Interview with U.S. CEO of Currency.com, Steve Gregory

As part of our new Startup Spotlight series, we explore the minds of startup founders, CEOs, and business owners and their stories to help others navigate the startup journey and help them become successful business entrepreneurs.

In addition, we also interview these business leaders to learn about the brief history of their companies, their mission, their products and services, value proposition, and lessons they learned along the way.

We’re excited to kick off this new Startup Spotlight series with Steve Gregory, the CEO of the US subsidiary of the fast-growing European crypto asset platform, Currency.com.

Thank you Steve for doing the interview. We would like to know more about Currency.com, your journey to becoming the CEO of one of the leading cryptocurrency asset platforms, your early struggles, successes, and words of wisdom that you would like to pass on to others. Without further ado, let’s start with the quick history of Currency.com.

Tech Startups : Give us a brief history of your company, founders, mission, value proposition, etc.

Steve Gregory: Currency.com was founded in 2019. At Currency.com, we believe there should be no barriers to investing. We are committed to empowering people with secure, simple, and intuitive technology. We prioritize regulation, security, and ease of use to ensure that our clients can trade with confidence.

We are on a mission to enable everyone to confidently participate in cryptocurrency markets through secure, low-friction, innovative platforms that take the complexity out of investing. Underpinning this is our commitment to support investors with a wealth of education, robust risk management, and transparent pricing to empower people to responsibly buy, invest in, and trade a wide range of cryptocurrencies.

The platform’s fiat-to-crypto capabilities enable everyone to buy cryptocurrencies without having to convert fiat into crypto. Unlike other centralized exchanges which often charge high transaction fees for their services and convenience, Currency.com charges lower fees

Meanwhile, our fast, simplified onboarding and execution process provides added convenience to investors.

In markets outside of the US, Currency.com also enables clients to use their digital currency to trade over 2,000 tokenized assets, including tokenized shares of leading companies, indices, and commodities; thereby allowing more investors to diversify their digital assets beyond cryptocurrencies.

Tech Startups: What led you to start Currency.com and what is the history behind the name of the company?

Steve Gregory: Currency.com was formed in conjunction with its sister company and affiliate partner Capital.com. As CEO of the company’s newly launched US entity, I am responsible for building a presence for Capital.com and stewarding its success in one of the largest cryptocurrency markets in the developed world.

Tech Startups: What has the journey been like so far?

Steve Gregory: Currency.com has experienced exceptional growth since its formation. In 2020 the Currency.com platform saw a 374% increase in the total number of clients compared to 2019. Overall, the total sum of deposits increased by 490% in the past year, generating a cumulative trading volume of $16 billion. This growth has continued into 2021 with the number of new clients registering on the platform growing 250% in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020. The total number of trades executed on Currency.com is up 134% quarter-on-quarter. The rapid growth across Currency.com makes it one of the fastest-growing crypto exchanges in the world.

This growth enables us to fulfill our mission – to seamlessly connect everyone with the burgeoning world of cryptocurrencies – through new, innovative, timely products, more altcoins, and expansion into new markets.

In May, we opened our US subsidiary, adding significantly to our global footprint. Currency.com now has offices in London, Kyiv, New Jersey, Limassol, Gibraltar, and Minsk. We have also made improvements to our platform, incorporating simplified onboarding and direct investing capabilities to cater to the requirements of large new markets such as the US. We also continue to add new products and altcoins to meet our clients’ evolving needs.

Tech Startups: How have you raised funding for the company? (VC, Angel, or Bootstrap …and why?)

Steve Gregory: London-based Venture Capitalist Viktor Prokopenya was an early investor in the company through his fund VP Capital.

Thankfully our success in Europe has given us a significant runway and the ability to expand our reach to other markets like the US, LATAM, and APAC. Not being beholden to investors/shareholders have also allowed us the ability to reinvest into the company and the ability to meet market demand.

Tech Startups: What’s your secret sauce?

Steve Gregory: In 2020, Currency.com reported a 374 percent growth in its client base, making it one of Europe’s fastest-growing crypto platforms. We are taking this amazing European track record into new markets, including the US, and bringing simple and intuitive cryptocurrency investing to a larger audience.

Tech Startups: The smartest move you’ve made so far and the biggest mistake you’ve made so far:

Steve Gregory: Unrelenting effort to be customer-focused has provided us the mindset to continually make smart moves. By prioritizing customer and market demand, we have reinvested back into the company creating a feedback loop with products our customers want.

Tech Startups: Which leading entrepreneur, business leader, or executive would you most want to work in your corner? (Be specific, and explain why)

Steve Gregory: Jon Squires, our global CEO, and I don’t have to say that either. Jon has been able to build successful billion-dollar internet-based businesses for decades now. His experience and vision have a gravitational pull motivating the team here.

If I could go a little out of context and name someone whose skills and success would definitely carry over to entrepreneurship and business, I would say Tom Brady. Tom Brady came into the NFL as an unassuming late-round pick, but he focused on developing his skills (analogous to a company building its product) and once he got a shot, his record of success was undeniable. He is the greatest of all time, able to win regardless of the team or players around him. Everything around him changes and his success endures. He gets the most out of his teammates, causing them to elevate their game to play on his level. No surprise he is so successful and people gravitate to him, often accepting less pay just to be on his team. That’s the definition of leadership, and that’s what we are hoping to build here at currency.com.

Lastly, I think that the best entrepreneur is likely the one we haven’t even talked about yet. There are a lot of things that need to happen in crypto before we see mass adoption. Solving the fees and slow transaction times on Ethereum, layer 2 wallet solutions that are seamless and adaptable to the general product. The best entrepreneurs are likely solving protocol application of capital through DeFi, cutting out all intermediaries and allowing for individuals’ unused capital to be deployed and governed through a protocol.

Tech Startups: The biggest thing we look for when hiring is …

Steve Gregory: Willingness to prioritize the team and the project. Crypto is a new industry and as such, the roles in a company aren’t siloed. It’s still all hands on deck to move the project and the mission forward. We like people willing to jump in and lend their skills and talents to any project, even if it’s outside their scope or not aligned with their skill set.

Tech Startups: Looking back at your career, what would you have done differently when starting out?

Steve Gregory: Take a bet on yourself sooner and trust your own judgment. Indecision can be the worst decision sometimes. If you believe in yourself, you’ll be on the right path.

Tech Startups: Are there any other things you would like us to know?

Steve Gregory: Nothing at this time.

Tech Startups: Steve, thank you for your time.

We hope the information Steve shares with us helps inform other entrepreneurs who are looking to make an impact in the business world.