Bitcoin Likely To Be Virtual Gold And FuelCoin A Major Payment Alternative, Says Encrypted Labs CEO

The cryptocurrency ecosystem continues to grow with various innovations taking place every day. One such innovation is FuelCoin. It is the world’s first tradable social currency that enables users to send money around the world safely and efficiently. FuelCoin users are privy to not only international fast track electronic money transfers, but to a whole new socially based virtual one-stop-shop for online trading of funds, shopping, mobile banking, charitable donations, and social networking.

EconoTimes recently had a conversation with Mr.Ian Worrall, CEO of Encrypted labs, the software company that built the infrastructure to support the FuelCoin application:

It is being said that bitcoin price would break above $1000 mark next year with the halving of mining reward. What future does bitcoin have if its price continues rising in such manner?

I am not surprised that Bitcoin is predicted to surpass $1,000 again.  The only way it would remain at the current levels is if it remained a niche financial instrument; however, with the attention the Blockchain is getting I believe Bitcoin is either going to succeed and be worth over $100,000 (based on the basic principle of supply and demand) or it is going to fail (most likely technically if anything) and be worth nothing.  I believe it will succeed but that is just my opinion; I also cannot put a timeframe on it as it is based on growing traction.  It could be 5 years before we hit the tipping point or 25.  

Now about FuelCoin & Bitcoin – To me Bitcoin acts as a digital commodity similar to Gold, Oil, etc. and is a store of value.  This has to do with its slower transaction times, low total supply, and how it has moved similar to a commodity (in trading) over the past few years.  Once virtual currencies & blockchain technologies gain widespread adoption, there is room in the space for several large public virtual currency networks that each focus on a specific purpose.  For example: Bitcoin as a commodity and store of value, another as a fast method of payment for e Commerce, and another for large b2b international transfers.

In an interview you said that people view bitcoin as negative due to its ties with DarkNet and illegal purchases. How does FuelCoin solve this problem? Is it better than bitcoin and why?

It has nothing to do with the technology; it is the public perspective (brand image of Bitcoin) that it is used mainly for illicit transactions; however, that viewpoint is changing slowly but surely as more and more reputable companies continue accepting Bitcoin.  The fundamental difference between FuelCoin & Bitcoin is that FuelCoin has a face behind the technology which is designed to build trust, a brand we want to focus around education & philanthropy, and it is proof of stake instead of needing miners.  In my opinion POS is more sustainable however, most likely will not prove to be as secure as Bitcoin.  However, since FuelCoin is designed to be used for smaller quick transactions, the lesser security (still MUCH more than any credit card network) should not be detrimental.

What is the vision behind FuelCoin? Will it just be one more payment option for users or does it plan to replace fiat someday?

FuelCoin was created as a test to try out independent blockchains, different algorithms, transaction times, etc. but gained so much traction the first year that we decided to put some support behind it to help it grow.  Our vision is for Bitcoin to be the virtual gold & fuelcoin to be a major payment alternative for those who want to be protected against credit card fraud, identity theft, and avoid large transaction fees assessed by current institutions.  We have been monitoring the activity of FuelCoin behind the scenes for almost 2 years now and have gathered some amazing data not only about the Blockchain and related technology, but the psychology behind price swings, adoption rates, effects of different marketing campaigns, correlation between hype/publicity and price/transaction volume, and much much more.

One of the wildest things in my opinion was a study we did on several occasions where we took a group of people interested in exploring the virtual currency space but were not from a tech or finance background.  We introduced them to Bitcoin and then FuelCoin and nearly every single one of them made the same comment – “Bitcoin is still processing, but my FuelCoin is already available and ready to use (excitedly)" – this showed that the main thing people were focused on was speed of transaction over security, price, volatility, etc.

In September, Encrypted Labs launched FuelCoin Desktop Application and you said at the time, “We are going to be starting a mass marketing campaign for FuelCoin in the upcoming months”. Can you tell us more about it?

We postponed the marketing campaign due to timing based on our findings over the years, but plan to implement it in mid to late 2016.  We are working on a very cool mobile app we refer to as social banking we plan to release this upcoming summer which will have both Bitcoin & Fuelcoin integrated in it and is designed to help provide financial services to the unbanked as well as create a community feel surrounding money transmission.  Launch may be delayed depending on obtaining the appropriate licensing, but as it draws nearer that is when the FuelCoin marketing campaign will commence.

While global banks and financial institutions are embracing blockchain technology and making huge investments to explore its potential, some are still skeptical about cryptocurrencies. What is your take on the matter?

It is following the same trend as the Internet in the 1990s.  There were eCommerce giants back then who laughed at the idea of selling items online and stated it would never happen..The same thing is going on here and with the backing from all of these institutions it is just a matter of time before mass adoption takes place.  It is also following the "new-technology" cycle where innovators join the space first, followed by a surge of start-ups, then large enterprises begin adopting it (we are currently at this stage), then mainstream will adopt it for functional use, lastly followed by entertainment utilizing the technology.