DNotes Global, Inc. is focused on Bringing DNotes Digital Currency Mainstream with a Platform and Ecosystem that will give it Intrinsic Value just as Cash
Alan Yong
Chief Executive Officer
DNotes Global, Inc.
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – June 19, 2017
CEOCFO: Mr. Yong, what is the concept behind DNotes Global Inc, www.dnotescoin.com?
Mr. Yong: DNotes Global, Inc was created as a for-profit company dedicated to providing the DNotes digital currency with the resources and support that it needs to have the optimal chance of gaining mass acceptance and success on a global scale.
CEOCFO: How does it work?
Mr. Yong: To fully understand how DNotes works, it’s important to consider how the world has changed since Bitcoin launched in 2009. Bitcoin was the first of today’s digital currencies. It represented a new type of technology, underpinned by the very same blockchain technology that has been receiving so much attention in the financial services community and other industries. Bitcoin’s creator managed to solve some very important problems that many computer experts have been striving to resolve for more than sixty years. That problem is this: how do we get to the point where currency can be digitized and sent around the world in an efficient, rapid, and safe way?
The challenge was to do that over the internet while resolving issues related to potential double-spending. Satoshi’s solution involved the use of an ingenious decentralized consensus system that verifies transactions using peer-to-peer computing. That system allows multiple parties around the world to participate in verification, with each transaction verified through the consent of 51% of the network. However, an even larger challenge remains. We’re talking about the creation of money – and decentralized money at that. Given that the current system is one that has centralization as a primary feature, how do you ensure that a decentralized system can properly interface with the world as it now exists? Put in simpler terms, how do you bridge the gap between the centralized and decentralized worlds?
CEOCFO: What have you developed at DNotes to allow this to happen?
Mr. Yong: We’ve worked to add a different component to the equation. Yes, DNotes is a decentralized digital currency – and it’s like a thousand other digital currencies in that it is basically an alternative to Bitcoin. That’s true because DNotes and all these other digital currencies use the open source pioneered by Satoshi during Bitcoin’s creation. With DNotes, though, we’ve been focused on the true value of decentralized currency from the start, which we believe can be found in not just the creation of the coin but in its governance.
Most crypto enthusiasts – and even many outside observers – now understand that the creation of digital currency is a fairly straightforward process. The important question is how do you get to a point where your currency has any kind of intrinsic value? I think that everyone would agree that none of the existing digital currencies have any intrinsic value at this moment of time. That includes Bitcoin. Now, that doesn’t mean that they are worthless, because things are ultimately worth whatever price another person is willing to pay to acquire them. But as of this moment in time, these currencies are used primarily for speculative trading.
Our research convinced us that we needed to map out a strategy that recognized the importance of this ingenious system in which currency is created using a consensus system, while addressing its obvious shortcomings. In our estimation, the most critical challenge facing any decentralized system is its lack of leadership. There is no controlling authority, and that means that the system ends up being governed by whatever rules are in place when the currency is launched. The problem is that you need people to guide and protect that currency’s interests if you want the currency to succeed.
CEOCFO: What is the use of bitcoin now? Is it being embraced more now? Why?
Mr. Yong: Bitcoin is extremely popular right now. It is increasingly being used as a medium of exchange for goods and services, and continues to be embraced by speculative traders. As a currency, it has created tremendous interest and has thus achieved substantial value – largely due to many people’s belief that there is much more to it than meets the eye. Still, many people don’t quite understand it. Many of the traders who invested in it did so because greed is part of human nature. And since there was an opportunity for people to make money trading Bitcoin, its value kept rising. Eventually, we reached a point where people suddenly felt compelled to own at least some Bitcoin, even when they had no real idea what they were buying. That’s where the speculative trading comes in. However, a closer look at Bitcoin and the technology behind it shows that it’s valuable as more than just a speculative currency.
Consider, for example, the blockchain technology that underpins digital currency. The blockchain is a technology that has gained in popularity with banks and other financial services, as well as many government entities. There’s a reason for that, of course, and it has to do with the blockchain’s versatility. This is a technology that can do a great many things. At its core, it is a dramatically improved version of database technology that allows you to use the consensus system to transfer any asset of values, while creating an immutable, time-stamped record of the transaction.
Essentially, Satoshi Nakamoto created an ingenious peer-to-peer decentralized distributed ledger consensus system. Once the transaction of funds, documents, or any digital asset of value is confirmed and verified to be legitimate, recorded and time-stamped, that record becomes immutable. That means that it cannot be deleted or modified, and it is verifiable by anyone with an internet connection, anywhere in the world. The truly exciting thing is that the ability for people to engage in asset transactions without going through third-party middlemen or central authorities can literally transform life in many parts of the world. There are some 2.2 billion people who are currently unserved or underserved by financial institutions. Digital currency systems can give them greater access to financial empowerment – and all they need is a simple device and an Internet connection.
CEOCFO: Is your service in use today? Are you still in development?
Mr. Yong: The DNotes currency has been around and has been actively traded for a few years. Today, DNotes has a market value of almost $20 million. Tens of thousands of people own DNotes as a currency. Most of them maintain ownership in the hope that the value of the currency will appreciate to provide a return on their investment. There are also those who are trading DNotes every day on the currency exchanges. In just the last few days, the average trading value has been around of a couple of million dollars a day. That represents active trading.
