“Afraid to press the wrong button”: Broex’s product director on beginners’ problems in the crypto industry

In an exclusive ForkLog interview, Broex wallet’s product director Joseph Al-Amir discussed the fears of novice crypto investors and the team’s efforts to simplify entry to the market.

Broex — a custodial multi-currency wallet with an Estonian license that supports storage, card purchases, exchange and withdrawal of 40 cryptocurrencies and more than 2,000 tokens.

ForkLog: Good day! To begin, tell us about your experience: how did you get into the crypto industry?

Joseph: When I understood what blockchain is and the philosophy behind it, I wanted to become part of this movement. I realized that I want to build products based on the philosophy of blockchain and solve Web 2.0 problems.  

I started by creating a decentralized social network with an international team. Then I joined the Broex team, because besides functionality I liked the product’s mission — to help newcomers. 

ForkLog: And are you investing now?

Joseph: Yes, but only in fundamental projects that solve some problem in the market. For me it’s important that there is a strong team and technology backing the token. I don’t invest in hype tokens at all.

ForkLog: What is the main difference between Broex and other crypto wallets?

Joseph: We made it as beginner-friendly as possible. Over the course of working on the projects, I noticed that a significant portion of users drop out at the address-entry stage.

I decided to create a beginner-friendly product — thus Broex appeared. We added a simple interface, the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency with bank cards, and automated purchases of tokens on a DEX.

ForkLog: What exactly causes difficulties during the first cryptocurrency purchase?

Joseph: Beginners often want to buy Bitcoin. That’s where the difficulties begin: there are many exchangers and exchanges in the market. It’s unclear who to choose and what to look at to avoid ending up in the hands of scammers.

Then the KYC procedure comes into play. The media describe cryptocurrencies as anonymous investment instruments, but the service requires identity verification. This requirement confuses people, and potential users begin looking for license-free services, which means they risk losing their funds.

Suppose a person passes verification and creates an account on a centralized exchange. They will see the spot market, margin trading, derivatives, staking, farming, marketplaces, bots and other tools. 

All of this is clear to professional traders. A new user will simply be afraid to press the wrong button, lest they lose money by mistake. After all, they just wanted to buy Bitcoin.

Advanced crypto investors also face difficulties, especially with buying Ethereum sidechain tokens on decentralized exchanges. You need to obtain ETH, add the network in Metamask, back up seed phrases and so on. Any mistake will cost money — not everyone wants to risk.

ForkLog: Did you take these difficulties into account when developing Broex?

Joseph: Yes. I was inspired by the Tinkoff Investments service, whose team simplified interaction with the stock market.

We aimed to make Broex as user-friendly as possible. We started with popular coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron, then added support for tokens from DEX. Now users can buy and store 40 cryptocurrencies and more than 2,000 tokens, and, if desired — withdraw them to an external wallet.

Buying a token on a decentralized exchange takes on average thirteen steps: registration and wallet connection, acquiring the native cryptocurrency to pay transaction fees, search pools, confirm trades and sign transactions.

We reduced this process to four steps: registration on Broex, identity verification, deposit and purchase of tokens on the DEX. Beginners can use bank cards, experienced users — deposit cryptocurrency into the wallet.

ForkLog: Advanced users are ready to go through many steps to save on fees. How much does it cost to buy 100 USDT with a card?

Joseph: The user will pay $106.50 — $100 for USDT and $6.50 in fees. The fee for token exchange is smaller and depends on the pair. For example, the BTC to USDT rate on Broex and on CoinMarketCap differs by less than 0.001%.

ForkLog: Usually exchange services require local documents for KYC, but for registration on Broex a foreign passport is required. Why so?

Joseph: Unfortunately, this is a regulator’s requirement. We operate under a European license: at registration the user must provide a document with Latin letters.

For verification, a passport, driver’s license or Ukrainian ID card will do. We are in dialogue with the regulator so that users can pass KYC with Cyrillic documents.  

ForkLog: Do you help newcomers understand the theory?

Joseph: Yes, we write educational materials. We explain how blockchain works, what addresses and keys are, what specific cryptocurrencies are for, how to use trading indicators and discuss other topics.

We have quality tech support. Usually exchange staff answer questions about how services work. Broex consultants help clients with technical questions. They can explain how USDT ERC-20 differs from USDT TRC-20 or what a public key is. But, of course, they do not provide investment advice.  

We regularly conduct research to improve the service. Our goal is to make Broex the most intuitive product on the market, while adding features for professionals. For example, we have already implemented token search by smart contract address, which is convenient when buying a token on a specific blockchain.

ForkLog: And how do you grow the Broex community?

Joseph: Since August 2021 we have been running monthly promotions and trying to scale them. Last month we raffled a MacBook and an iPhone, and gave all participants up to 27 USDT. In the near future we plan to run ETH, BNB and SOL airdrops totaling $25 000.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: ForkLog Feed — the full news feed, ForkLog — the most important news, infographics and opinions.