I use strategies such as diversification to manage risks: Blockchain expert Anndy Lian

I use strategies such as diversification to manage risks: Blockchain expert Anndy Lian

Amidst the challenges of a tough funding climate, e27 is launching an exciting new article series called Angel’s Advocate to provide fresh perspectives on angel funding. In this exclusive series, we sit down with prominent angels to hear their stories and strategies and gain unique insights about the early-stage financing space.

Anndy Lian is an all-rounded business strategist in Asia. He has provided advisory across various industries for local, international, and publicly listed companies and governments. He is an early blockchain adopter, serial entrepreneur, author, investor, board member, and keynote speaker.

In this edition, Lian shares his take on angel funding.

Edited excerpts:

How do you typically approach investing during a funding winter?

I would put my eggs into different baskets. In one of my baskets, I will focus on companies with solid fundamentals and a proven track record of generating revenue and profits. This kind of investment tends to be on the safe side, longer term, and returns may not be fantastic.

Then in my next basket, I will find low-valuation, high-potential startups with the right fundamentals to invest in. Crypto companies fit into this category nicely.

What are your typical investment criteria, such as industry, stage, and geographic location?

Investment criteria do not cover everything. It gives me guidelines that my team and I can use to filter out bad companies. In the current state of the market, I only look at tech companies, mainly in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. If they are more infrastructure-like, I do not mind investing in them at later stages. If the project is one of a kind, I would like to invest as early as possible, maybe pre-seed. If the project is more hype-driven, I will invest when the volume picks up.

Can you describe your investment process from initial contact to closing a deal?

First of all, the initial contact. We may learn about a potential investment opportunity through their personal network, a pitch event, or by contacting the company seeking funding directly. Then followed by screening. This process is a deeper level of evaluation where we will have longer calls to look for investment alignment.

We will go through the due diligence process if they pass this stage. We will conduct more in-depth research and analysis to evaluate the company’s business model, management team, financial performance, and growth potential. This process is the most important to me. The chance to interact with the team would be one of the key things.

The next stage would be negotiation. If we decide to move forward with the investment, we will negotiate the terms of the deal with the company, including the amount of funding and the valuation.

Once all parties have agreed upon the terms of the deal, legal documents will be prepared and signed to finalise the investment.

How do you evaluate a startup’s potential for growth and success?

Evaluating a startup’s potential for growth and success can be challenging, as many factors can impact a company’s future performance. I look at the market opportunity, business model, management team, financial performance and competition.

How important is the founder’s experience and background when making investment decisions?

Well, it is definitely important. The founder is the brain and creator of the company. If the main driver does not have the experience and background, the outcome would generally be disastrous.

Can you share your successful investment and what made that investment successful?

So far, crypto investments are the most successful in my portfolio. At crazy times, meme-coins can also be a potential 100X gem.

What are some common mistakes that startups make when pitching to angel investors? What are some myths about angel investment?

Some common mistakes that startups make when pitching to angel investors include not understanding the needs and goals of angel investors, failing to clearly articulate the value proposition, relying too heavily on financial projections, not doing enough research on potential investors, and not having a multi-faceted marketing strategy.

Another mistake is sending your executive summary or business plan unsolicited. Many investors do not read unsolicited emails and prefer a referral from someone in their network. It’s also important to do your homework on the investor and ensure your company is aligned with the investors’ objectives.

How important is the alignment of values between the investor and the founder?

The alignment of values between the investor and the startup founder is crucial. Ideally, your investors should be experts in your field or sector so that they not only understand the costs, time-to-market, and potential pitfalls of your vision but can also connect you with the right people and resources to help you achieve it. It’s important for the investor to spend some time understanding the skills and capabilities of startups.

How do you manage risks when investing in startups? Are there any specific metrics or indicators you look for?

Investing in startups is risky, but it can be very rewarding if the investments pay off. Most new companies or products do not make it, so the risk of losing one’s entire investment is a real possibility.

