Letter from the President

Not often am I granted a reprieve from my daily duties and given the opportunity to wade into the melee of everyday public opinion. But, given the circumstances, perhaps it is one I should not squander. The vast majority of my day is often consumed with the less sexy, mundane tasks such as dealing with the BCSC, Fintrac, lawyers and just about any other regulatory or compliance issue that may arise.

Needless to say, over the last four or five weeks, my focus has been on the British Columbia Securities Commission. There has been a myriad of phone calls and numerous requests for information all with the aim of removing the halt.

In those rare instances when I have had the opportunity to catch a breath, I have read emails from shareholders, investors and other parties all wanting to know “what is up?” And yes, there are times I even give the boards a quick perusal. Most of the time, they are read with mild amusement, other times, in amazement, as the most feverous opinions are more often than not, based on unsubstantiated speculation.  Don’t get me wrong, I get it. I understand the enthusiasm, the rumour mongering, the bashing and such, but my take away from it is that we have very impassioned investors and followers and as the company moves forward, is a good thing.

Now that the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel looks more like a porch light than a train, it is possible to offer a bit of veiled insight. This unscheduled pause was not completely unanticipated. I think it is important to take a half step back and gain a bit of perspective on the situation. This is not about “us” versus “them’ or “right” versus “wrong.” To a certain degree, this is about change.

We use terms like disruptive technology, rather casually but we often fail to see the ramifications of being “first through the wall.” This situation is an example of a well-established industry (Financial Services) being met head-on with a quickly advancing disruptive technology (blockchain/cryptocurrency).  There will be pushback as existing regulatory bodies grapple with applying regulations using metrics that may not adequately address the current landscape.

But, that is not necessarily a negative. The BCSC is fulfilling their mandate of protecting the interests of investors, shareholders and the Capital Markets. The decisions they are making and the process they are going through is not easy. We respect that.

I do not wish to cast dispersions, but when I look throughout the market and see the plethora of ICO’s it is little wonder the SEC, BCSC, Fintrac, Fincen and other regulatory bodies are white knuckling it. NetCents is committed to working through the process and will not shy away from working with any regulatory body.

The company made a decision early on to push the boundaries. And we will continue to do so. I have been with NetCents for over five years and the consistent theme throughout that time has always been “let’s do something cool”, “let’s do something different,” and dare I say “do something great.”  We are not there yet, but we are definitely headed in the right direction.

When we made the decision to move solely into the cryptocurrency space we realized the opportunity was substantive. But, based on the responses we’ve received when we’ve attended events, spoken with merchants, and potential new partners those initial expectations have been surpassed.

The company is well structured and poised for growth. We will continue to expand our merchant processing base but growth will also come from mergers and acquisitions. Business units will be parsed out to pursue other markets.

Technology is pushing the boundaries and everyone in this space will have to adapt.  There will inevitably be new hurdles, different challenges to overcome and as a company, we will succeed in doing so. Thank you for your time and patience.

– Gord