Ep. 33 Crypto Exchange Looks to Differentiate With Client Service

Putting Client Service at the Center of a Unified Cryptocurrency Exchange

This week’s guest is George Kushner, founder and CEO of H2cryptO. With more than 28 years of experience in financial services and traditional finance, he is on a quest to use his expertise to expand access to cryptocurrency investing and trading. After extensive research, it became abundantly clear to him that tokenization is the future of investing, but a glaring gap in the market is hindering access to millions if not billions of people, namely client service.

Determined to fill this void in the market, George and his partners founded H2cryptO. This unified cryptocurrency exchange serves as a one-stop-shop for investing in and trading different cryptocurrencies. Through an accessible interface, it further sets itself apart by providing true 24/7 omnichannel support 365 days a year to ensure investors have access to the technical tools they need to learn and grow their investments.

The Path to Crypto

George’s career in the financial services sector began nearly 30 years ago on Wall Street in institutional fixed incomes and derivatives sales, working with some of the largest and most sophisticated investors in the world. George worked for more than 12 years with clients ranging from central banks and pension plans to hedge fund managers before pivoting his focus.

For the next decade, George dove into the world of alternate investments, focusing on capital raising for some of the world’s largest private equity, real estate and hedge fund managers. After years in alternate investments, George shifted to traditional finance and private banking. With nearly 30 years of growth in financial services and capital markets, George had a solid grasp on global econometrics and trading before embarking on an extensive knowledge quest to understand cryptocurrency from the ground up.

The Eureka Moment: Cryptocurrency Is the Future

George began his journey with cryptocurrency in 2015 when asked about Bitcoin while working for the investment management firm BlackRock in Manhattan. Bitcoin established the world’s first decentralized digital asset by using blockchain technology to create a decentralized digital asset managed across a network of computers instead of by a single entity.

Unlike traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin don’t have a country’s government backing them as fiat currency does, a central bank, interest rates, or a history of exchange rates.

Despite his initial skepticism, George researched all there was to know about this newly emerging investment and trading superpower. Starting at the foundational level, George began by developing a deeper understanding of the technology behind cryptocurrencies, learning the ins and outs of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. After hundreds and hundreds of hours of research on the power of the blockchain and decentralized finance, George discovered how cryptocurrency was on a path to change the world.

Studying the Fragmented Cryptocurrency Landscape

George describes today’s cryptocurrency landscape as a fragmented ecosystem for investing in and trading digital assets. Unlike traditional finance where firms can usually invest in various asset classes, cryptocurrency has a decentralized exchange environment. This means that investors typically need to access one exchange to buy and sell crypto, another to purchase non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and yet another for staking or borrowing and lending, for example.

There is a rapid escalation of hard assets being securitized, but it’s often a piecemeal do-it-yourself endeavor for crypto investors in this decentralized environment. Left to manage their own cryptocurrency investment strategies, jumping from one service to the next, crypto investors and traders can face challenges throughout this process frequently without true client support options.

The Problem With Doing It Yourself

We do it ourselves in so many elements of our lives, from fixing the car to tinkering with the plumbing. So, what’s the difference when it comes to investing in and trading cryptocurrencies? The painful difference is that we can’t simply pick up the phone and call in an expert to save the day if we make an error. One error in do-it-yourself cryptocurrency investing can cause an investor to lose that money forever. This can be especially risky for beginners in the cryptocurrency landscape.

George’s first-hand experience learning about cryptocurrency as a seasoned financial services professional provided him unique insights into the problems in need of solving. There was no one to turn to with technical questions, and this was not a one-off experience.

Shocked by these glaring issues when he first began trading cryptocurrencies and learning the problems other investors faced, a gap became clear: client service and support is virtually nonexistent in the current crypto exchange environment.

Solving the Cryptocurrency Investment Problem

The convoluted methods of investing and trading through various cryptocurrency exchanges combined with scarce technical client support have added to trepidations associated with cryptocurrency, contributing to a relatively low global adoption rate for this type of investment. Lack of understanding about cryptocurrency is a significant reason why the community of cryptocurrency investors is limited to about 220 million out of 8 billion people worldwide. Despite the years that have passed since cryptocurrency technology was invented in 2009, crypto is still in its infancy, comprising a small percentage of global equity.

