CoinQuora Exclusive Interview — Nick Saponaro, CEO of Divi

Nick Saponaro is the CEO and Co-founder of Divi. He is a blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiast who is supporting the upcoming World Blockchain Summit in Dubai.

The CoinQuora team asked Nick questions to help us get to know him, what they do at Divi, and to tell us some things about his thoughts on the industry. Without further ado, here’s the interview.

Q. Please give us an introduction of yourself. What’s your background?

I grew up in a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia. I always had an interest in technology and, being an only child, I had a lot of time on my hands to tinker and learn. Like many technologists, I enjoyed learning about computers and their capabilities, taking various devices apart and putting them back together.

Eventually I got into software and loved learning how various technologies work. Over the years using a computer became second nature and eventually I learned how to code and build my own programs and websites.

Q. How did you get into cryptocurrency? What’s your motivation?

My initial brush with crypto came straight out of high school when I ran a custom PC business that built mining rigs. As I immersed myself more into the industry, I saw the opportunity crypto presents to improve all of our lives by removing traditional finance’s monopoly and restoring financial autonomy and sovereignty to the individual.

I’m a dedicated proponent of the founding principles of the crypto movement as set out by its originator Satoshi Nakamoto, and focused on the delivery of a new paradigm for financial services. One that is truly decentralized, accessible to all, and works for everyone.

Q. How did you start with your current company? Could you tell us about the business?

I joined Divi in 2017 as a full stack developer and was invited to become a co-founder of the fledgling business. Soon after, I took on responsibility for building and maintaining all of Divi’s web services, client-facing apps, and the protocol development for Divi Core. I quickly progressed and in 2019, became CIO. Today, I am the company’s CEO.

At Divi, we are focused on solving the issues of usability and accessibility that have frustrated mainstream adoption. We have built a vast blockchain payments ecosystem with an innovative set of services tucked into a mobile and desktop smart wallet. Our goal is to establish a self-sustained, fully decentralized private payment solution that makes cryptocurrencies accessible and usable by the masses.

Q. What would you say is the unique selling point of your company? What makes it different from other blockchains/crypto businesses?

For too long, complexity has put people off the crypto market completely or seen them cede control of their coins in return for centralized services that are relatively easy to use. Unlike other projects, by pushing complexity to the background and creating a familiar and intuitive user experience, we’ve ensured that anyone can use our services, without compromising on security or custodianship.

The beauty of our technology is multi-faceted. There’s no counterparty or middleman risk as our wallet users retain their coins and keys. In addition, our 1-click technologies allow anyone to easily earn crypto through decentralized node deployment from a mobile device, where currently, all implementations require some level of custody.

Q. What do you personally think about current crypto market trends?

The DeFi space is interesting and exciting. It adheres to the fundamental tenets that crypto is built upon (obviating centralaties) and provides bilateral financial services opportunities that were not previously possible.

NFTs also show a lot of promise. I don’t subscribe to the current trends of million-dollar JPEGs and GIFs but the prospect of tokenizing sports player contracts, establishing immutable provenance of ownership, and developing interactive meta-verses (among other things)  is really intriguing.

Finally, the recent validation of the space by recent institutional and corporate support is a fantastic step towards crossing the chasm of adoption. With this new support, projects like Divi who are building hybrid finance applications that have a tremendous potential to achieve the goal of providing financial services to everyone everywhere.

Q. Please share your thoughts on the future of Blockchain technology and Fintech evolution.

We are in an interesting period. On the one hand you have the governments of developed nations such as China, the US and EU, doing all they can to crackdown on the cryptosphere. While on the other you have governments of developing nations like El Salvador embracing the freedom, innovation and economic boost that blockchain and crypto offers.

However, as we move forward, the momentum behind blockchain and crypto projects can only increase. The decentralized nature of blockchain platforms is enabling them to find ways around most obstacles. More use-cases are being uncovered every day and because of this, the industry is expanding in virtually every economy.

Q. Do you have anything specific to share about your projects?

This has been a banner year for the Divi Project and it’s not over yet. Through our fintech innovation centre, Divi Labs, we launched our decentralized smart mobile wallet earlier this year. In addition to a familiar and intuitive user interface and onboarding process not found on non-custodial mobile wallets, it was the first to have 1-click masternodes.

We’ve just launched another first for the industry, with the introduction of our 1-click staking vaults. They make it super easy for people to earn crypto. They don’t need an always-on internet connection and can be set up with little to no technical expertise.

Later this year we will launch in the UK and EU and hope to add fiat on and off ramps soon after that.

Q. How does it feel to be a part of Dubai Blockchain ecosystem by taking part at 19th Edition of World Blockchain Summit in Dubai on Oct 13-14?

It feels great. It is an important event and a great opportunity to meet with passionate people who are doing brilliant work to help push the industry forward. We feel proud to be sharing the stage with so many excellent speakers and are excited to see what opportunities arise.

Source: https://coinquora.com/coinquora-exclusive-interview-nick-saponaro-ceo-of-divi/