An online interview of Gian Bochsler, co-founder of Bity.com, an online platform to buy and sell crypto currencies and EtherCapital.com, a hedge fund to buy and manage ICO’s.

Gian, thank you for your time. I know your agenda is full and you are busy with young projects. Before we talk about your current business, may you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you?

I am an entrepreneur, I worked 20 years in the real estate industry, running an architect studio and construction company. I then created a financial little boutique BochslerFinance.com. In 2012 I discovered and invested in bitcoin and later Ethereum. I decided to get involved in the Blockchain industry and co-founded Bity.com in 2013 and now EtherCapital.com.

Thank you for this introduction. The first time we speak together was on an online community dedicated to the DAO (our readers will easily find online documentations about this project). As shown by the creation in 2003 of Bochsler Finance, you come from the traditional fund management industry. Please explain our readers why you decided to invest in the crypto currency galaxy?

I directly loved the idea of Blockchain and the possibility it offers to disrupt the actual financial industry and much more. To get rid of a third party in a transaction and establishing trust through an open decentralized ledger is a revolution. To help build a fairest economy and in same time getting rid of corruption, manipulation, central power is a change of paradigm for the world we live in.

Can we say Bity is your first business in the crypto currencies? May you tell us what job is doing Bity?

Yes Bity.com (forme SBEX) is my first experience within the crypto industry, Bity is a gate btw the old economy to the crypto economy. We are a platform where you can buy and sell, bitcoin, ether and Augur. We’ll add more asset soon. Our particularity is that we are Swiss based and regulated and accept not only Euro but Swiss Franc. We have also developed a crypto process payment and lately we signed a partnership with Ernst and Young. We do much more, but we are not ready for the official announcement :)

You are living in Paris but your business is in Switzerland. In fact, one can observe a large part of the cryptocurrency industry has settled in Switzerland, and particularly in the city of Zug. According to you, Is there any particular reason?

Well the legislation in Switzerland is more flexible than in other countries where the inertia to make things change is a lot slower. I also think that due to the strong financial tradition in Switzerland there is a will to be at the edge of innovation concerning Fintech. Zug has a strong community, which first started with Ethereum. But now you see Neuchâtel where we are and other state catching up.

Back to your business. With the DAO, your involvement started to increase seriously, as you have been a major actor in this story. It is surprising that despite all the troubles and damaged surrounding this story you decided to stay and expand your operations in this business. How would you explain it?

Well The DAO was a first and incredible experiment. I don’t see it as a failure. It showed how much resilient is the Ethereum Community. A lot of lesson have been learned and the network is stronger now than before. When innovating you’re never really ready, we don’t build now the same plane than 20 years ago and you learn only through practice no being stuck in theory.

Through Bochsler Finance you started to invest in startups with a business model built around the blockchain. Now, your last investment vehicle, Ether Capital, is a fund dedicated to initial token sale. It is until now a private fund, but you will open it in a near future. What is, in short, your main investment process, and how you decide to buy, or not, a ICO?

It is mainly based on two points. 1. What is the problem that the startup is solving 2. Who is the team behind it.

According to your criteria, is Matchpool a good candidate, and why?

The dating and social market is a multi billion industry. To merge this business model within blockchain technology make a lot of sense. But it is very important for the Dev team to think about Ethic and Moral, you don’t want help dangerous people to gathered. I know there is a fine line btw freetech and individual liberty but it is important to be aware of it.

If the MatchPool team convince us it the right team with the right project we’ll invest in it.

One can read here and there in the specialized press that there today is like a general frenzy to buy ICO and some writers are talking of a “speculative bubble”. What is your opinion?

There is definitely a hype in this sector right now, and it s a give a bit the taste of the farwest, not everything is good because it has the stamp blockchain on it. So one must be careful and make it’s own due diligence.

Unless you would like to add something, it is time to leave. We appreciated very much your patience and the time you spent with us. We wish you all the best for your various businesses in the blockchain galaxy.