George’s first-hand experiences, coupled with his deep financial knowledge, gave him the vision and practical know-how to make filling this gap a reality. With the need identified, George and his partners ventured to create a user-friendly exchange platform to address the cumbersome and fragmented trading environment investors often encounter with cryptocurrency.

At the heart of H2cryptO’s exchange is client service to facilitate better cryptocurrency trading and investing experiences. This sophisticated yet simplified interface makes investing and trading in cryptocurrency easy with options in English, Mandarin, and Spanish. The trading platform is accessible online and through a mobile app, both of which are designed with two-factor authentication (2FA) and multiple levels of security to ensure safe transactions.

H2cryptO is ideal for both beginners who want to make their first investments in cryptocurrency and experienced traders alike. Through an intuitive interface, investors can simply select from pre-determined denominations of currency or tokens by clicking on clear buy/sell buttons or they can customize their own token amount. The H2cryptO trading platform also offers traders more technical analyses of each crypto asset and trading volume through sophisticated modern charting capabilities.

The Power of Client Service

The need for support became abundantly clear to George. He was shocked by the widespread dearth of client support across cryptocurrency exchanges when he began crypto trading and investing. He heard horror stories from cryptocurrency investors and clients who were locked out of their accounts or couldn’t access their money or make certain selections and there was no one for them to turn to on the exchange they used.

To this end, H2cryptO was developed to provide a better way for investors from all walks of life to access the market. Its differentiated strategy through unification and client service is improving the future of cryptocurrency exchanges and how crypto is traded.

H2cryptO’s cryptocurrency exchange platform removes the fear of the unknown from trading and offers client support to its clients 24/7/365. Its service-centric approach offers a solution to investors reluctant to get involved with the goal of making H2cryptO the preferred exchange for cryptocurrency investors and traders.

Through seamless and easy omnichannel support, clients can choose the mode of communication that works best for them at any given time. Crypto investors can connect with H2cryptO on their own terms whenever, wherever. Whether it’s live chat, email, or voice, clients can receive answers to their questions in real-time.

By empowering clients to choose the mode of interaction they value most, H2cryptO can stay connected to its clients and provide the support they need. This support utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to streamline service across various channels of communication, combining human interactions with purposeful technology to create the most efficient and effective client experience possible.

Moreover, with data from omnichannel offerings all in one place, H2cryptO can better understand client behaviors and needs to make informed decisions on delivering the best investor experiences possible to optimize performance.

The Future of Cryptocurrency

Cyber trading of cryptocurrencies is still in its beginning phase and George believes we will likely see broad global adoption of trading in cryptocurrencies over the next five years as more cryptocurrency regulation takes shape. Indeed, George believes the digitization across assets is ultimately the future and everything will eventually be tokenized, from artwork to real estate.

Cryptocurrency offers people control over their financial well-being, regardless of how much they are able to invest. It has the potential to move beyond tech-savvy investors and act as the great equalizer to tackle the disadvantages felt by the unbanked and underbanked populations. This is significant considering globally 31 percent of adults are unbanked.

Crypto is available to all and is becoming increasingly accessible every day. By providing a streamlined interface and convenient client support, H2cryptO is helping to democratize the future of crypto investment.

George and his team identified a void in the market and have addressed it through an intuitive exchange that improves access to cryptocurrency investing and trading while providing comprehensive client service to increase confidence and boost outcomes. Through simple, equitable access and client service, H2cryptO’s innovations are designed to make it an exchange of choice for crypto investors and traders.

What George Does for Fun

When not working, George enjoys exercising and reading. He is a voracious reader of nonfiction, especially focused on financial services, cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the like.

Learn more at hello.h2crypto.io and sign up to receive information about this next-generation cryptocurrency exchange.

Learn more about iQor digital customer experience capabilities.