Established Singapore crypto exchange, COSS which stands for Cryptocurrency One Stop Solution, has recently undergone some major improvements and also released a new trading token. We take a closer look at the platform as we sit down for a chat with COSS Founder and CEO, Rune Evensen.

COSS Founder and CEO, Rune Evensen

B.G.) Why did you decide to open a cryptocurrency exchange?

R.E.) My original plan was to build a one-stop solution for social media but with an internal payment system, that is, Facebook credits. But many asked me why not use a crypto currency so I then started to look deeper into the crypto space and very soon, I figured out that a one-solution was more needed in this industry instead. Since then I have become an eager student of this nascent industry. The learning curve has been steep but I have thoroughly enjoyed the process.

B.G.) What were some of the biggest challenges you had to face with COSS?

R.E.) Understaffed and underfunded has been a large challenge, especially when many of our “competitors” raised tenfold of what we did and could scale a lot faster than us. However, as you might know, we have stayed true to our mission and we are still here and building towards the future.

B.G.) Give us 3-5 good reasons why you think people should trade on the COSS platform as opposed to the others?

R.E.) Transparency, willingness to evolve, support and the fact that we still have a lot of growth ahead of us. So in theory our upside should be larger than with many of our “competitors”, and with a lot of new things coming, I think we can show the world just how innovative we can be.

At Block Live Asia 2019 Jetcoin-COSS after-party with listed COSS project Wanchain

B.G.) Some exchanges like Binance for example, pay their employees partially in crypto. Does COSS practise this? Why or why not?

R.E.) We do have some optional token programs for staff both when it comes to salaries and bonuses. This is not something that is implemented as a standard yet and one reason is that you need to have an even more liquid token in order to do so. You don’t want your own staff to be the ones holding the price down. Definitely our users would not appreciate that. However, for the bigger exchanges with 100M+ in volume, it is not an issue as some staff sales will clearly not impact the market.

B.G.) What are your views on stable coins?

R.E.) Definitely needed and very much welcomed in the industry. Maybe a bit too many are popping up and we have to be aware of the real ones vs the “fake” ones. A true and real stable coin is BACKED by real value, not only PEGGED to it. And it needs to be fully auditable and transparent.

B.G.) You recently launched the Coss Fee Token (CFT). However you also have the COSS Token. Why did you not combine the functionality of CFT with the COSS token and just have one token for the platform?

R.E.) In theory they could very much be one and the same token and the question was asked multiple times by our community. However this was also a form of a second fund-raiser for us and that would not have been possible if we implemented the same function in the existing token. But with that said, we do listen to our community and something big is about to change really soon!

B.G.) What are your views on decentralized exchanges?

R.E.) Dex’es will have a huge impact on the industry, although not all the tech is there yet to have it fully functional across all chains and FIAT options, but it is getting there and obviously this is something we are also looking into at COSS.

B.G.) Can you comment on the current regulatory landscape for the crypto scene in general and then in Singapore in particular?

R.E.) Regulations are coming for sure and those that have neglected them will be left behind. The times of regulatory arbitrage by jumping from jurisdiction to jurisdiction will soon be over. The world is becoming smaller and smaller. Countries are still taking different approaches where some say crypto is money, others say crypto is securities while Singapore decided to sit back and create brand new regulations. These regulations will very soon come into play as they have already passed parliament. We have been involved in this process ever since the consultation paper came out from MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) early 2017 and we feel we are well-prepared and positioned to obtain the license once we are able to apply. This will be a game-changer in the industry as many have chosen Singapore as their incorporation hub without maybe actually having any operations here. With the new regulations coming, we will hopefully see more fully operational companies in Singapore rather than a lot of mail box incorporations.

B.G.) Tell us some exciting things we can expect from COSS for the rest of 2019.

R.E.) I wish I had hours for this question, but we are in the midst of releasing an announcement already this week that will cover a lot of our plans ahead. With respect to my community, I can’t yet reveal the plans in this interview, but do follow our announcements later this week through our social media channels and newsletters. Yes please stay tuned.