Slawek Zawadzki, founder of the Kanga exchange, challenges our notions of luxury. In an interview with us, he talks about how he gave up his own car for the freedom to travel and why he believes the future of finance lies in cryptocurrencies.
Mr. CEO, what prompted you to enter the cryptocurrency and blockchain market? What were the beginnings of your career in this industry?
SlawekZawadzki: Unfortunately, there is nothing romantic here, although I would like it very much. Since 2009, I have been running a dedicated software development business. It was my first business, which taught me a lot, but at the same time severely battered me. There were ups and downs. After a few years, I realized that I needed to change my business model.
The nature of my business was typically service-based, I didn’t have my product, something I could invest in and build the value of my company based on that. The problem, however, was that in order to keep the organization flowing, I had to take more orders and focus on them, keep an eye on profitability, relationships with developers and relationships with customers. I was enslaved. In late 2016 and early 2017, I collapsed, becoming a pariah in the Tri-City IT market.
At the time I was weighing what to do, whether to go to work “full-time” or try my hand at business again. At that time I met with various people, from different industries and social areas. One of them was my current partner – Lukasz Zeligowski. It turned out that he had already been active in the cryptocurrency market for some time, and it was he who got me interested in this area
You advocate bitcoin as the future of the financial system. How do you see cryptocurrencies coexisting with the traditional banking system in the next 10 years?
To answer this question, let’s try to take inventory of several important aspects, seemingly unrelated, and then attempt a synthesis.
First – Until recently, a specific faction of investors was interested in cryptocurrencies. Admittedly, it was heterogeneous, but certain dominant features could be recognized in it, such as distrust of the banking system, hostility to the progressive surveillance of the state apparatus, the belief that politicians and those in power were responsible for financial crises (such as the 2008 crisis).
Second – (Also) until recently, the world of big finance was not only uninterested in cryptocurrency, but even questioned its foundations and legitimacy of existence. Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest investment fund Black Rock, as recently as 2017 referred to bitcoin as a “money laundering index.” The same Larry Fink is today an advocate and apologist for the major cryptocurrency. Some confirmation of this phenomenon is the Polish backyard. As of 30.12.2024, every EU country must have an authority that will supervise the virtual currency market. In Poland, such an authority will be the Financial Supervision Commission, which has openly discouraged any cryptocurrency investments, while sending signals to supervised banks that it is inadvisable for them to cooperate with cryptocurrency exchanges.
Third – Since January 2024 bitcoin has been invited to Wall Street. Investors can invest their capital in so-called bitcoin ETFs. In practice, this means that you can buy exposure to the virtual currency, this exposure is represented by an ETF unit. The price of such a unit follows the price of bitcoin. But beware – although it is backed by bitcoin, I as an investor do not have access to it. I can only buy or sell, but I cannot withdraw.
Fourth – more and more cryptocurrency regulations are entering, the most complete of which is the European one – MiCA. It is very comprehensive and, in my opinion, over the top. It imposes a very heavy burden on cryptocurrency exchanges. At the same time, the regulations accompanying MiCA make it impossible to invest in cryptocurrencies anonymously, something that for the anti-systemists I mentioned is a cardinal issue.
So we are reaching a situation where the world of banks and big finance, previously hostile to cryptocurrency, is beginning to embrace it, while excluding those who previously fought for it. Speaking of the future, therefore, I see two scenarios. The first: cryptocurrency will be offered by banks and investment funds to a wide range of investors, previously uninterested in investing in virtual currencies. This process will be accompanied by progressive regulation. Second: there will be off-system trading of cryptocurrency. When I say off-system, I mean one that is not carried out by banks. This is how it has taken place so far. Banks, taking advantage of their position, will force the legislature to criminalize this trading
How do you see the future of cryptocurrencies in the context of green transformation? Can blockchain solutions support sustainable development?
Of course it does. And you don’t need any regulation to do that, because there is more than regulation and legislation at stake to limit the energy needed to maintain the bitcoin network…. talking about human greed and the desire to maximize profit.
So-called bitcoin miners invest in computers called diggers and in the electricity needed to power them. In return, they receive bitcoin as their compensation. The more powerful the devices, the more revenue they will have, at the same time the cheaper the electricity, the higher the profit. It is the miners who are the driving force behind investing in new technologies and finding energy solutions that will cost them the least.
It’s worth a digression here – today the computing centers associated with artificial intelligence consume a gigantic amount of energy, but the debate about the harmfulness of AI to the environment is not raised at all. I wonder why…
How would you define luxury in your life and in the context of modern business?
I took a moment to think about the answer. I admit that I hadn’t previously asked myself much in the way of questions about what I think luxury is. Because what is it? Is luxury determined by myself – that something is luxurious to me universally accepted standard of luxury.
I don’t have my own car, for many years now. I don’t want to have one. I am a big enthusiast of car sharing, cabs, public transportation. When I leave for Warsaw in the morning (I live in Gdansk), I am free as to how I will return and when I will return. Maybe I’ll return by train, maybe I’ll fly by plane, maybe I’ll rent a car in the capital, which I’ll abandon in Gdansk, or maybe I’ll just stay in Warsaw overnight.
