Since its founding two years in the past, NoOnes, a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform, has achieved lots in a brief area of time. As a visionary entrepreneur, Ray Youssef, NoOnes CEO, helps prepared the ground within the evolving world of crypto. Utilizing Bitcoin as a software, Youssef and his crew imagine it’ll convey empowerment to the International South.
On this unique interview, Rebecca Campbell, crypto content material editor at CoinJournal, spoke with Ray Youssef, co-founder and CEO at NoOnes, to debate NoOnes imaginative and prescient and the way it and Bitcoin are empowering the International South. Youssef dives into the challenges they face, a monetary apartheid in Africa, political pressures from the West, the limitless alternatives for the International South, and the way the connection between crypto and folks is evolving.
Rebecca Campbell (RC): Are you able to inform me about NoOnes and the place the identify got here from?
Ray Youssef (RY): NoOnes is a brilliant app for the International South. We began as a peer-to-peer crypto market, however we all the time deliberate on being way more than that. In lower than two years we’ve added a spot trade and a digital VISA card, and we’re about to launch our NoOnes reward card. We’re additionally a messenger app and you may even top-up your cell phone. NoOnes is constructed for the individuals of the International South, so we don’t have the issues of a US-based enterprise making an attempt to serve individuals within the International South.
The best way NoOnes obtained its identify is a shaggy dog story. When NoOnes was only a dream, a collection of brainstorming periods with the fellows who helped get it began, I’d been having these random ideas about our household canine who had died about 15 years earlier than. Her identify was Heidie, however my mom gave her a nickname – Noons.
I cherished that canine and for some purpose, she was consistently in my ideas round that point, so sooner or later as a joke I stated, “We must always name the corporate Noons.” I wrote it down on a chunk of paper and noticed that it learn like NoOnes, and I assumed it was excellent. It captures the reality about what we needed to do with a decentralized market. Your cash is NoOnes enterprise. Your knowledge is NoOnes enterprise. What you are promoting is NoOnes enterprise.
RC: What are your imaginative and prescient and objectives with NoOnes?
RY: Ever since I spotted the facility of crypto and peer-to-peer, my imaginative and prescient and objectives haven’t modified. There are lots of people in crypto who wish to get wealthy, however that’s by no means actually motivated me. I noticed crypto as a leveler, an equalizer. And I noticed the way it might make a distinction to individuals consistently left behind by the monetary system as a result of their cash is the flawed shade or their passport is the flawed sort.
As quickly as I noticed the potential of crypto and peer-to-peer working collectively to create this eco-system that permits any type of cash to grow to be one other type of cash, I knew it was a mechanism that might finish monetary apartheid. I name it monetary apartheid as a result of that’s what the worldwide monetary system is – it discriminates in opposition to individuals due to who they’re and the place they arrive from. I’ve recognized that for a very long time. With NoOnes, we are able to change that as a result of we’re based mostly within the International South and tailor our merchandise to swimsuit the individuals who want them most.
My imaginative and prescient is to see a whole lot of cities like Dubai everywhere in the International South, with individuals buying and selling freely, constructing wealth and making their lives and their household’s lives higher.
RC: Are you able to speak in regards to the function NoOnes and Bitcoin will play in empowering the International South?
RY: Initially, we’re based mostly right here. Meaning now we have boots on the bottom and may speak to the individuals who use our market to purchase crypto, commerce reward playing cards, make funds, remittances, no matter. Our merchandise should not based mostly on a Western mannequin after which pressured on individuals as a result of they don’t have any different possibility.
Take KYC, for instance. Once I was within the US, we regularly needed to file a suspicious exercise report and lock a International South buyer’s funds when, for no matter purpose, they have been flagged on the system. Then we needed to wait till the American regulators obtained again to us to say, “Okay, you’ll be able to let these guys go.” Generally, we needed to wait years till we might launch a buyer’s funds.
In the meantime, these individuals, who did nothing flawed, needed to wait till the regulator stated they may entry their very own cash. Within the meantime, they needed to discover cash from someplace else to cowl what the regulators locked away. Even the banks can’t try this, however Uncle Sam can. It was loopy. Why ought to we put our prospects by that form of ache?
The US nonetheless controls Africa to such an extent that it’s troublesome for nations to commerce with one another. That’s a part of the monetary apartheid I speak about. Look what occurred not too long ago with Binance. A brand new CEO is available in and the very first thing they do is disable Pan-African commerce on Binance peer-to-peer. Kenyans can solely commerce with Kenyans and Ghanaians can solely commerce with Ghanaians.
That’s the precise coverage the US has been utilizing to maintain Africa and the remainder of the International South poor. We’re altering that. I spend quite a lot of my time advocating for Pan-African commerce. It’s a vital a part of making the International South rich. Think about if some man operating a enterprise in New York couldn’t commerce with a enterprise in New Jersey. Would any American put up with that? Why ought to Africans?
RC: What are the challenges and alternatives you face in reaching this for Bitcoin to achieve its full potential within the International South?
