Next, we will share a part of the interview conducted in 2023 with Victor Romero (CEO of UAB Pilsenga) on the Crox Road podcast, where we will learn more about Pilsenga and how they were Victor’s beginnings in the crypto and Fintech world.
How did you first learn about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies?
That’s a very good question. I was introduced to Bitcoin in 2016 thanks to a couple of factors. In fact, the first time I heard about Bitcoin was in 2012, during the World Economic Forum. I was visiting Panama, where many presidents were attending the World Economic Forum conference.
In fact, it was a panel on Bitcoin in 2012 where they were talking about an email about Bitcoin, because Bitcoin was already booming at that time, but I wasn’t paying much attention. It was like a topic that wasn’t the focus of the event, but it was there.
I was living in Venezuela at the time, and it was also very common to talk about Bitcoin there because we had exchange controls, which is why I love to say that we “come from the future,” because the fiduciary system has already failed in my country.
In 2013, unfortunately, due to the circumstances in Venezuela, I had to emigrate to the United States, and there I continue hearing about Bitcoin. In fact, one day I started mining Ethereum, and I remember telling one of my relatives: I’m going to start collecting my roommate’s payments in Bitcoin.
It cost around 7,000 to 8.00 USD, and from then on I started using Bitcoin and started taking it seriously.
When did you become a Bitcoiner?
It was the day my passport expired in the United States, because Venezuela entered into a dispute with the United States, and they expelled all the Venezuelan embassies, so I had no way to renew it. My passport expired.
I went to Wells Fargo, a popular bank in the United States, and tried to withdraw my money, but they couldn’t give it to me because they needed a valid ID. And I was like, “But this is my passport.” I put it in the scanner so the system would know it was valid, but the system wasn’t set up for that, and I just couldn’t get my money.
So, in the end, the solution was that they went to the branch where they issued a check to a friend of mine, who had to come to the branch to cash that check for me. So, in that sense, I was able to collect my money, but that day I said that the fiat system wasn’t going to work even in the United States, that it wasn’t going to work because I was there with my expired passport, and they couldn’t recognize me as the holder. So that day, I said that Bitcoin was going to ” reign”.
These problems present an opportunity to offer solutions, and one of these solutions is Pilsenga. What is Pilsenga? Can you explain it to me?
Since I became a Bitcoiner in the United States, I decided to create the first money transmitter in the state of Florida, at that time it was the year 2016, which was quite difficult for us, as a financial institution (to obtain a custodial bank account to receive funds from customers).
So, we tried dozens of banks to try to get the bank account, and when we were able to stabilize this and allow the bank accounts to operate, we had the difficulty of our customers seeing their bank accounts closed for buying Bitcoin, which was legal, but the banks just didn’t understand what Bitcoin was at the time.
So, after an intense migration to Europe, expanding companies to Europe, I realized that Neo Banks are a necessity in the market, especially if you specialize in the blockchain industry and many other high-risk industries that need to understand regulatory compliance in order to offer banking services.
So I decided to create the first Neo Bank that offers IBAN in euros with SEPA transactions for crypto businesses. This means that if you are an exchange platform, a company that invests in Bitcoin, or has any relationship with Bitcoin and your conventional bank doesn’t understand what you do, we can be the right solution, for which we will ask the right questions.
For example, something as simple as imagining you’re a minor and need to convert your rewards to pay your utility bill. If you work with a conventional bank, they’ll tell you, “Oh, you’re using Bitcoin, you’re losing money.” That response will be because they simply don’t understand the subject. But for us, it’s simple, as we would ask: Mine as an individual?
The process would then go something like this: Okay, please take a photo of your mining equipment. Please send us a utility bill as proof that you use power for mining. If you’re performing a proof of work, please send us a copy of the servers you use for this, so we can run the notes.
We understand the industry and know how to ask the right questions to comply with the law and conduct a legitimate transaction for you. This is how Pilsenga was born, because we came from blockchain to banking to offer and solve the banking needs of companies working with cryptocurrencies.
What are the requirements for opening an account? What’s the process for opening an account at Pilsenga?
Well, that will depend on your sector of activity and whether you are a personal or business customer, but KYC and KYB are fairly standard in most banks. We will probably ask more questions than a conventional bank, because we have to create the customer profile and ask the right questions.
So, for example, if you’re a mining company, we’ll ask you questions about mining and document all that information to include in your customer profile. Typical documents include: Articles of Association, Institution, company capitalization table, shareholders, shareholder KYC, proof of address, and bank statement.
If you are a new business, of course, you won’t need a bank statement, but you will need proof of address and other documents that are very conventional or standard for the financial industry.
I guess they’re also highly regulated, right?
We’re regulated, but we’re a solution that works. You’ll answer the questions we’ll ask you, because you just need to operate transparently in everything you do. So, if you don’t answer the question, of course, you’re a customer, but the bank won’t do AB anymore because we’re regulated, so that’s it. Pilsenga is a regulated institution, and we require KYC clearance if you require these services; otherwise, we won’t be able to provide the service.
What are your plans? What do you expect from Pilsenga?
I think we have five years of growth ahead of us, as we’re tied to a fairly solid and rapidly growing industry. I think Pilsenga will grow three times per year over the next five years.
We’re a conventional company. We’re not in the business of creating “hot water,” nor are we speculators. We simply offer banking services and provide dedicated, quality customer service. We’re not the cheapest on the market, but we do offer something that some businesses need. That’s why we’re competing on the quality of service right now. We’re not the cheapest, but we’re not that expensive either.
So we are the ideal option and we try to provide a really good service. It is expected that next year (2024 ) we will have around 300 customers and in 2025 we will be close to 1000 customers.
I think the new digital banking industry is going to fragment. There will be around 1,000 new banks offering tailored services for businesses, because each company requires special treatment, special understanding, and special customer service.
Video
You can watch the full interview on Pilsenga’s YouTube channel:
Interview with Victor Romero, CEO of Pilsenga
What do you think about this topic? Would you like to learn more about Pilsenga’s business financial services?
For more information you can visit the official Pilsenga website.