It is a luxury for me, this freedom. I associate owning my own car with taking care of it, servicing it, problems with parking, standing in traffic jams. For me, the luxury is that these things do not occupy my head
On the other hand, I like to attract attention. Yes, I know – it is reptile-like. And yet! I feel that in this way I fulfill the role that has been given to me. I feel good when I am well-dressed, when I have a good watch on my hand (expensive, it doesn’t have to be practical at all), when I have a properly trimmed beard. Then I feel confident and have the conviction (or at least I believe it) that I am well received. Is this a luxury?
Further – when I think about my home, the place where I live, where I sleep, I find that it is far from Versailles. I don’t have works of art hanging in my house, there is no fireplace, no cool TV (that’s another story, many years ago we threw the TV away because it broke and we were fine with that). I used to wonder why I pay so little attention to my home, and I think I managed to reveal the right answer…. I and my family are not homemakers, each of us leads an active lifestyle outside the house, which ultimately serves as a bedroom. I am comfortable and comfortable in it.
Finally: when I travel, on business, over longer distances, I like to travel first class. Why? Because it is convenient for me, I want to reduce the fatigue that will accompany me when changing planes, sitting in airports, etc. It happened to me several times to return from the other side of the world on four planes. It’s tiring. A higher flight class, a proper airport lounge optimize the energy costs of traveling.
Thus, concluding my reflections, I conclude that for me luxury It is just convenience, understood according to the canon I defined myself.
What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs who want to start a fintech or cryptocurrency business? What key skills are needed today?
First of all, I would start with a sentence: “Thank you for deciding to become an entrepreneur. It is thanks to people like you that our civilization has a chance to move forward.” I believe that entrepreneurial people are behind the wealth of nations, not large corporations to which the state provides a monopoly or guarantees demand. Then, following Winston Churchill (albeit somewhat paraphrased), I would say: “First set yourself blood, sweat and tears. Give yourself the right to fail.
And when you fall, wait a while, shake off the dust and try again. Eventually you will succeed!” If you are planning to launch a business in any technology industry, you must be technologically competent or have a technical person among your partners, and one with experience.
My practice shows that often technology startups fail because of the disloyalty of the technical element or its incompetence. Keep in mind at the same time that a business, especially a startup, must be run beyond your and your partners’ capabilities. It is impossible to rock a business that will surprise others and eventually become profitable if it is not your main occupation. I say this because it is common to meet people who work full-time and delude themselves into thinking that they will succeed in doing business after hours. No, it won’t.
As an avid traveler, how do you manage to combine intensive work on Kanga Exchange development with time to explore the world? Does traveling help you find a balance?
Tourism, sightseeing, travel are very important areas in my life. I like the so-called “city break”, I like to collect visits to interesting museums or art galleries, I am fond of various forms of qualified tourism (from hiking in the mountains to long-distance cycling to geocaching). However, I don’t have time for active tourism, so I plan certain events well in advance (for example, I have to plan a weekend trip to the mountains at least 60 days in advance).
But whenever I manage to go to the mountains, visit a new city, or just bike another 100 kilometers, I feel a special surge of energy. I feel at once motivated, inspired and satisfied. I am also grateful that working at Kanga gives me the opportunity to travel and explore the world. However, what is my sacred habit is this August trip – I am so in agreement with my associates that I have the space for it. I prepare for it throughout the year.
Each time this trip is different – both in terms of form and area. I’ve explored a large chunk of Europe by camper van, gone around Poland by bicycle, managed to circumnavigate the world with my family in a month, or traveled all of Eurasia by train in five weeks. I prepare for these trips throughout the year, reading, gaining knowledge, planning. During each outing more ideas are formed in my head
During your travels, have you had the opportunity to observe differences in attitudes toward cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in different countries? What regions stand out in this regard?
The regional division is problematic, if only because in a highly developed crypto market, a regulator can activate to introduce stifling or eliminating regulations. If I had been asked this question 10 years ago, I would have said that Poland was one of the most developed countries in Europe in terms of development and implementation of cryptocurrency gains. Today, mainly due to the ostracism of the regulatory and banking community, and the lack of proper concentration of political forces in support of crypto markets, we must make it clear that as Poles we have missed a historic opportunity to be the cryptocurrency hub of Europe.
Among others, countries with high social stratification (e.g., India, despite the lack of favor with the government there) or high inflation (e.g., Argentina, where the citizenry has started settling in bitcoin to avoid inflationary burdens) seem to be taking advantage of the cryptocurrency opportunity today. We also see an interesting movement in the US, with cryptocurrency ETFs raising capital o from “non-cryptocurrency” investors. We see competition from three Asian cities – Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong – vying to become the crypto capital of the world’s largest continent. And in Europe? Which countries are vying for cryptocurrency crypto status? None! The spirit of regulation and bureaucracy is killing the spirit of any entrepreneurship. Today it’s all about regulation, bureaucrats and defensive thinking. That’s why we haven’t yet reached Mars and still haven’t found a vaccine for cancer. But that’s a topic for another conversation….
Slawek Zawadzki – CEO of Kanga platform, which provides tools for trading virtual currencies, including a cryptocurrency exchange and a network of partner stationary exchange offices. Entrepreneur, cryptocurrency enthusiast, traveler. He has been passionately exploring the world of fintech and blockchain for more than 15 years. He believes in God, technology and in customer relationships. He explains complex ideas in simple terms both as a speaker at universities and at Polish and foreign conferences. He tries to unite the world of virtual currencies with the world of traditional currencies by speaking at financial industry events, including for the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the Banking Forum. Abroad, he has shared his ideas on stages in Rome, Malta, Boston, Berlin and the Philippines, among others.
