks, which is not the case with current crypto exchanges.

The fiat money will be custodied by tier one banks, which is not the case with current crypto exchanges. Rock Solid Crypto Custody Technology:

Giving each user access to their cryptos, and actually separating the exchange and the crypto custody services. Ex: if Legolas Exchange is hacked, Legolas Exchange clients will still be able to retrieve their cryptos, which was not the case with Mt.Gox and Bitfinex.

Giving each user access to their cryptos, and actually separating the exchange and the crypto custody services. Ex: if Legolas Exchange is hacked, Legolas Exchange clients will still be able to retrieve their cryptos, which was not the case with Mt.Gox and Bitfinex. Partnerships:

Our partnerships with brokers and actors from the traditional financial world allow us to have access to a broad institutional clients database from day 1.

Evaluation of the current scenario for Legolas and the blockchain industry

According to their whitepaper Legolas burns 25% of the tokens they make through fees on the exchange, on a daily basis. Moreover Legolas prorate 5% of the total token supply every 6 months over a period of 2 years to ICO buyers who did not remove any tokens from the address they originally received them on, which could be an incentive not to sell. So it is a safe assumption the LGO token will become a high value asset in the near future.

The current prospects are very good for Legolas, as there is a huge demand from institutional investors to enter the cryptocurrency market. Unfortunately they cannot do so because the current crypto exchanges do not comply with their requirements in terms of transparency and service levels. By creating the first institutional crypto exchange, Legolas will unlock the doors of the cryptocurrency market to billions of dollars worth of institutional money.

Thanks for your time