MILLENNIALS have a big role to play in new technology. So says 29-year-old Andrea de Francisci, the chief operating officer of Elpis Investments Corp.
In a teleconference held at the Bonifacio Global City, the University of Buckingham alumnus told the BusinessMirror the emergence of blockchain and other emerging technologies suits millennials’ working style of having no intermediaries because they trust each other.
“As long as we have the blockchain system, we feel we can trust each other. If you don’t have an intermediary or the middle man, it will lower cost in doing business and create a more efficient economy unlike the traditional one, which has prevailed over the past 50 years in Europe and the US,” de Francisci pointed out.
“We feel that the old financial ecosystem has to be changed and blockchain, AI [artificial intelligence] and cryptocurrency can help humanity evolve into the next stage,” he added.
The Swiss national stressed that the government will have a major role in developing an ecosystem involving blockchain, AI and cryptocurrency. He believes that the government must spearhead the buildup because allowing the people to be in the front without the proper guidelines will result in confusion in the market, especially in the ecosystem.
Being an underdeveloped country, the Philippines needs to use blockchain, AI and cryptocurrency to attract investors because these three promote efficiency and greater transparency, according to de Francisci.
He plans to visit the Philippines in the next five months to check the prevailing market conditions.
Vibrant crypto
ELPIS’S Philippine market partner Veronica Andrino told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview the country is in a good position to build a vibrant crypto market.
“We do believe we are in a good position to achieve the goal, thanks to the recent announcement by President [Rodrigo] Duterte, which has created a massive positive impact on the Filipino crypto industry,” Andrino said.
She added that, “as a result, the number of people looking to invest is growing rapidly.”
From 2014 to 2018, the number of people buying and selling Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies grew from a ratio of 2:10 to 7:10, which, in turn, has led to more exchangers and active peer-to-peer trading in the country, Andrino said. In addition, there are numerous initial coin offerings and product launches and crypto events actively running in the community, from smaller meet-ups to large company events, she added.
Retail markets
DE FRANCISCI said Elpis also plans to invest in Southeast Asia’s retail markets because of high consumer spending.
He noted that millennials can maximize the opportunities in the current retail environment because of the emphasis on connectivity of several businesses, such as Lazada, Zalora and Shopee, among others. The professional potential for millennials in the retail market is great, because they can work in an environment that is connected.
“The opportunity is there to lead because they are exposed to the technologies. We want to offer a good product but, at the same time, we want to educate people in Asia,” de Francisci said.
He added that the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia are the best places for using blockchain and other related technologies because they can easily adopt them.
“The Philippines has an advantage because it can go directly implementing it,” he said.
Public ledger
DE Francisci said they developed Elpis because they don’t want intermediaries or middlemen in the hedge fund industry.
“It is common sense to start a project that gives value to the people,” he said. “We have this millennial mentality that says if it doesn’t have value, then I don’t trust it.”
Elpis, a Swiss-registered fintech company, has pioneered in building the world’s first AI-powered asset trading platform that can manage both traditional and crypto assets for higher returns and greater transparency. It conducted a road show in Singapore in September to promote its pioneering initiative to more potential investors and partners, while seeking possibilities to set up a regional center for further and long-term engagement.
Through the effective use of its proprietary AI technology, the Elpis platform can remove human bias from investment practices, and deliver tailored and transparent strategies with lower costs and higher returns. The platform also exploits blockchain technology to bridge the gap between old and new finance by trading both crypto and traditional assets. The Elpis platform will put every trade and transaction on the blockchain public account ledger for ultimate accountability, so “every client will be able to clearly see returns and trading activities.”
Unlike traditional asset management funds, Elpis will open up its platform and strategies to not only institutional and/or professional investors but also to nonprofessional and/or retail investors, de Francisci claims. “Even the ones with no trading expertise will be able to get access to our trading signals and mirror our trades allowing them to manage their assets more efficiently and safely,” he added.
Image credits: Courtesy of Andrea de Francisci