To manage risk, I can use strategies such as diversification, which refers to spreading my investments over a variety of assets with the aim that a portfolio of lowly-correlated assets does not all move in the same direction at the same time or even if they do move in the same direction, it should at least be by different degrees.

Can you share any advice for startups looking to raise funds from angel investors?

My humble advice to startup owners is to develop a business plan before approaching someone about funding. Put in writing what the investor is offering the business outside of funding because many angel investors expect to contribute their time actively to startups in which they invest. Establish roles.

It’s also important to create a strong, thorough, and engaging investor pitch deck and guidance on presenting to angel and venture capital investors.

 

Source: https://e27.co/i-use-strategies-such-as-diversification-to-manage-risks-blockchain-expert-invest-anndy-lian-20230524/

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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India: Use Tax Compliant Platform To Comply With Budget

India: Use Tax Compliant Platform To Comply With Budget

Union Budget 2023 had to offer very little for virtual digital assets (VDA) sector. In fact, the Finance Minister carefully avoided even mentioning about the VDA. However, the industry players took it in stride by acknowledging the fact that they need to abide by the current dispensation. They have advised using tax compliant platform while are hopeful of rise in Web3 & Crypto adoption.

The recent budget has brought gains from overseas cryptocurrencies / VDA under the tax purview. Non abidance of which invites Rs 10 lakh penalty or seven year imprisonment.

“I think the adoption of Web3 and crypto has grown a lot in India. But pertaining to this with the VDA industry, stakeholders are kind of disappointed by the Finance minister not mentioning the sector in her Union budget speech on 1st of February,” said Anndy Lian, Author & advisor for the Mongolian Productivity Organization.

While providing a perspective from across the border and being a staunch advocate of cryptocurrency, Lian believes that the budget 2023 has established its priority towards tax collection.

“I would just want to say that don’t try to avoid TDS by using offshore. You may be penalized as per section 271C of the income tax Act if you are investing in a Crypto,” Lian warned adding that, “Try to use a tax compliant platform, again the words used are fairly ambiguous”.

Similar views were aired by other experts tracking VDA sector.

According to a recent analysis, India’s cumulative trade volume in VDA changed by INR 32,000 crore between February and October 2022. “We expected that in the 2023 budget, the government would t alter VDA taxation, thereby reducing tax burden and eliminating uncertainties. But sadly we are still holding last years baby!,” says Raj Kapoor, founder, India Blockchain Alliance.

He went on to add that VDA taxes impact both residents and non-residents. Without a clear set of criteria to identify when NRs in India become subject to taxation, it has now become critical to understand the status of VDAs, especially when they are exchanged via or sold to Indian citizens. Clear standards in this sector are required to clear the air and promote international investment.

Joining the bandwagon in support of VDA traders is Tax Expert, Sonu Jain, who says “Many Indian users were purchasing crypto assets using International Credit cards or funds transfer. This will now reduce significantly since the TCS has been increased to 20%.”

Concerned by the tax imposition, Jain said, “So every funds transfer under LRS will be leviable to 20% TCS. For example, If a user wishes to buy crypto worth ₹100, then ₹20 will have to be paid as TCS.” This will significantly reduce direct International crypto purchases by Indians..

India assumed the presidency of the G20 summit, and there are hopes with regards to the country moving towards a more favorable ecosystem for crypto in general. Most importantly, India has started 450 web3 startups with an average inflow of 1.3 billion dollars in 2022 according to DYDX foundation. According to media reports there are over 75,000 blockchain employees working in India, raking 3rd in the global list of employers.

 

Source: https://www.3-verse.io/3versetv/blog/use-tax-compliant-platform-to-comply-with-budget/BA-20230203181601187-721508

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Will We Ever Use Meme Coins for Payment in the Metaverse?

Will We Ever Use Meme Coins for Payment in the Metaverse?

