This Part 2 of a two-part series.

Part 1 – Cryptophyl and SimpleLedger in 2019
Part 2 – Cryptophyl in 2020: Decentralised exchange, compliance changes, BTC pairs and a complete platform redesign

Introduction

Having looked back at 2019 and celebrated our achievements, I’d like to discuss some of the important changes ahead. Operating a cryptocurrency exchange service is a complex endeavour: regulatory uncertainty, turbulent market conditions and technical novelty are just some of the obstacles we navigate regularly. A lot of work happens behind the scenes to ensure that the requirements of this intricate system remain satisfied.

Compliance changes

Starting from January 10th, as required by incoming changes in anti-money laundering legislation in the United Kingdom mandated by legislation at the level of The European Union, Cryptophyl will be extending our anti money laundering (AML) procedures.

As you may expect, as part of the changes in legislation, we will be required to conduct identity verification (know your customer or simply KYC) checks on some of our customers. These checks are limited to only the essential information we are required to collect by law to reasonably operate as a financial services company offering custodial cryptocurrency services.

Implementing such checks was an extremely difficult decision for us. Privacy and freedom from surveillance are part of my core values. Unfortunately, there is no loophole, should we wish to remain incorporated in the United Kingdom or even serve customers in the European Economic Area (EEA). In the interest of remaining a compliant, commercial and investable business, we decided that this was the best way forwards.

We believe such regulation has several benefits. Firstly, it brings regulatory clarity to the space. In our case, we will be applying to be an FCA-authorised entity by the end of 2020. The FCA is the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom: the financial regulator which holds all financial companies accountable.

Holding such an authorisation will give further confidence to our customers, partners and investors. Furthermore, such authorisation of cryptocurrency companies is a green light from the government regarding the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies and tokens. We think it’s in everyone’s interest to have regulated SLP token exchange.

Your personal information is and will continue to be managed in line with the stringent requirements laid out in GDPR. We encourage you to get in touch should you have any questions about how your data will be shared. Cryptophyl requires a court order authorised by a judge or judicial equivalent before sharing any personal information with law enforcement or other relevant authorities. You may view our Privacy Policy here.

Considering the above, we’re delighted to announce that we’ll be launching a decentralised, non-custodial SLP trading solution. This will be operated by a non-UK registered company under the Detoken brand. This company will not be required to comply with the European AML legislation that applies to Cryptophyl.

More information regarding the incoming compliance changes will be made available by email to all users on January 5th, 2020.

Decentralised SLP token exchange

Our decentralised exchange infrastructure has been a large part of the work we have completed in 2019. This is a huge deal, because for the first time, users will be able to be in full control of their SLP tokens and BCH coins, whilst being able to place market and limit orders in the same way as now. The decentralised exchange will have a centrally managed order book and account system, but users will always have custody of their own funds and will not have to trust Cryptophyl to keep funds safe. Cryptophyl will not have access to user private keys.

We’ll be open sourcing our client application. This opens up our design and trustless trading flow to the community, improving the tools available for others and maintaing transparency and security.

The user experience of this product was at the forefront of our design. Instead of attempting to commercialise technology, we started with the user experience and worked backwards. For far too long non-custodial exchanges have offered security at the cost of user experience. We hope that our product will have similar user experience to that of our current exchange.

The exchange will be offered under the Detoken brand name and will be available starting May 2020.

Platform redesign

Another major part of ongoing work is a total redesign of the exchange. This new exchange application has been built mobile first. The new changes include: user notifications, multi-language support, significant user interface upgrades, trading improvements, a new dark theme and price charts. This is a non-exhaustive list and we’ve generally implemented almost every feature request we’ve received.

Along with the new perks for holders of Cryptophyl’s native exchange token DROP, we’ll be rolling out this new application by the end of February 2020. User experience is important, and what’s coming is a huge upgrade.

Bitcoin pairs

As part of our mission to grow the token economy, we’re always looking at new markets. We’ve prepared Bitcoin (BTC) integration into Cryptophyl and will be launching two new trading pairs based on user demand: BCH/BTC and BTC/USDH. The first market to go live will be BCH/BTC, scheduled for January 15th. We’ve connected existing and new liquidity providers to ensure ample liquidity for trading.

Conclusion

I hope that I’ve been able to summarise concisely the changes we’ve got coming in 2020. It’s important for me personally to maintain your trust, and I hope I’ve been able to communicate properly our justifications for implementing identity verification. It’s fair to say that we’re eagerly anticipating the exchange redesign, decentralised exchange, trading pairs and token listings. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on for 2020.

Thank you for your continued support,

Semyon Germanovich

Founder and CEO, Cryptophyl