RY: There are many challenges going through us, however the greatest one is coping with the political strain from the West. Anybody who goes in opposition to the West and their central bankers goes to be resisted. The governments and elites who run the worldwide monetary system are sturdy as a result of they’ve a collection of sliders, a bunch of levers they will push and pull to regulate every part.
They will pull a technique and say, “Oh, Nigeria, you haven’t been listening to us, so we’re going to take your slider all the way in which right down to zero.” They will transfer these levers at any time, in order that they have super energy, and so they can management the economies of the world. They will punish or reward a market, even entire economies, and we have to offset this.
Crypto and peer-to-peer are the offsets, and that’s why the West has such an issue with crypto. It’s why they put individuals who don’t comply with their mannequin in jail.
The alternatives within the International South are limitless. Africa has the fastest-growing inhabitants of any continent. It has 1.5 billion individuals, and the following 25 years will add nearly one other billion. There’s a youth unemployment drawback proper now, however I see that as a possibility. I’ve met so many younger Africans who’re savvy and dynamic and so they all wish to succeed. I’ve seen lots of them use our market to become profitable, to start out companies, and to vary their lives.
India additionally has superb alternatives, as does Latin America. There are such a lot of alternatives in all of those locations for individuals to create companies by piggybacking on our platform – that’s one of many best successes of NoOnes, I feel. We are able to’t have success until we assist others have success, and the ethics of that’s largely lacking within the company world immediately.
Which firms are giving again 50% of their earnings to the individuals who use their merchandise? We’re doing that at NoOnes. We now have bonuses, incentives, and a Accomplice Program that rewards the individuals who assist us develop as a result of we wish individuals to assist us unfold the phrase in regards to the energy of crypto and peer-to-peer. We want the International South to know that it doesn’t must accept a Western mannequin that doesn’t swimsuit its wants.
If we add up all of these issues – dynamic, savvy younger people who find themselves hardworking and able to grasp alternatives, a common container for cash that can also be a retailer of wealth, and the NoOnes market that offers the International South entry to finance and free commerce – we are going to attain the total potential of the International South, and I feel it will probably occur rapidly. Most individuals within the West will probably be astonished by it.
RC: How is NoOnes totally different from what you probably did at Paxful?
RY: Paxful had a significant drawback – it was based mostly within the US. I’ve already talked about KYC and all the issues we encountered making an attempt to assist individuals within the International South as a US firm. You possibly can’t do it – and it’s getting worse. Have a look at what occurred to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, [the former CEO of Binance]. He went to jail. Look at what happened to Pavel Durov, the Telegram CEO – he went to jail the minute his airplane landed in France.
I had the identical imaginative and prescient at Paxful that I’ve now, and possibly it took me too lengthy to understand that I couldn’t obtain my mission of operating a US firm. However now the shackles are off. Nothing is holding us again now that we’re based mostly within the International South.
I realized years in the past that my precedence needs to be to serve my customers, my prospects. They will fireplace the CEO. I realized that serving to my dad and mom run a newsstand on Columbus Circle in New York Metropolis after I was a child.
Within the US, the primary precedence for many firms is to serve the federal government, then, in the event that they’re completely happy, you’ll be able to assist your prospects. That’s not proper. And I gained’t try this. We noticed what occurred with Binance. They gave up their person knowledge to the [Israeli Defense Forces] IDF and a whole lot of individuals misplaced hundreds of thousands of {dollars} – and a few of them have been killed. Examine the NoOnes privateness coverage to the Binance privateness coverage. We gained’t hand over our person knowledge. I couldn’t say that after I was CEO of Paxful.
RC: How do you see NoOnes evolving within the subsequent 5-10 years?
RY: NoOnes goes to get greater, that’s for certain. Generally I’ve to remind myself that we didn’t exist two years in the past as a result of we’ve come to this point in such a short while, however that is solely the beginning. Folks may consider us as a crypto peer-to-peer market, however we’re all the time including new merchandise, making current ones higher, and we take heed to our customers so we can provide them what they want.
I speak about our enterprise as an ecosystem as a result of that’s one of the simplest ways to explain how we’re evolving. We created a market for crypto and reward playing cards, we added a spot trade and different merchandise, and we feed earnings again into that ecosystem. Individuals are constructing their companies on prime of our platform.
Expats working abroad ship cash house and notice our platform is a greater, sooner, and cheaper means of doing it than utilizing a conventional cash changer – so they begin doing it for his or her pals and create a aspect hustle. Somebody must make a fee abroad, however they don’t have a checking account, in order that they use our platform – they see how easy it’s, so they begin a enterprise doing the identical for different individuals. And all of it feeds again into the ecosystem.
Think about all these companies taking the place of the standard banks and cash changers – the wealth stays within the International South as an alternative of lining the pockets of all of the executives working for banks and monetary establishments within the West. That’s a part of the explanation they don’t like what we do.
