Dear Shareholders of Bitkub,
2018 has been a challenging yet an exciting year for us. Given the crypto market’s bear trend since the beginning of the year and the regulatory issues surrounding the crypto industry, Bitkub has kept on solid footing and has delivered continued growth in every area of the business.
There is no denying that starting up a company can be difficult, and surviving the first year of business is critical. There were numerous challenges that needed to be confronted from building the foundations of the company, funding the business, filling in critical roles and delegating responsibilities up to setting up the company’s legal basics. Moreover, the recent cryptocurrency market downturn and the unclear regulatory framework for crypto industry have forced us to go slower. But that’s all right, because we know the kind of game in the business we are playing, and we are clear about the direction we are going. In the infinite game of business, sometimes things go accordingly, but not always. What’s important is we know how to learn to roll with the punches to keep the game in play.
Bitkub.com is a new generation digital asset and cryptocurrency exchange platform. We aim to create new ways of delivering financial services and promote financial inclusion by bringing the benefits of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to the masses. We are on our way to digitize and create a better transaction network for the entire world whether it is for currency, asset or anything of value. Our goal is not to chase and beat our competitors who are trying to run fast to capture the market and win. Instead, we compete against ourselves. We are obsessed with our own journey and vision and on how we can advance to make our products and services more refine that will benefit the larger community. By staying true to our mission and vision, placing continuous effort on improvement for a greater cause, and working together as one family, Bitkub will do more than survive. We will definitely succeed and create a lasting company that continues to grow throughout the years. We are confident that our 2018 efforts have laid the strong foundation on which to build for an even greater 2019 and pave the way for long-term success.
As we approach the end of 2018, I would like to take this moment to reflect on a number of important milestones our team had accomplished, and also share moments of excitement and learning for the entire Bitkub team which has considerably advanced the company forward.
Just a few months since the founding of the company last February 2018, we were able to successfully launch the Bitkub.com cryptocurrency trading platform where the welcome we received from our customers was very uplifting and humbling. In just five days after the opening announcement, we were overwhelmed by the great number of user subscription. And now, our user base continues its solid growth.
We have significantly expanded our products this year. We have listed 22 quality coins as of December 12, and we are planning to add more as we continue into the last month of the year. This offers vast variety of investment and trading opportunities for our users all on one platform.
We continue to make headway in enhancing our customer experience by re-designing our homepage and dashboard that connects users with critical information and data at-a-glance providing an easy, clear and simple interface. Moreover, Bitkub.com full SEO integration helped us gain market share resulting in more clicks and better brand recalls.
The launch of our public chat box significantly increased user engagement where they share insights, ask questions and interact with other users through Bitkub.com. It has also served as an additional channel for us to harvest useful feedbacks from our users to further improve the quality of customer experience. Thus, we pride ourselves on a 93% customer satisfaction rate.
We launched 184 FAQs that greatly helped customers answer a wide range of questions in a highly efficient and useful manner. Also, the launching of our 164 coins directory articles provided our customers with the basic information and additional resources to learn more about cryptocurrencies.
We provided our users a better metric to compare local prices vs. the international market through the release of our Prices page (Thai Coinmarketcap). In addition, the launching of our Socket API offered our users a huge opportunity to automate and customize their trading needs by directly integrating their platform to Bitkub market.
We have accomplished a great deal in our compliances. For instance, we have managed to secure an approval of the DBD verified badge, improved our KYC and AML processes, automated and launched the system of checks and balances and strong financial controls on all our support functions. Our team is also proud to have been listed on the major market capitalization websites recognized worldwide: Coinmarketcap, Cryptocompare, Coingecko, Blockfolio, and Delta.
Bitkub won DTAC Global Expansion Track Award. Global Expansion Track is the latest program introduced by dtac accelerate with the ambition to widen opportunities for highly capable Thai startup companies to scale up in the global level.
Recently, we successfully hosted one of the biggest blockchain summits in Europe and Asia, “Blockchain for Sustainable Development Goals Summit” in collaboration with NIA and European Blockchain Hub.
2018 was a big year for Bitkub and gave us much to look back on with satisfaction and much to be proud of because the “highs” of the crypto roller-coaster year far outweighed the “lows”. I am extremely proud and humbled by our progress as a company. We saw monumental stages and incredible growth for Bitkub. We have set high standards and challenging goals for ourselves which makes it even more exciting to see our team accomplish and exceed our own expectations. And as we watch our Bitkub family grows, we will also see our team embarking on an exciting next phase with a bigger reach, impact and influence.
We are off to a strong start for 2019. The awareness and adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology is now getting mainstream. Moreover, the pace of regulatory change continues to be high and we are well positioned to benefit from these changes. We have a robust platform to further accelerate momentum for continued growth over the coming year.
Here are some of what to expect in 2019. First, we will expand our customer base and create new markets by connecting with traditional Thai stock brokers. Moreover, we plan to further scale our financial operations by opening more pay-in and payout options (including QR code) and launching cardless ATM that will increase customer experience and security. And as more functions are demanded of crypto trading platforms, we will launch our Bitkub mobile application where trades can be easily monitored and traders can react more quickly to the market. This will also give our users the freedom to trade anytime and anywhere. Finally, we will make crypto-to-crypto trading available for retail customers that will allow them to directly convert one cryptocurrency to another.
These projects will enable us to provide more opportunities for continued value creation and to create a better customer experience in the future. But that is not all. There is always more to do, so our breakthrough will continue. As the pace of change in the crypto industry and blockchain technology shows no signs of slowing, we will continue to leverage our products and services, expand our reach, and create more partnerships to deliver what’s needed next for the blockchain industry. We will continue to adapt and invest in innovation, our systems, operational policies, and regulatory compliance to keep up with the changing technologies and markets. And most important, we will continue to invest in our people. Their expertise, dedication, drive, and enthusiasm are at the heart of everything we have accomplished.
To all our shareholders, thank you for joining us on our journey and continuing to support our growth. What we have built this year was really humbling, but what’s even more exciting are the things we have yet to build and achieve together in the future. We are optimistic that our company values, culture, and strategy will provide us with a uniquely integrated ecosystem to thrive in business in the coming years.
As we start this New Year with great optimism, we once again express our sincere gratitude for your investment and trust in our company. On behalf of the Bitkub family, I would like to wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a bright start to 2019.
Topp
Founder and Group CEO of Bitkub