Greg Klumov, founder and CEO of Stasis, a platform that enables users to securely tokenize various types of real-world assets in a protected and user-friendly manner, explains that after establishing the foundation for digital assets in Malta, he made a strategic transition into entrepreneurship specifically to develop cryptocurrency-related products for institutional investors.
Klumov, holding a PhD from Moscow State Institute of International Relations, recently shared his expert perspectives and industry insights with CryptoSlate. He disclosed that his company has successfully created the world's premier blockchain-backed Euro, which has been introduced on STASIS, a pioneering fiat-tokenization platform.
You've previously indicated that you're an expert in alternative asset investments. Could you elaborate on these categories of assets and how they influence the current financial market structure?
Greg Klumov (GK): Real estate, stocks, and bonds represent traditional investment vehicles, while alternative investments encompass everything else and are substantial enough to warrant a separate classification. Items such as art, fine wine, and luxury automobiles fall into illiquid alternatives; instruments like ETFs, mutual funds, and premier hedge funds constitute the liquid alternatives.
We're witnessing a significant trend of capital flowing into alternative assets due to the era of historically low interest rates worldwide. The value of these assets is remarkably substantial compared to the conventional investable universe. For instance, the global real estate market is valued at $217 trillion, global stocks at $85 trillion, while instruments such as hedge funds and commodities are worth $3 trillion and $20 trillion, respectively.
You founded a high-speed internet service provider, named BNET, when you were only 15 years old. Tell us what inspired you to undertake this venture and how you developed this service.
GK: Online gaming didn't exist back then, and I wanted to be able to play a game with my friends (meaning not against an AI, but against other humans) so I built a network for multiple PCs to connect simultaneously. Later, I realized I could resell the high-speed internet connection to myself and save on monthly costs by sharing it with my community – and that's how it all began!
You've authored a book on cryptocurrency regulations, titled "Digital Asset Creation: A Cross-Border Analysis." Could you share what motivated you to write this book and please outline the key topics it covers?
GK: At that time, I was searching for a legal opportunity to launch a stablecoin. After conducting research across various jurisdictions, I discovered there was a lack of an objective regulatory approach toward digital assets that balances the interests of entrepreneurs as well as regulators.
Having worked in a regulated European asset management industry (UCITS funds), I decided to develop an approach that was detailed in the book and subsequently pioneered in Malta.
You've served as an advisor to the Malta team and helped shape some of the regulatory frameworks that crypto exchanges Binance and OKEx have adopted. Tell us more about your involvement in developing regulations for digital asset exchanges and why you believe it's important.
GK: I believe it's crucial to establish platforms where people can trade this exciting new asset class. Technologically, digital assets are quite distinct from traditional instruments like bonds or stocks (mainly due to rapid withdrawals and self-custody capabilities), but simultaneously, the trading aspects are remarkably similar.
Exchanges should provide maximum transparency about their token creation process and avoid becoming involved in the issuance of digital assets to prevent any conflicts of interest. At the same time, they must comply with existing AML/KYC regulations to eliminate risks of terrorist financing and money laundering. This represents the reality of the requirements we operate under and that everyone must adhere to.
Your current focus area involves your company STASIS, a fiat-tokenization platform that features a fully audited tokenized Euro. Please tell us about the key products and services you offer and those that you are currently planning to develop and introduce later.
GK: Our services at STASIS include intelligent swap mechanisms, third-party audits, custodial services, and comprehensive expertise and insights regarding current regulations.
In addition, we have developed our proprietary STASIS wallet application that enables users to transact between a variety of digital assets and is one of the first wallets to offer licensed transfers for Ethereum-based transactions.
Being a non-custodial wallet, it doesn't hold the assets, and digital assets can be sent without users having to pay a network fee, unlike the Ethereum wallet, for example, which requires users to pay ETH to make the transaction possible.
In addition to continuously partnering with a range of service providers globally, ensuring minimal risk for investors, we are also actively engaged in government relations, providing guidance on how digital assets should be regulated and how regulators approach digital assets.
In 2019, we published the second edition of our 2018 book Digital Asset Creation: A Cross-Border Analysis, targeted at state-level decision-makers and containing a comprehensive overview and analysis of digital asset regulations across 13 jurisdictions worldwide.
Why do you believe it's important to tokenize fiat currencies? During our discussion, you mentioned that the US dollar would not be able to maintain the same level of dominance in the future. Explain why you think other assets and currencies will play a huge role in the future economy.
GK: Single-backed stablecoins like EURS promote the domestic currency beyond its borders, which is what every nation desires.
Stablecoins are actually much more regulation-friendly because transactions through open blockchains always leave trails that they can track. This is not the case with cash.
Furthermore, with the assistance of third-party analytical companies, the market is catching up relatively quickly with solutions to address transaction analysis and monitoring at a level that would have been impossible with cash.
Another point in favor of stablecoins is that they cannot be counterfeited like cash.
And to conclude with a very straightforward argument: stablecoins are the simplest digital asset for newcomers to experiment with before embarking on the exciting journey into this new asset class.
