I’ll never forget the first time I tried buying cryptocurrency. It was 2017, and I was feeling pretty confident after reading a couple of online guides. I figured, “How hard could it be?” Well, let’s just say the experience humbled me. I was hit with a gazillion things I didn’t understand: private keys, seed phrases, mining, gas fees—none of them made sense.
Fast forward to today, and things are (thankfully) a lot easier. This shift from complicated, clunky systems to streamlined, user-friendly experiences is driving the future of finance. Exchange platforms like Kriptomat have changed things. Instead of navigating a labyrinth of confusing processes, they’ve made crypto as easy to access as your online banking.
At this year’s edition of the UNCHAIN Festival, we got the chance to talk to Dejan Davidovic, the COO and co-founder of Kriptomat. He shed some light on what makes the Kriptomat different and how they see their trajectory in the market of the future.
Making Crypto Accessible for Everyone
When people think of crypto, they usually picture fancy setups and complex trading platforms – which, to be fair, can be the case. Even I stumbled into some complicated things that left me thinking I could put my money elsewhere. As a beginner, going into crypto can be a challenge. But that’s exactly the problem Kriptomat set out to solve.
Our goal has always been to bring crypto and this new technology and new opportunities to regular retail customers.
Dejan Davidovic
The platform was designed to help everyday users who find traditional crypto exchanges too intimidating or complicated. Since its founding in 2018, Kriptomat has grown to serve over half a million customers, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe. But Dejan is quick to mention that this growth wasn’t the result of flashy marketing.
It happened organically, step by step. We always try to put customers first because we are very well aware that without customers, there is no service, and there is no us.
Dejan Davidovic
Building Trust in a Trust-Lacking Industry
One of the biggest problems facing the crypto industry today is trust. Between scams, fraud, and a lack of understanding, it’s no wonder many people are still hesitant to invest their money.
The only thing our industry actually lacks is trust. We have all these different great solutions, but retail doesn’t trust us because they don’t know us.
Dejan Davidovic
Kriptomat tackles this problem head-on by being fully licensed and regulated.
We are a licensed company out of Estonia, and we are also registered as a crypto asset service provider in Spain, France, Greece, Croatia, and Poland.
Dejan Davidovic
In the near future, Kriptomat expects to operate under the new MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulations, bringing even more oversight and credibility to its operations.
The Rise of the Web3 Wallet
Kriptomat’s mission isn’t just about making crypto accessible. It’s also about adapting to what customers want. For instance, the company recently launched its Web3 wallet, a hosted decentralized wallet that lets users access more than 1,000 digital assets.
We still control the wallet keys, but the customers can access whatever other asset is within their Kriptomat account, which makes it really easy for them to skip complicated things.
Dejan Davidovic
However, he’s transparent about the fact that this isn’t a perfect solution:
Self-custody is one of the main benefits of crypto, but it’s also the biggest threat.
Dejan Davidovic
Kriptomat’s approach is to balance ease of use with security, and they’re continuously evolving this service based on user feedback.
Focusing on Eastern Europe
While many crypto companies aim to scale globally as fast as possible, Kriptomat’s approach is more localized.
We want to make the transfer from Fiat to crypto as frictionless as possible.
We are looking into this hyper-localization as much as possible, and we will be doing this in most Eastern European countries.
Dejan Davidovic
For Kriptomat, this means offering services in local languages, supporting local currencies, and working with local banking partners.
Kriptomat’s focus on Central and Eastern Europe sets it apart from competitors, particularly in a region where financial literacy is lower and the barriers to investing are higher.
People in Eastern Europe lack financial literacy. We will continue to build products that make crypto an interesting investment asset.
Dejan Davidovic
Looking ahead, Kriptomat wants to expand its offerings beyond just crypto.
There is a possibility that we will be looking into potentially adding also traditional investment assets to our platform, like ETFs.
Dejan Davidovic
This is part of a broader goal to transform Kriptomat from a simple crypto exchange into a more comprehensive wealth management platform.
But at its core, the company’s mission remains the same: to make crypto accessible, safe, and easy to use for everyone, whether you’re a first-time investor or an experienced trader.
