Home
News
- In an exclusive email interview with Co-founder of bitHolla, Adrian Pollard explains about why he sees Bitcoin touch the $100,000 mark
- He further discusses the idea of launching HollaEx Kit and how is it changing the crypto market for its users
Adrian Pollard is the co-founder of bitHolla, a crypto exchange software provider based in Seoul, South Korea. Adrian’s history in crypto spans back as far as 2013 and has been working actively in the crypto space since. He has a background in graphic design and game design completing a double major in Australia, graduating from ECU. Today, he manages the content and communication around bitHolla’s main open-source product HollaEx Kit which allows individuals and businesses to create various crypto projects such as exchanges and wallets and other common crypto-based financial products.
THECOINREPUBLIC: Hi Adrian Pollard. It’s a pleasure to have you with us, and thank you for taking out time from your busy schedule for this interview. It means a lot to us. Let us first begin with the journey of bitHolla so far?
Adrian: Crypto is never boring but it can be rough. The last 2 years were tough because markets were depressed and many people didn’t see the value in operating a crypto service. Things are much better now with all the educational materials out there and I think The Coin Republic is a good example of this.
What’s interesting in the journey has been the diversity we have seen in the people we interact with.
THECOINREPUBLIC: What is a HollaEx Kit?
Adrian: HollaEx Kit is an open-source exchange software built by bitHolla. It allows anyone to create a crypto exchange and includes all the expected things you find in any other crypto exchange such as wallet, markets, and simple signup and login system.
The Kit, like any other open-source software, is free to use. This makes it a very cool piece of software when you couple it with Bitcoin which was the main reason we started the kit.
We just wanted to make Bitcoin and crypto more useful and we thought giving anyone the ability to start their own bitcoin exchange would be the best way to achieve that goal.
THECOINREPUBLIC: What was the idea of launching HollaEx Kit?
Adrian: At first, we thought this would only be an institutional product for big business but as we saw the crypto space evolve, we realized that trade and crypto-assets can be used for any business.
We foresee, first, a lot of creative and business-savvy people take advantage of this crypto software and then next regular folk that just want that extra edge in their business.
Right now, we are seeing traditional money exchanges using HollaEx Kit to upgrade their systems. We also see a lot of savvy business people wanting to bring crypto to their home countries which may not have great crypto services. These people are starting their own exchange, payment service, remittance systems and even a simple crypto bank wallet system so people can store wealth.
We have also seen video game developers and more creative industries beginning to experiment with token creation and they enjoy the flexibility and value the HollaEx Kit gives them.
THECOINREPUBLIC: What are the benefits of the product?
Adrian: The first and best thing the HollaEx Kit can do is create a crypto exchange. But it can do more sophisticated things than just an exchange. As mentioned we’ve seen people create brand new tokens, trading pairs, and even futures derivatives-related products.
I think a lot of businesses are going to start building things that we ourselves can’t even foresee because it is open-source. It just makes experimenting easy, and when that happens you start seeing real creative ideas.
So I’d say, if you got a ‘weird’ blockchain idea then the HollaEx Kit is probably something you want to start learning to use.
THECOINREPUBLIC: How much can operators of the exchange kit expect?
Adrian: This is a question a lot of people ask and it really is dependent on the trading fees you set on your own platform. For example, some exchanges charge a premium because they give that quick and seamless experience so these services charge 5% on the trade.
But most exchange operators right now are targeting regular users that want the Binance or Coinbase experience with average fees, so we are looking at charging users a fee of 0.1% for all trades.
You can do that math on that; it is all about the volume you think you can bring to the platform.
THECOINREPUBLIC: How to start using HollaEx Kit?
Adrian: The Kit can be downloaded on bitHolla’s GitHub and with a bit of tech know-how can be deployed in minutes.
For those that want to get started fast without having to deal with servers and DNS kind of stuff then the exchange dashboard in bitHolla main site is the way to go. It is an easy 5-step process to get started with an option to outsource the cloud exchange hosting to bitHolla.
It is worth noting that the coin and pair/market setup is all inbuilt into the process which packs the full crypto project creation experience nicely all in one place.
THECOINREPUBLIC: What have been the challenges HollaEx Kit has faced in its journey and the lessons from it?
Adrian: The hardest part was simply trying to share the exchange technology with others. Because crypto and exchange tech has so many different parts it wasn’t as easy as handing it over to someone.
We had a lot of experience with big and small teams that failed to bring the system up because there were just too many areas of expertise required to start a crypto business, but we’ve simplified it to a 5-step process and an option to DIY or subscribe to a cloud exchange hosting service.
We are still having challenges with the customizability of the exchange, a more diverse range of people use the Kit they are requesting all sorts of customizations on their platform from different interfaces, coins, markets, and automated liquidity solutions, which are progressively being added.
THECOINREPUBLIC: What are the advantages of operating a crypto exchange?
Adrian: One thing that really is rewarding is spreading the adoption of cryptocurrencies. Besides being able to create your own business in a completely cutting-edge industry is the chance to help build and bring crypto infrastructure to where it is needed the most.
There are a lot of countries that need crypto and we only need to look at the economic struggles everywhere due to the poor fiat currency systems which most businesses are based on. The advantage of operating an exchange or any crypto service for that matter is that you are helping upgrade the financial system and while you are doing that you are also making a living.
That’s the real win-win crypto entrepreneur style.
THECOINREPUBLIC: Bitcoin has seen a recent spike and there is a lot of speculation that it could soon be the future. Your take on that…
Adrian: I’m just going to go right out there and say we will see $100,000. The price of BTC has 10x before in the past bull markets and so it is not that crazy for that to happen now.
These prices are great but what is even better is it makes starting a crypto business even more interesting because as the market grows so does the opportunity and the diversity of types of crypto services that will be in high demand.
THECOINREPUBLIC: At last, What are the key steps/suggestions that you would like to give to someone who wants to operate a crypto exchange business?
Adrian: First, I’d say if you have a user base or audience already then you are in a prime spot to do a crypto business like an exchange. Even better if you have a user base that you can reach out to via email because that is realistically all you need as a user to use a modern crypto exchange.
For brick and mortar, style businesses that may not have access to their customers’ emails it is not impossible to start today because the HollaEx Kit has a standard built-in onboarding system for sign up, login and user management. This can be the best time to start going digital.
Second, once live, focus really well on customer support. A lot of communication is key in getting your users to understand what is happening. A lot of small misunderstandings in crypto can turn into big things and could easily be addressed with good communication. Remember, when it comes to money it can be a high-pressure sort of industry, which makes everyday users turn into unforgiving users.
Lastly, I’d say starting with the major markets such as BTC/USDT or ETH/USDT is the way to go, the HollaEx Kit already has a way to add these seamlessly into your platform. Going overboard with multiple markets and new coins can make the management of the platform difficult. But my final thoughts, when it comes to crypto business, the best time to start was yesterday and the next best time is now.
Join us on HollaEx Discord channel.