DNotes Global Inc is our new for-profit company, and was incorporated in the State of Delaware a year ago. For DNotes to gain mass acceptance as a currency on a global scale, it is extremely important that we can ensure that it meets the full functions of money as a unit of account, a medium of exchange, and a store of value. However, we do not believe that this can be achieved by any digital currency using the prevalent decentralized, leaderless model. That environment has proven to lend itself to activities that are random and chaotic.
That model stands in stark contrast to the more organized centralized world with its tight management, strong business model, and emphasis on planning and strategizing. Some measure of centralization is needed to ensure that the right thing is done at the right time – and in the right way. As a for-profit company, DNotes Global Inc will be responsible for providing leadership and management to protect and promote the best interests of the currency. That is necessary to create and maintain the currency’s intrinsic value, and protect shareholders’ interests.
Obviously, we waited for the technology to further evolve and mature, and then started developing DNotes 2.0 this year. This is a significant technology with a switch from proof of work (POW) to proof of stake (POS). Once implemented all DNotes stakeholders will be rewarded when they maintain an accounts balance of 30 days or longer. We are also committed to 100% C# conversion, which will provide us with intimate knowledge of our technology. We are committed to being a technology leader, and are moving forward with plans to drastically expand our development team.
CEOCFO: What is your strategy to accomplish what you would like to do?
Mr. Yong: Our goal to ensure that the DNotes currency has the best chance of gaining mass acceptance as we build a trusted brand. We know how important it is for people to have confidence in the institutions to which they entrust their hard-earned money and life savings. In many ways, we have to play the role of bank or other financial service when it comes to the currency side of the equation. However, as I explained earlier there are lots of things that are involved in that.
We also feel that mass acceptance of any digital currency also requires it to be accessible to anyone and everyone around the world – rather than just being limited to the monied elite. Bitcoin’s price is around $2,500 at this moment, and most people simply cannot afford to own even one of the coins. Our commitment is to make sure that DNotes ownership is as seamless and accessible as possible for anyone who wishes to participate. That also means that we need to make a commitment to involving the female population of the world, since they control more than 50% of the purchasing power. That is one of the reasons that our group has created a project called CryptoMoms, which is devoted to encouraging and assisting women as they join the digital currency community. Regardless of whether digital currency ends up serving as a supplement or a replacement for fiat currencies, it is imperative that everyone has a real chance to participate.
CEOCFO: Are you seeking partnerships, investors or funding in any way as you move forward?
Mr. Yong: Yes. That is going to come at a later stage. The best way to understand what we are doing is to understand our strategic road-map, timing, and plan for execution. Our initial step was to launch the DNotes currency on February 18, 2014. That was a little over three years ago. Since that moment, our number one commitment has been to create a community that is prepared to support a currency with a purpose. That purpose is to make sure that DNotes will become available and accessible to anyone in the world who wants to participate.
It’s also important to us that DNotes be recognized as a trusted brand. That’s why everything that we have been doing is documented and verifiable. Anyone who wants to spend some time researching what we have accomplished can do so, since that information is easily obtained. We are searchable, we are researchable, and we are verifiable.
Our third priority is to make sure that we have established systems to help educate as many people as possible so that they understand that digital currency is the future of money. Whether we accept it today or not, it is important to learn more about it. We believe that digital currency is the future of money. We have created different ways to help educate people, such as DNotesEdu and DCEBrief. We typically do a lot of blog posts on various social media and the DNotes Forum, as well as CryptoMoms. I am also very active on LinkedIn. This is a huge project with a global scale, so it takes time to educate people and get them to the point where they’re comfortable with the idea of accepting DNotes as a medium of exchange and store of value on par with their fiat currencies. It’s worth mentioning again that our hope and strategy is to make sure that DNotes has fundamental and intrinsic value, rather than just being a speculative currency for trading. That is the primary reason we’ve worked so hard to develop our own ecosystem, and the reason we created DNotes Global Inc to help manage and fund all those different projects.
So, to answer your original question - yes, at some point in time we will be out raising money. But that is probably something that won’t take place for another year or so. Ultimately, DNotes Global Inc intends to become a substantial force in the industry. To do that, we will have our own exchange that will allow us to conveniently exchange DNotes for any number of currencies that are on our approved list. In the meantime, we have created DNotesVault, which is almost like a bank. It is extremely easy for people to visit the vault, sign up for an account, and start sending DNotes to that secure environment. We also offer DNotes-based savings accounts through our CRISP or Cryptocurrency Investment Savings Plan. We have family saving programs to encourage people to participate and save for the long-term. We have even given away a lot of free DNotes. And then there’s our DNotes retirement program. Right now, that program is being used by about 300 account holders, with a total worth of close to $2 million.
DNotes is a big bold project of global scale and scope that will involve a full array of financial services, including a full-service exchange and online bank. We are also positioning ourselves to be an innovative technology leader in the blockchain and smart contract arena. So, while everything has been self-funded so far, we will likely look to various rounds of funding to rapidly scale and fuel our anticipated global expansion.
*****”Mr. Yong is the author of “Improve Your Odds - The Four Pillars of Business Success”
https://fourpillarsofbusinesssuccess.com/
This article was republished with permission from:
http://www.ceocfointerviews.com/interviews/DNotesGlobal17.htm