The rise of meme coins has been a surprise not only in terms of the growth of their collective market value, but also their utility. The leading meme coin Dogecoin was originally launched as a joke by its co-founders in 2013 had reached a market cap of over $65 billion in May. Maybe the clue to its later success is in its origination, as a fork of Lucky Coin, itself a fork of Litecoin, which was a fork of Bitcoin! While its original creators never intended it to become so popular, or to rise in value to such stratospheric levels, it’s clearly ‘taken on a life of its own’ to coin a phrase. Now there’s a new twist in the Dogecoin’s tale, with the backing of celebrities like Tesla’s Elon Musk and Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban, it’s now being used for payment. So how seriously should we take this latest chapter in the development of meme coins, as a form of payment?

 

While it’s tempting to see the use of Dogecoin for payment as one more inexplicable jump in its unlikely evolution, its brief history shows what’s a consistent driving force behind this – its community. Just two weeks after its launch in 2013 the Reddit forum r/Dogecoin had over 19k members. It’s this community that drove the first real use of the coin, when in 2014 it quickly raised $30,000 to send the Jamaican bobsled team to the Winter Olympics, in a real-life version of the comedy sports movie ‘Cool Runnings’.

 

And without a PR agency to spread the news, the story was picked up by media outlets, broadcasting the meme coin to the world. Dogecoin’s fun meme-driven community backing and simplicity to use are key to its popular success. Maybe it found a market by accident rather than design, but that also underlines the power of memes to spread ideas and grow products.

It’s perhaps not surprising that Shark Tank star and billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, told US-broadcaster CNBC recently that not only is Dogecoin “a medium that can be used for the acquisition of goods and services,” but that also “the community for doge is the strongest when it comes to using it as a medium of exchange”. This was in turn endorsed by Elon Musk, who tweeted: “I’ve been saying this for a while.” So how did Musk, with his Tesla and SpaceX commitments, get so involved with Doge?

 

Apparently, his first contact was in 2018 when Musk asked Doge co-founder, Jackson Palmer, to help him with Twitter scam bots. The next year in 2019, he tweeted that, “Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.” His follow-up tweets in 2020 only served to inflate the prices of Doge, including in January 2021 when Musk helped send Dogecoin prices up 800%.

So how is Musk ‘putting his money where his mouth is’ and going from meme to payment promoter? The answer lies in his SpaceX business. In the first quarter of 2022 SpaceX will accept Dogecoin as full payment for a payload on the officially titled ‘DOGE-1 mission to the Moon’. DOGE-1 will fly a 40-kilogram cube satellite as a payload on a Falcon 9 rocket, with a hi-tech payload. SpaceX also confirmed that the DOGE-1 mission would adopt Dogecoin to set the standard for “interplanetary commerce”. Musk sees the meme coin as having a future in payments that’s not simply confined to planet Earth!

A latecomer to the meme coin payment party, entrepreneur, and star of Shark Tank Mark Cuban, is altogether more down to earth with his meme coin payment proposals. Cuban’s basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks, is rolling out the coin for payment with the help of BitPay, which is providing it as a payment option for its merchants and consumers. The blockchain payments company confirmed that, “Mavs Fans for Life (MFFLs) can now use Dogecoin to buy tickets and merchandise online, making Mavs merchandise more accessible to MFFLs everywhere, a decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency, Dogecoin enables customers to easily send money online with very low transaction fees and fast transaction times.” Commenting on the Doge-related deal Cuban admitted they provided Dogecoin “because we can!”. He added that for fans who wanted to know more, “we strongly encourage you to talk to your teenagers who are on tik tok and ask them about it”.

So, what makes the meme token so attractive for payments, beyond its popularity? BitPay said Dogecoin’s large supply and low price facilitated ‘efficient micro-tipping content’. “It has an advantage Bitcoin or Ethereum doesn’t necessarily have at this time: Dogecoin has low fees. And when you combine a strong community with low fees, that’s a great recipe. I expect it to continue to grow, and that utility will get greater,” said a BitPay spokesperson. The well-known crypto exchange Coinbase that it’s e-commerce platform ‘Coinbase Commerce’ has begun accepting Dogecoin for payments, allowing its merchants to start accepting the meme token.