Think about when all of the individuals within the International South notice how straightforward it’s to make these modifications. How straightforward it’s to cease the drain on the sources of the International South – it’s been taking place for hundreds of years and it has to cease, and it’ll. In 5 years, possibly much less, NoOnes will probably be main that drive and the International South will probably be on the way in which to turning into a superpower.
RC: How do you see the connection between crypto and the broader inhabitants evolving?
RY: That’s an ideal query as a result of it’s the entrance line within the battle happening in the mean time. Earlier than I understood crypto I assumed it was simply “Web humorous cash.” Most individuals nonetheless suppose that means now as a result of they don’t perceive it. I’m unsure governments perceive it that effectively, however they understand it’s a risk to the established order. That’s why they tried to cease it, and that’s why they’re making an attempt to regulate it now.
The true energy on this planet is the one which controls the cash system. The individuals in energy have levers they use to maintain us in our place, and the style by which we reverse engineer it have to be defined very clearly and logically for individuals if we’re to achieve getting them to assist us repair the present state of humanity.
In easy phrases, I’m speaking a few forex battle, and after I say forex I imply something that could be a retailer of worth and could be traded. Finally, the individuals will probably be gained over to crypto as a result of its energy can’t be denied – even governments acknowledge this now. Some nations banned it, then they realized its utility, and now they’re making an attempt to manage it. Crypto isn’t going away.
The true query is whether or not the essence of it will get destroyed within the strategy of being accepted by the broader inhabitants. Crypto was designed to be trustless and permissionless – which means we don’t must belief some authorities or company to think about its worth.
RC: What’s NoOnes specializing in in the mean time?
RY: Our focus is on our three core values – everybody eats, bullish training, and revolutionary transparency.
I’ve already talked about giving again 50% of our earnings and our companion program, and that’s a part of what we imply by “everybody eats.” I don’t wish to get wealthy on the expense of the individuals who use our merchandise. Some individuals snigger at me after I say I’m on a mission, however I’ve been saying it for greater than a decade as a result of it’s true. We gained’t be completely happy if we’re profitable and others round us should not, in order that’s why everybody eats is necessary.
One other precept is revolutionary transparency. Plenty of companies speak about being clear, however most of them don’t comply with by. For this reason we get issues like we noticed with FTX. NoOnes is totally different. Anybody who needs to see the enterprise knowledge I see about NoOnes can see it by trying on the CEO Dashboard on our app.
Proper now, our greatest focus is on training. I’ve talked in regards to the alternatives within the International South, however these alternatives gained’t imply something if individuals don’t find out about them and grow to be educated about how crypto may also help them clear up issues. We created the NoOnes Academy so individuals can be taught not solely learn how to commerce profitably, but additionally how they will do it safely.
Some individuals may wish to make a fee or ship cash house, however they’re fearful of crypto as a result of they’ve heard nasty tales within the media. We wish to educate them in order that they perceive how straightforward it really works and the way a lot utility it has. Some individuals may simply use it in a small means – serving to them pay for one thing as a result of they don’t have a VISA card or a checking account. Others may be expert and savvy, however they’re unemployed and so they’re seeking to earn cash to pay the payments or to start out a enterprise – they may discover ways to commerce reward playing cards or crypto by the NoOnes Academy.
If sufficient individuals grow to be educated about how our tremendous app works, the International South will change dramatically.
RC: What are your plans for NoOnes when it comes to progress and improvement?
RY: I’ve already talked about Dubai, but it surely’s an ideal instance of the way forward for the International South. Lots of people suppose Dubai has had large progress due to oil, however that’s simply not true. Sheikh Mohammed made commerce straightforward and the atmosphere business-friendly, and fairly quickly the cash flowed into Dubai like a river. The cash that got here in was then fed again into improvement and we are able to see the end result immediately.
My imaginative and prescient is to see cities like Dubai throughout the International South, with NoOnes main the way in which. We are going to present the infrastructure, the training and the alternatives, and which means being on the bottom, listening to individuals so we can provide them what they should assist them develop. We’ve finished it with our peer-to-peer market, our spot trade, a digital VISA card, and reward playing cards – and new merchandise are coming.
We’re a peer-review credit score rating so customers will get a ranking that can be utilized to supply financing for start-ups and enterprise homeowners. We wish to fine-tune our messaging operate as a result of that’s an effective way to draw individuals we are able to educate on the advantages of crypto.
We want extra individuals to assist us develop, so we’ll be hiring individuals on the bottom wherever we do enterprise. Already our customers are serving to us by making content material to assist educate their fellow residents. Our progress and improvement all the time revolve round work. Free commerce permits the cash to move and that places individuals to work to allow them to create their wealth. I really imagine in common wealth, however that solely occurs when the roadblocks to progress are eliminated. To try this we should have the individuals behind us, and that’s why training is so necessary.
Our purpose was for NoOnes to have a billion customers inside seven years, and if we do that we’ll convey the International South nearer to the wealth it’s been denied for thus lengthy.