In this update, CEO and founder Of Kinesis Thomas Coughlin, would like to share with you the progress of the Kinesis Monetary System in the first quarter of the year and provide insight and a glimpse into Q2 2021 and beyond.
Since the beginning of the year, the Kinesis team has been aggressively developing and enhancing various aspects of the system in order to provide the scalability required to take us to the next phase in our development and commercialization. Q1 was a quarter of consolidation and foundation building across all internal systems and functions in order to be able to serve desired developmental and commercial growth into the future.
While technological development has remained the core focus this quarter, we have invested heavily into regional expansion and restructuring of internal operations. All functions across the organisation have been expanded and optimized in preparation for the next phase in our commercialization. New offices have been built out and are coming online across Liechtenstein, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta with a recruitment drive in place for approximately 100 new team members to support a rapid global expansion.
Big differences will be felt company-wide this quarter (Q2) across Tech Development; Customer & Tech Support; Sales & Account Executive Management; Banking; Marketing and PR. We continue to lay the foundations of sustainable success through enhancing our regulatory and governance frameworks and will continue to optimize our services and information access for our clients.
I am personally excited about significant expansions and enhancements across our Support function, as well as the building out of a new highly personalized Account Executive team, to focus on a personalized client service from the point of account creation.
Both structure and leadership have been the primary focus in optimizing the technology team. A highly scalable technology team structure has been implemented to facilitate regional team growth and accelerate development velocity.
With our new exchange technology now live, we have an aggressive roadmap of technology releases and partner integration launches to come over the course of this quarter and throughout the rest of the year. Delays related to Covid-19 have been overcome in Indonesia. We now have launch dates set, with top Ministers in the country scheduled to officially launch the project through a formal ceremonial opening.
This important Public Private Partnership has been a long time in the making with many complicated moving parts but sets a strong precedent and case study for other similar PPPs with other governments. It has been followed closely by the United Nations along with other governments and acclaimed for its satisfaction of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The official opening comes after extensive testing and is an important milestone in the project to begin to ramp-up adoption in the country.
Other partnerships across the brokerage, precious metal, banking and digital asset spaces are forthcoming with numerous coming in Q2 and beyond to expand accessibility and adoption globally.
All technical work was completed on KEM during Q1, however, due to logistical constraints beyond our control, this project will now launch this quarter. This project will continue to build upon the leadership Kinesis is providing in the asset-backed digital currency space.
We now have a growing list of exceptional partners in the banking and payment space and will be unveiling extensive options for on-and-off-ramping funds along with continuing to release new partners to offer individual and corporate banking solutions to Kinesis users.
During the quarter we also opened our new vault and office in Liechtenstein with our partner OZL, which will serve as our new Headquarters. Liechtenstein is a leading jurisdiction from a corporate, property law and blockchain regulatory perspective and we welcome the increased corporate governance and regulation that this jurisdiction provides to our organisation.
Our volumes have surpassed expectations and guidance previously provided, reaching approximately $1.3 billion in March alone. Although a majority of this volume has been derived from minting operations by users, it demonstrates an exponentially increasing interest in the Kinesis Monetary System. This continues to accumulate fees in the Master Fee Pool to be distributed with the yield engine being sequentially launched throughout this quarter and next.
We have a long list of integrations with trading platforms, crypto exchanges, governments (Indonesia), brokerages, dealers, financial advisory houses, along with banking and payment platforms to begin providing organic investment and trading growth. Users coming from these organisations will be incentivized to invest, trade and transact through our unique value proposition and intrinsic active yield and reward mechanics.
Marketing and PR activities are warming up and about to kick into gear to begin commercialising in sequential order across our target market verticals; precious metals; digital currencies/assets; and banking & payments, as we bring robust and user-friendly services online. No opportunities have been lost and crucial market intelligence has been gained during our build-out and as the digital asset industry has matured, the timing is perfect now for the Kinesis Monetary System.
We have discretely diversified across the precious metals supply chain from start to finish and are efficiently moving metal around the world. Systems continue to be enhanced and expanded, new products, currencies, wallets, pairs, solutions and services are being tested and built into the system as I write. Our team is invested in this project throughout this lifetime and beyond and although patience has been required, 2021 is set to be a year of exponential developmental and commercial growth for Kinesis. All journeys have their twists and we hope to be able to positively surprise our community with our progress and outperform expectations if at all possible.
I provide further detailed updates on Q1 below and insight into Q2.
