Global banks have started to realize the impact and key benefits of DeFI applications, with most shifting focus on modernizing their lending and other infrastructure using advanced DeFI platforms. Chyna Qu, Co-Founder and COO at DeFiner shares her thoughts on the future of DeFI in banking while talking about the impact of new fintech startups on the global fintech marketplace.
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Welcome to GlobalFintechSeries Chyna! We’d love to get to know you, can you tell us a little about yourself, and what inspired the idea for DeFiner – as a fintech entrepreneur, what have been some of your biggest highlights and challenges since starting up?
Thanks so much for having me! I’m Chyna Qu, and I am Co-founder and COO of DeFiner.org, a decentralized financial (DeFi) network for digital loans, savings, and payments. I am an experienced entrepreneur and advocate for female leadership in the financial industry. I particularly enjoy leading interdepartmental or inter-team coordination to achieve complex and demanding goals by creating good technology and processes. For DeFiner, I manage legal, human resources, and data supporting departments.
How have you seen new innovations in lending platforms (globally) change how businesses/banks and individuals approach and manage their lending initiatives?
Innovation in lending platforms absolutely is driving the adoption from the traditional side of finance. Banks recognise the potential of DeFi lending platforms and have begun to adopt the new technologies in response. But the new wave of startups can go even further. Take DeFiner as an example — DeFiner is solving the negative interest rate problem and giving the true power back to the users. Traditionally, a centralized organization — such as a bank — maintains and controls interest rates at a very low level, leaving SMEs with a high cost of capital and unable to afford loans. By switching to a decentralized platform like DeFiner, users can now borrow more cheaply, as well as deposit and withdraw anytime, anywhere.
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What are your thoughts on how Blockchain will further impact the future of fintech?
Blockchain is still in the early stages with lots of room for it to develop and grow. But it’s already making a huge impact and more blockchain fintech companies are always coming into the picture. From the public, there will be mass adoption in the future due to the convenience from the technology. Smart contracts will bring to the fintech world enhanced trust and security. Blockchain will significantly boost fintech industry development.
How do you see emerging technologies playing a role in how the fintech space will shape up and evolve with time? Say 10 years from now, what do you think the fintech marketplace will look like? What kind of apps/platforms will be more in use and which capabilities/features/apps will die out?
As they say, people overestimate what will happen in a year and underestimate what will happen in 10. It is very hard to predict what the world of blockchain and fintech will become that far out. However, if the first 10 years of Bitcoin are any indication, then I think we can safely say there will be continued exponential adoption. In what areas? I would say mainstream companies will be using a blockchain-automated payroll. I believe everyday financial transactions such as purchases, insurance, annuities, pensions, settlements, etc. will occur on a smart contract. Beyond advances in what exists, I think new movements will transpire by way of blockchain as well. More people will bank and invest for themselves—minus a banker or broker. I see the potential for all new income streams—passive ways to earn money whether it be with your internet surfing or your computer’s storage. This movement will also give more opportunities to those in developing nations. In short, the mass of all finance will migrate to decentralized platforms. And all this will be led, in large part, by new startups.
As far as dying out, I think we will continue to see many new blockchain companies and coins rise and fall, many more bubbles bursting, and the market washing out the bad ideas. Regarding traditional finance, It will not die out; centralized tech will just be less popular. With the pandemic and other global events, people are realizing the shortcomings in the centralized way of doing things.
We’d love to know how the lending / online lending segment will evolve for business to business needs according to you – what are some of the top capabilities that future innovations here will have to focus on?
In the crypto world, right now the centralized players are some of the largest. But there will be a continual move toward the decentralized way. The centralized lending model is not sustainable. This has already been proven to be true, as the recent rebranding of Blockfi demonstrates.
Can you also share your thoughts on other (global) finance technologies in the marketplace that are game changers when it comes to payments and lending facilities?
Machine learning and AI: These will help to engage users to improve their savings and spending decisions. Machine learning will help p2p lending without additional risk. It can process more layers of data and provides more insights. It will also help to prevent fraud.
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Given the current world situation, what would your top tips be to B2B/Global tech/Fintech (product) companies to secure their transactions and prevent fraud during this time, given how a rise in cybercrime cases have been a recent cause of concern because of increase in digital banking and related security threats due to Covid19.
It’s simple: Get on the blockchain — and not just an internal ledger within your company, but a decentralized, global blockchain using a decentralized crypto asset. From there, it’s about wallet security. The hacks we hear about are due to hackers accessing hot (online) wallets. Store the assets in a cold (offline) wallet, and secure those keys! Traditional banks, of course, will inherently be at a disadvantage in this pursuit, because they are, by their nature, centralized financial institutions. But, then, this is why we’re building our company!
What are some of your thoughts on how the current world situation (the Covid19 situation) will impact the use of (and development) of the fintech segment?
It will be the catalyst to faster adoption of fintech, especially the blockchain segment. According to Market Watch, the coronavirus pandemic has fueled a 72% surge in the use of fintech apps. The blockchain segment, in my personal opinion, is the one that benefits the most. When the pandemic hit, even the “safe haven” asset of gold didn’t come out of the crisis unblemished. But Bitcoin is playing its own game and has a weaker correlation with the market. The pandemic also revealed some of major issues and inefficiencies in the traditional financial system. Just think about how many weeks we needed to get the government handouts and stimulus checks, which should have been a couple of hours. People are realizing the issues with traditional systems and shifting to blockchain.
Tag (mention/write about) the one person in the (global/international) fintech industry whose answers to these questions you would love to read!
I would love to hear what Peter Theil would have to say about all this. He founded PayPal with the vision of it being “internet money” — or something outside government control. Of course, that’s not what happened, but from his particular experience and perspective I would be interested in what he would have to say to these questions.
Your favorite FinanceTech quote
“We’re witnessing the creative destruction of financial services, rearranging itself around the consumer. Who does this in the most relevant, exciting way using data and digital, wins!” – Arvind Sankaran
Would you like to share specific finance or business tips for Marketing and Sales teams struggling through this uncertain time?
To answer this question, I want to use a quote by Andy Grow, “Bad companies are destroyed by crises. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them.” Those who survived all have what we call the “North Star”, that brightest star which remains in the same spot above the northern horizon leading people’s way. In the business world, the north star represents the enduring vision. DeFiner’s North Star is our culture and our strong faith in the DeFi industry. As we head deeper into an uncertain time, that is what shines out as a beacon to guide our path.
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DeFiner is a decentralized finance network for digital savings, loans, and payments. Powered by blockchain technology, DeFiner’s decentralized financial (DeFi) platform enables users to effortlessly lend, borrow, and earn digital assets within a global network. DeFiner removes the friction and costs associated with conventional financial services and instead offers maximum flexibility to set one’s own rates and terms. DeFiner also removes the need for third parties from its financial ecosystem, by using an immutable blockchain to track all loans and transactions, providing ultimate security for users. By providing 24/7 global accessibility with significantly lower costs than traditional finance, DeFiner allows those embracing the new, digital economy to unlock instant value from their assets.
Chyna serves as the co-founder and COO at DeFiner. She is an experienced entrepreneur and an advocate for young women leadership. Chyna is experienced in coordinating different departments and teams to achieve complex and demanding goals by creating good technology and processes.
