Dmitry Pluschevsky, GoldMint founder and CEO, described the way he came to the concept of a decentralized P2P lending market and to the idea of tokenized gold which is likely to become a universal instrument for hedging risks on the cryptocurrency market.

Q1: How did you first learn about the P2P lending market?

A1: In early 2015, when attending the IPO event of Lending Club (http://www.lendingclub.com), I was introduced to the P2P lending market. At that time, I was serving as Director of Business Development at Typhoon.vc venture capital.

Since it was my job to locate new opportunities and new markets based on the firm’s direction, I studied Lending Club’s business model. Based on that research, I found out that their unsecured loans were not satisfactory for P2P lending.

There had been too many incidents like the borrowers did not pay back the loan. Thus, the lenders suffered a loss. Also, the process of evaluating borrowers took too much time.

However, the idea of P2P lending and the market sparked my interest. I continued studying the various options available in organizing P2P lending. At one point, I was introduced to the pawnshop market.

Q2: What is so distinctive about the pawnshop market?

A2: I believe that the pawnshop concept can be applied as the foundation for P2P lending worldwide. It is a fascinating conservative market that is safe and fair for both the lender and the borrower. It provides great income without any risk and also has “social responsibility.”

The borrower would only receive a loan based on the value of the property. In the event of bad credit, in which the borrower does not pay back the loan, they would not be blacklisted and wouldn’t be chased by debt collectors. The idea is simple: after the deposit has changed custody, the pawnshop receives the money and resumes with what they do.

That is it! I was elated and started searching for investment projects with this concept. Apparently, there was none. Naturally, I started thinking to develop my own pawnshop project.

Q3: How long did it take for you to realize the project?

A3: It took me one year to do all the preparations and gather a team. I had to convince people who are experienced in running large pawnshop networks and purchasing gold.

Finally, in July 2016, my team and I started a project named LOT-ZOLOTO (http://www.lot-zoloto.ru), which was the first step toward transforming the pawnshop market by buying unclaimed deposits.

Q4: What do you think is the foundation of the business?

A4: Fast, profitable and legal are the three keywords that serve as the foundation of our business.

Q5: How much revenue did it make?

A5: Over time, LOT-ZOLOTO started receiving over ₽500 million in revenue per month, established connections with all pawnshops in the country, and converted more than 350 kg of 585-carat gold every month.

Q6: What was the second phase of the business?

A6: Next, we developed a specialized software for pawnshops on 1C base and implemented a range of cashless solutions, such as “Wealth” pawnshop card (http://www.easy-pawn.ru).

Afterward, we helped to develop the Russian National Pawnshop Union and hosted two large conferences every year.

Q7: How did you start Goldmint? Also, what is Goldmint?

A7: I was about to arrive at that part. That was how we got the idea for starting Goldmint. Goldmint is a platform where gold is tokenized. It also implements several investment scenarios and introduces a secure P2P lending system.

We introduced three key products for Goldmint. First, it is a digital asset GOLD that is equivalent to 1 oz (31 g) of 999-carat gold. Second, MNT internal token is used for GOLD transaction validation. Third, Custody Bot is a vending machine-like instrument for gold storage and assessment.

Q8: Would you provide details about the three products?

A8: Put it simply, GOLD is an asset 100% backed by physical gold or ETF. It is used to implement different investment scenarios, like trust management and P2P lending, which can be a great instrument for hedging risks in the cryptocurrency market.

MNT token is the Goldmint internal currency which plays an important role in GOLD transaction validation. MNT holders validate blocks and receive a reward which is 75% from the GOLD transaction commission. The commission is 0,3% for any sum and any country. The other 25% are transferred to various charity organizations, and the rest kept for the platform’s future development.

Automated safe depository Custody Bot is a vending machine-like instrument, which is equipped with a spectrometer, a scale, and a deposit transfer system. The information about gold quality and weight will be automatically sent to the blockchain without human involvement.

Shortly, Custody Bots will be installed in pawnshops and trade centers. This will mark the first milestone in secured P2P lending. One of GOLD investment scenarios includes the ability to provide trust management to individuals who hand over their GOLD assets for obtaining a loan.

Q9: What technologies do you use to implement the platform?

A9: On the technology side, we had decided to launch the Goldmint blockchain using Graphene Open Source solution. This does not require us to develop blockchain from scratch. Instead, we will adapt a solution, which has been tested in a variety of large projects.

Q10: What is the prediction of the first year’s performance?

A10: Today, pawnshops all over the world have gathered more than 300 tons of gold totalling $11 billion. It is predicted that in the first year following the launch, Goldmint will be able to grant more than $1 billion worth of loans. Moreover, every loan transaction will be recorded by the blockchain.

Q11: What do you consider to be the biggest value of GOLD?

A11: GOLD is actually a universal tool which can be used for various purposes. Namely:

Following legal and taxation integration with banks, GOLD provides a secure instrument for individuals and businesses to enter the crypto market. GOLD would serve as a stepping stone that bridges fiat currencies with crypto currencies.

GOLD can be used to hedge the risk of losses in the volatile cryptocurrency market.

It can also be used as a payroll unit for transborder and other payments.

GOLD is fast, secure, and transparent to be used in various transactions due to its price stability so that it would not become a subject for argument.

GOLD can be used as an ICO currency because it is stable in price and can serve as a secure currency to draw investments.

Q12: How was the pre-ICO event? When is the ICO?

A12: In May 2017, we successfully held a pre-ICO event, where we raised $600 000 in 36 hours.

We plan to hold an ICO in Autumn, where 10 million MNT tokens will be sold. In Spring 2018, they will be exchanged to Goldmint MNT tokens. The ICO will be conducted on Ethereum platform.

Q13: Who are the advisors of Goldmint?

A13: Goldmint is fortunate to have experienced financial market experts. Without them, the realization of Goldmint would not have been possible.

GoldMint project is supported by:

Igor Ryabenkiy https://facebook.com/igor.ryabenkiy

Serge Umansky https://medium.com/@inchain/real-business-people-believe-in-blockchain-5cc5f50d213f

Oleg Seydak https://facebook.com/oseydak

Alex Butmanov https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=100012237450995

Eugeniy Ezhov https://facebook.com/Ezhov.home

Alexey Antonov https://facebook.com/auantonov

Alexey Chuykin https://facebook.com/alexey.chuykin

Kirill Zhukov https://facebook.com/kirill.zhukov.spb

Julian L. Zegelman https://facebook.com/jzegelman

Igor Lemh https://facebook.com/lemhk.igor

Alexey Lazutin https://facebook.com/alazutin

Andrey Zhyrnih https://facebook.com/andreyzhirnykh

Segle Lonshakov https://facebook.com/EnsRationis2020