A summary of the Q1 and outlook for the Q2 period
Legal and regulatory updates
Q1 – Kinesis Cayman – Kinesis Cayman applied to register its entity with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority – providing enhanced transparency of operations and ensuring the maximum level of international compliance standards for its customers.
Q1 – Kinesis South Africa – Kinesis established a formal legal entity in South Africa and is rapidly working to expand its commercial and banking operations to develop its presence in the country and across the wider African continent.
Q2 – Kinesis will establish a registered presence in Turkey to provide enhanced buying/selling/processing services with physical precious metals.
Compliance (General) – Kinesis is enhancing its compliance and regulatory programs in key operating countries which will provide even greater customer confidence from compliance with some of the World’s most stringent regulatory environments.
Indonesia
Kinesis has now established an Indonesian office and development team comprising 8 new members. With the operations and partnerships ready for expansion after the official launch dates, the team has been established as a regional technical support and development hub.
Indonesia Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (ICDX): Kinesis has partnered with a large exchange group in Indonesia, bringing access to their 40+ Brokerage Member firms. Kinesis is expanding the client base as a result, bringing users to KAU through the integrated PosGo Syariah and NUGold trading apps.
PosGO app rebranded as PosGO Syariah: In order to reflect the shariah-compliant nature of KAU and to position the overall offering of PT POS gold trading and savings to the Indonesian market, the mobile app has been rebranded as PosGO Syariah. The soft launch and a testing period now being complete, the two-phase general and official launch has been scheduled.
This April 16th a Press Conference and PR event will be held to introduce PosGO Syariah to the public. In May, the official inauguration ceremony for PosGO Syariah will be held, with participation by the President Director of PT POS, the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, other top government officials and Kinesis executives. PosGO Syariah is currently the only mobile app offering digital access to gold on the market, fully compliant with the shariah laws.
Kinesis Exchange upgrade:
The updated Kinesis Exchange was successfully delivered on Saturday 27th of March, allowing users to experience better market depth, reduced margins and an overall trading functionality improvement. As part of the upgrade, scheduled enhancements to crypto withdrawals and KYC identity verification have now come into effect, the update was a leap forward in scalability and allows for a robust engine for partner and exchange integrations.
Additionally, Kinesis Exchange has introduced the Public Trading View functionality, allowing prospective users to experience the platform and track prices of KAU, KAG and crypto in real-time, without logging in.
Kinesis Headquarters and Kinesis Vault Facility in Liechtenstein
In partnership with Offenes Zolllager in Liechtenstein AG (OZL), Kinesis has now completed the purpose-built, high security vaulting facility and operations Headquarters that house physical metal and precious stones in Liechtenstein. Our team is looking forward to presenting our new headquarters in upcoming interviews.
Quarterly growth
This quarter we have reached the total of 2020 trade volume and gained over 8000 new users. These numbers illustrate positive growth and increasing engagement of our community, strengthening the company’s reputation in the market.
Looking forwards into Q2
UK/EU Visa Card program: Following the successful delivery of the physical Kinesis debit VISA card in the US, Kinesis is now launching the UK & EU physical Kinesis VISA program. This Visa approved program will allow users to access a range of new functionality, including the shift towards text message two-factor authentication (2FA), further enhancing the onboarding process and a range of new pairs in GBP.
The Card limits will start with £7500 or €8000 per month limits and will allow EU and UK citizens and residents to use the card in local currency, greatly improving accessibility throughout the region.
The Kinesis Yield Engine comes online
The much-anticipated yield engine will be launching in Q2 with the minters yield being the first brought online, followed closely by Holders. We will be rolling out the yields one after the other and will continue until they are completed entirely. The process of releasing one yield after the other may go into Q3, however they will come in succession, without deprioritization.
The engine launch will be supplemented by the Interactive Yield Dashboard added to the Kinesis Exchange interface. The intuitive Yield section will reintroduce the fee pool chart, split into 5 yield categories. Additionally, the dashboard will incorporate the interactive yield charts, circulation and velocity functionalities, allowing for transparent tracking of all 5 types of yield rewards received by Kinesis participants monthly.
New Kinesis website rollout: Our team is currently fully focused on rebuilding the company website, providing new segmented functions, tailored to the vertices we are targeting, which is personal banking, trading and investing. The new site is a paradigm shift from the current website and represents the next stage of evolution in the Kinesis system.
Third-Party Exchange Integrations
We are currently several months through the integration process with several third-party exchanges from varied industries. Both the traditional and cryptocurrency industries are in the line-up. This will bring visibility and accessibility to Kinesis currencies and the Kinesis system to people from all walks of life and in a broad and diverse geographical spread.
