Interview with Bryan Seiler: How To Approach Things From a User Perspective

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@ Sergeenkov Andrey Sergeenkov Cryptocurrency investor and trader

Bryan Seiler is the Founder and CEO at TAGZ: Australia’s largest crypto exchange. Ranked 1st on Coinmarketcap at the time of writing this with a 24-hour trade volume of $4.239 Billion, TAGZ prides itself as being fully regulated and licensed by the Australian Securities and Investment commission (ASIC). TAGZ is also AML/CTF compliant and registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

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I sat down with Mr. Seiler to talk about his background, how TAGZ has grown to eclipse better-known exchanges and about the crypto and blockchain environment in Australia.

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Please give us a brief history of your entrepreneurial experience.

From a young age I always had a burning desire to be successful in business and learnt through my early years that ‘working for the man’ wasn’t going to cut it. I knew that I needed to be my own boss and began starting up mini internet enterprises in different niches which ultimately led to upscaling things on a much bigger scale. I taught myself every step of the way from business basics to financial forecasting, sales, marketing, networking, seo, sem and of course blockchain along with a little programming knowledge.

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As an entrepreneur, what inspired you towards building and launching TAGZ?

I saw a gap in the industry with regards to the regulative aspect of operating an exchange in Australia and knew that with my knowledge, skills and determination to excel, I was completely confident in being able to deliver what I set out to accomplish.

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TAGZ was launched in March of 2019. What main factors have contributed to its growth?

TAGZ has a unique proposition with a number of benefits compared to other competitors. Our philosophy is to approach things from a user perspective so as long as we keep on protecting, securing and doing the right thing by looking after our users, this will ultimately lead to evenmore sustained natural growth.

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Do you consider other crypto exchanges as competitors or is there camaraderie between the major players?

I would be lying if I said greed wasn’t a thing. By this I mean that any great CEO wants to acquire as much market share as possible in the vertical they are in. I do see the main top 3 key players as competitors that have the upper advantage of being first out the gate however this also comes with its advantages of being able to notice the things they are doing right along with identifying their weaknesses and flaws. This allows TAGZ to mold itself accordingly by using the bits that work well and upgrading the things that don’t.

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Other crypto exchange CEOs such as CZ and Arthur Hayes are quite vocal on social media. Do you plan a similar approach as you expand TAGZ globally?

At this point in time I believe my time is better spent on the actual business by expanding our user base and attaining new partnerships rather than nonsense tweets that really do nothing more than to stir the pot which is quite unnecessary. In time my view may change as I may become more personally active on social media as the TAGZ brand itself grows into a more moldable beast.

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TAGZ has a strict KYC and AML policy. How have you made the process attractive to retail traders?

Retail traders should look at a strict KYC and AML policy as a prerequisite when using an exchange. Having KYC is a key positive attribute when it comes to a user needing to regain access to his/her account. Etc; if a user loses their 2FA device and cannot login to their trading account, they would then request an account 2FA reset through a support request, but what if they did not have any ID/KYC on their account - how would we be able to identify that the user is indeed genuine and not fraudulent? There would be no way to be certain so this is why KYC should be mandatory on all exchanges to protect the individual user aswell as adhering to regulative policy.

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TAGZ stopped supporting IEOs this year citing a market shift and a high rate of scams. What can be made to make the process of investing in crypto projects safer?

The belief is to use a trusted exchange that holds their clients safety as #1 priority and by doing so also has a security & compliance department whom have a stringent listing process for which all due diligence has been done accordingly. This in return grants users peace of mind knowing that the likelihood of outright scam tokens being added to the exchange has been greatly diminished allowing users to breathe easy.

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Do you plan on supporting STOs considering you are licensed by ASIC?

The stopping of IEO’s fall into the same overall category of fund raising much in the same way do STO’s, so there is no forecast of adding them for the foreseeable future.

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Many exchanges are introducing crypto derivatives to retail traders. How will TAGZ differentiate itself from the rest in this regard?

In our original whitepaper we discussed the benefits and future outlook of creating our own derivatives which embody certain altcoins that fit inside custom indexes that we will offer to trade through leverage trading. This will allow greater diversity and a safer trading experience for all users looking to long or short markets.

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Last year, a large number of crypto exchanges were hacked including Cryptopia. What is TAGZ doing to ensure the security of its user’s digital assets on the platform?

TAGZ Exchange runs over multi-server layers with full SHA-384 encryption along with multisig wallets and 2FA access for the main part. On top of this we have a proprietary AI algorithm which monitors all activity behind the scenes and acts in real-time if any threat is perceived or any noticeable pattern of behaviour is ‘out of the norm’. We also only hold a maximum of 10% funds in hot wallets so hypothetically even if a hack was remotely possible, user funds would not be greatly impacted at all.

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We’ve seen the effects of climate change in Australia with the recent devastating wildfires. What are your thoughts on Bitcoin mining contributing to global warming?

I’m of the personal opinion that by saying Bitcoin contributes toward global warming is the same as saying we should stop evolving as a planetary species by ending all technology advancements because robots will replace all human jobs. These statements are silly notions as we will continue to evolve and break-through new ground like phasing out the use of fossil fuels and utilising battery/electric power in modes of transport instead like what we’ve already seen. Technology ramps up quicker than what we think and it will take a long long time before global warming reaches the severity of an inhabitable zone and by then I think we would have the ability ourselves to control those elements by identifying as a Type 1 civilisation at that point in time anyway.

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Australia has led the charge in crypto and blockchain regulation going as far as stating BTC should be treated as property. Has this contributed to crypto adoption in your country?

Australia certainly has part adoption by hundreds of businesses accepting Bitcoin as payment in all major cities. Granted these businesses are mostly small retail shops and we haven’t yet seen employee wages being paid in Bitcoin, but we are seeing new Bitcoin ATM’s popping up daily aswell as new retailers accepting the digital currency. Like anything, let time play out naturally and let adoption grow organically as people begin to trust Bitcoin more and more as time progresses.

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