Talking of e-commerce, it may be a little ambitious to believe the giant online retailer Amazon will take up Dogecoin for payment purposes, but that hasn’t stopped a petition titled ‘Doge4Amazon’ from picking up strong support in 2021. Started three years ago with 20k supporters, in the last 6 months its jumped from 75k, to 100k, and now to close to 250K signatures. The petition reads: “Amazon.com, being a leader in innovation, should accept Dogecoin as a form of payment. Dogecoin is fast, cheap, and stable. It is stable in value, has the lowest transaction fee of other major coins, has a huge supply of coins, and has a very large, active community with ongoing development.”

 

At the other end of the e-commerce scale from Amazon, it’s reported that SamandZoey.com, a company that produces custom textile designs said they are accepting Dogecoin. “Accepting cryptocurrency, including Dogecoin, seemed like a natural next step for us—we have a history of listening to what our customers want. I’m surprised other eCommerce stores aren’t doing the same,” a spokesman said. Dogecoin may dominate the meme coin landscape but that’s also starting to change, as the demand continues to grow. In July it was reported that Baby Doge, in a bid to follow in Dogecoin’s footsteps, is also moving into e-commerce as a payment option. It’s teamed up with Coin Payments, allowing the meme coin to be used with over 5 million e-commerce businesses worldwide.

For aficionados of meme coins, Dogecoin isn’t the only popular crypto coin that was created in 2013, with a fun animal identity and with strong community backing. MONA was launched in 2013 as part of the MonaCoin Project and is based on the meme of a cat-like figure. It was designed by an anonymous developer who goes by Mr.Watanabe, who like Bitcoin’s anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto has never been officially identified. The meme token, which in March had a market value of around $134 million, is mainly used in Japan which may explain why it’s not more widely known. Its key practical use is as a currency in several stores (both online and on the high street), and according to Investopedia the currency can also be used through Monappy, “an online platform where MonaCoin holders can exchange coins for digital assets, such as coupons, electronics, and other items”. While its success for use in payments was helped by Japan’s Financial Services Agency approval in 2017, the cat-like currency is still dwarfed by Dogecoin in terms of popularity.

Clearly, despite their fun-filled origins meme coins are here to stay and rising in global popularity. Led by Dogecoin, especially in the US, and with celebrity backing from Musk and Cuban, it’s not difficult to see the advantages of its payment-friendly features in terms of low fees and infinite supply. If a major retailer like Amazon jumps on the meme coin bandwagon, it will become a major payment option for consumers. Indeed, you can already see innovation within the mobile meme-coin-led consumer space with DogeCola, a token designed to keep the price stable and avoid Whale speculation, while also offering its own soft drink cola later this year.

It’s also not hard to see meme coins use in related sectors such as music and gaming, as a cross-proprietary platform currency to enable the vision of the ‘multiverse’. In a recent report, UK-based blockchain VC Outlier Ventures sees the need to have a crypto decentralized core, with its own payment system as key: “The defining characteristic of a true Metaverse is that it needs its own economy and currencies native to it, where value can be earnt, spent, lent, borrowed or invested interchangeably in both a physical or virtual sense and most importantly without the need for a government.”

 

Whether it will be used seriously for business-to-business payments, apart from one-offs like SpaceX’s use for promotional purposes, remains to be seen. After all, stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) are also viable commercial options for digital payments that are fast and low cost and have been expanding rapidly in 2021. But one thing’s for sure about the meme coins, the sky’s the limit when it comes to future payment options for consumers keen to be able to use their favorite cryptocurrency.

 

“Memecoins could be another driver in the new metaverse. Who knows?“

 

– Anndy Lian, Chairman, BigONE Exchange & Author of Blockchain Revolution 2030

 

Original Source: https://hackernoon.com/will-we-ever-use-meme-coins-for-payment-in-the-metaverse

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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