Each new exchange integration will be announced with a marketing push from both sides, including press releases, trading competitions and encouraging adoption and use through various bounty programs.
Additional crypto pairs will be brought into the Kinesis Exchange, as well as additional fiat (GBP). The pairs will come a few at a time and we have now a dedicated team to assess and implement pairs, so you will now see continuous releases in this area as the year progresses.
KEM Project:
The KEM token has been fully developed and is awaiting launch, the delay comes with Logistical and valuation protocols that with the current Covid related issue affecting delivery and transportation, protracted the physical acquisition into Kinesis vaults.
The initial tranche of Emerald precious stones, which are fully backing the upcoming currency, has been certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and will be re-evaluated once it arrives in Switzerland by the Swiss equivalent of the GIA.
Logistics and implementing this robust quality assurance and valuation protocol requires the project to be deployed in Q2.
Merchant services for debit card deposits Moving to Q2 as we work with new providers.
Banking and Multi-Currency solutions
We are incredibly excited to be releasing a host of on-and-off ramping fiat banking facilities into the Kinesis system for numerous currencies.
This will mean local, bank-to-bank transfers that are cheaper and quicker, without the need to use third-party providers to process transactions. Multi-Currency options will include; Canadian Dollar, Swiss Franc, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Singapore Dollar, Offshore Chinese Yuan & Indonesia Rupiah. This currency list will continue to grow with demand.
This improvement is a much-welcomed addition into the Kinesis infrastructure and I look forward to officially announcing these new facilities.
Significant enhancements to Customer Service
Kinesis has recognised the need to reinforce, grow and implement a truly scalable structure for our Customer Service department. In the coming weeks, you will see additional Customer Service Agents, located across the globe join our ever-growing team. These agents will be undertaking an intensive training course to deliver users with an exceptional level of customer service. In addition to this, a new ticketing system will be implemented, meaning you will have greater transparency and tracking of issue resolution and progress.
The team will be working according to a schedule that will see 24/7 customer support. We expect this round-the-clock service to become available within the next 30 days. We also understand that sometimes, things can get incredibly busy, and we want our valued users to be able to raise support requests even when our representatives may be busy serving other users.
Two exciting features will be introduced to assist here. Firstly, a dynamic chat-bot will be integrated with our chat platform to assist users with a readily available comprehensive FAQ database, and secondly, a self-service kiosk will be integrated, which allows users to raise support requests immediately. Moreover, the processes behind the progression and update frequency behind support requests have been overhauled to ensure a seamless customer service experience is experienced by all.
We strive to deliver excellence in customer service to our community, and we are taking the steps to ensure our customer service department is robust, scalable and eager to drive speedy and transparent solutions.
Account Executive Expansion
We are bolstering our Account Executive team, with new personnel joining our team and commencing in the coming weeks. These new Account Executives will be joining us from across the globe, meaning no matter where our users are situated, all KMS users will have the ability to connect with a dedicated Account Executive in a timezone similar to their own. This gives our valued users a highly personalised service experience, with a primary point of contact that can be reached on the phone or by email during local business hours. Of course, our global Customer Service team will continue to provide support outside of local business hours.
We are serious about building out a positive customer experience that cannot be beaten. We are deploying the resources to achieve this and we have restructured the relevant internal departments to make this a reality. We are truly excited to roll this initiative out and continually improve to consistently deliver top-quality service to our community.
Summary
The above milestones are well on track for delivery. We look forward to updating you on those over the next month. With the increase of our Marketing and Commercial activities, Kinesis is projected to continue on its rapid and exponential growth curve.
We have increased our marketing activity globally, deploying a number of marketing solutions to improve visibility, alongside various technological improvements regarding UI, following extensive feedback on the user onboarding process.
Our YouTube and social channels are currently thriving, resulting in higher customer acquisition. In the coming weeks and months, you will see an increased presence from our Executive team across various channels as things really start to come online. I will personally be engaging in more interviews, so you will be seeing a lot more of me across the globe.
We are ready to begin making some noise in the market and be bold to maintain our leadership. We have a unique system, amazing people and teams, the passion, and the mission to empower everyone whether it is for trading, investing or for an alternative to the current banking system. Via the Kinesis Monetary system, people can and will take part in the way we are transforming money for tomorrow.
We will be releasing the exciting Q3 and Q4 roadmap in the next coming weeks.
Best Regards,
Thomas Coughlin.
