A conversation with Todd Crosland, CEO of the digital asset exchange service: CoinZoom

CoinZoom, with clients in 194 countries, is a next-generation digital asset exchange that offers superior trading quality, client-centric tools and technology to help clients become successful traders.

CoinZoom is more than just an exchange – it offers services to buy, sell and spend Bitcoin, Ethereum and 40+ top digital currencies, while their NFT marketplace is the simplest and most user-friendly marketplace to buy, sell and securely store NFTs. CoinZoom’s flagship product is the CoinZoom Visa card, which allows customers to instantly convert crypto to fiat and spend it at over 53 million merchants worldwide while receiving up to 5% back in crypto on every purchase.

What drew you to work in crypto?

Despite the apparent potential of cryptocurrencies, more needs to be done to unlock these benefits.

While the digitization of financial services has paved the way for a new era of more efficient and convenient banking, the cryptocurrency industry continues to lag behind in terms of ease of use and integration with the broader payments infrastructure. Although global cryptocurrency usage has grown by 800 percent in 2021, investing in and exchanging crypto is still not as widespread as traditional banking or fiat services, and the ability to use them to pay for goods and services use remains severely limited.

Bitcoin ATMs, for example, charge hefty transaction fees of up to 20 percent and can take up to 15 minutes to complete a transaction. Additionally, the anonymity allowed in their use means they have become a serious target for money laundering and fraud. Depositing funds into a crypto investment account can also be complex and costly.

If crypto is to reach its full potential and play a major role in the future of our financial system, paying for goods and services with crypto should be just as easy as fiat currency. At CoinZoom, we are committed to making this vision a reality by providing consumers with the appropriate technology they need to use cryptocurrencies in their daily lives.

What role will regulation play in the future of crypto?

The implementation of a clear and well-developed set of rules will be crucial for the integration of cryptocurrencies into the broader financial system. For the industry to continue to grow and become mainstream, customers need to have confidence in the infrastructure and underlying framework – and that starts with regulation.

This trust cannot be grounded in an unregulated environment that allows bad actors to roam freely. The UK financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority, recently reported a doubling in the number of suspected crypto-related scams in 2021 compared to the previous year, while the cost of cryptocurrency fraud over the past decade is now $19.2 billion globally. At best, this should serve as an impetus for introducing the regulation needed to deal with this crisis of confidence.

To achieve this, clear accounting rules are crucial, which not only help companies shape their crypto strategies but also provide them with the tools they need to make crypto a safe and orderly marketplace for investors do.

What’s the next big thing for CoinZoom?

As we continue our mission of making cryptocurrencies more accessible, we look forward to forging new industry partnerships and collaborations. For example, earlier this year we became the official cryptocurrency platform and NFT marketplace for the Utah Jazz. As the exclusive provider, Jazz will list all of its NFTs on the CoinZoom NFT marketplace.

The global nature of crypto usage means we are constantly expanding our product range to meet the needs of our customers, which is why we recently launched CoinZoom Cash. This new service allows users to buy Bitcoin and 40 other top cryptocurrencies with cash at a fraction of the cost of high-priced, limited-feature Bitcoin ATMs. At the moment we are the only exchange in the US offering this service. As governments and businesses around the world begin to embrace digital assets, keep an eye out for more updates here!