Hacker ID: Tatiana Botskina@ DoraHacks Oxford Hack 2018( winning team)
“I think the mission of Hacker is to explore different application scenarios of new technologies. However, we are exploring the scenario of finance. We hope to make financing more transparent and more efficient by using blockchain.”
Times are iterating, technologies are iterating, nouns are iterating. Either the ICO cryptographic token financing which has experienced 18 years of hardships or the STO( securities token financing) which seems to reborn again after many hardships, blockchain technology has raised huge waves one after another in the sea of finance. In this process, there is no great man, but continuous exploration and daring pioneers of action. The girl Tatiana DoraHacks met in Oxford hackathon competition in 2018 is just one of the daring pioneers. This young girl hacker got the first prize with a blockchain fiancing project called “Proof-of-loan” in that competition. This hackathon competition seems also just the start of this daring girl who loves to rock the boat.
Q1:Can you brief the project you are working on ?
“Proof-of-Loan” is aimed at facilitating and securing loans granted by investors to companies by allowing the former to track the use of funds and making it impossible, for the company, to breach its covenants. Every transaction realized by the company as well as its financial statements are stored on the blockchain.
Q2:What kind of problem this product is solving?
This product:
— Allows lenders to minimize costs relating to the monitoring of the loan agreement;
— Considerably alleviates the risk of fraud or misuse of the funds;
— Provides greater transparency and facilitates the draft of financial statements abiding by common accountancy standards.
Q3:What’s the problem of the current fundraising system?
Under the current system, companies can be tempted to use the funds that are granted to them through loan agreements for a different purpose than the one that has been stated in the loan agreement. There is also a risk that the money be diverted by the company or used in a fraudulent manner. Finally, some companies might enter into so-called “window dressing” practices whereby they disguise the reality of their financial situation.
*Note：Window dressing: it is an accounting method which makes fiancial statements look better than its real situation. Usually, it is a kind of fraud.
Q4:Do you use special technology in your product? How does it solve the problem — is it like a platform？
We use blockchain to record all transactions executed by the borrower, including operational transactions with customers and suppliers. The borrower owns two wallets designated for revenues and expenses. At the end of the financial year, the financial reports are presented automatically according to the company’s transactions recorded on the blockchain. Smart contracts are implemented on Solidity with an ability to include financial covenants to prevent fraudulent use of borrowed funds.
Q5:Did you start this project during the DoraHacks hackathon and find like-minded people to work together?
The project was started at DoraHacks hackathon and the idea of the project was developed to solve one of the challenges offered at the hackathon. It was a pleasure to meet tech-minded people and to work together on challenges problems.
Q6:Currently what is the biggest challenge you face launching the product?
The biggest challenge is to accumulate human and financial resources to launch and advertise the first version of the product.
We are looking for blockchain developers experienced in different programming languages. We are looking for pre-seed investments to test and to launch the product. The marketing campaign is expected to be implemented after a successful trial of the product.
Q7:How did you start this project (I mean what motivates you ..)
We are a team of finance lawyers and developers that gathered their strengths in order to create more efficient way of fundraising on blockchain. Whereas existing solutions for fundraising on blockchain do not protect investors from fraud, our solution allows to invest safely, monitor the company’s financial performance and receive predictable profit. We are confident that the way we offer to conduct fundraising will dominate in near future and will replace ICOs and fraudulent crowdfunding campaigns. We are motivated to bring transparency into financial markets with blockchain powered solution.
Q8:Currently fundraising cannot protect investors from fraud and ICO is kind of overplayed.So some solutions like STO has emerged ,what do you think of it ?
I absolutely agree that the majority of ICOs are fraudulent and this is a huge problem. The advantage of STO is that it is more transparent and more regulated. However, the security regulation impedes the opportunity to conduct public STO. The advantage of our product is how operations are recorded and how the distribution of proceeds is made. Thus, our product may be used not only for loans but also for a bond issue.
Hi, friends! If you want to share your story like them, or if you have any interesting experiences in participating in Dora’s activities, or even if you have any good ideas, we welcome you to contribute to Dora!
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