I attended the Cryptolina conference in Raleigh, NC, where I met Jad Musablat and Chad Davis from Bitquick.co, a platform for users to buy and sell Bitcoin; and the only platform of its kind that insures all funds deposited onto their site.
We stayed at a nice Airbnb mansion, and I had a chance to hang out with these guys all weekend. I found them to be very enthusiastic, cool, and transparent folks. What struck me is that they really care about providing the best service, and making it easy for others to acquire bitcoins. Jad has a keen sense of detail. Chad is a forward thinking dude who has a knack for solving problems. Not only do I see talent in both dudes, but they are a great team. It also helps that their names rhyme.
I had a few questions for Jad, and here are his answers.
What is Bitquick.co Inc and how was it formed?
In May, 2013 I encountered firsthand the dangers of Bitcoin as I was scammed out of 10 BTC, and experienced the danger of not securing your accounts with 2 factor authentication, as my Mt. Gox account was hacked resulting in a loss of 21.88 BTC. This wasn’t due to any inherent weakness in the Bitcoin protocol, just a lack of legitimate services and personal knowledge.
My experiences pushed me to think of a way to reduce the dangers of, and ease the process of dealing with Bitcoin; I realized that for adoption to continue, trust in the community was a necessity.
But how? The answer came in a forum post on July 17 by a user on Bitcointalk.org displaying his new creation, “Connectcoins.com”. It was a simple platform that allowed users to buy and sell Bitcoin through an escrow operated by Connectcoins. The same day he launched it, I offered to buy it for $300 and to my fortune, he obliged. I changed the name to BuyBitcoin.us, and launched shortly thereafter. August, 10th, the platform was renamed to BitQuick and things have been moving quick ever since. Traction was picking up fast, and I needed help to keep up with the increasing order volume so I could still manage my school work. In October 2013, Chad joined the team and brought with him the idea of our Breast Cancer Awareness Month promotion, which managed to raise over $1,100 for charity: https://www.bitquick.co/bitquick-co-is-donating-25-of-october-revenue-for-breast-cancer-awareness-monthIn February, 2014 “BitQuick LLC” was officially registered in the state of Ohio.
BitQuick now provides a streamlined platform for users to buy and sell Bitcoins in a peer-to-peer fashion. We’re gunning for LocalBitcoins.com, as we think we’ve developed a more streamlined user-friendly experience. No more scamming! Buying and selling is only 3 simple steps. To buy, just place a hold, deposit cash at a local bank or credit union and upload proof of payment. To sell, provide your bank account name and number, send your Bitcoin to a BitQuick escrow address and confirm cash deposits as they arrive. It’s that simple. Only a 2% fee to buy and it’s always free to sell.
What is your professional background?
I’m currently studying Biomedical Engineering at the Ohio State University on a full scholarship and will graduate in May 2015, am the Founder and President of the Ohio State Bitcoin Group and the Treasurer of the Biomedical Engineering Society at Ohio State. I’ve been fascinated with running internet businesses from a young age. My first website was a pay per click advertising website I started my sophomore year of high school which accumulated over 7,000 users in 2 months. I then ran an MMA News website my senior year of high school called MMANews247. During my freshman and sophomore years of university, I ran an internet marketing company that specialized in affiliate marketing that generated over $80,000 in revenue in 2012.
What are you currently busy with?
I’m currently attending my final year at Ohio State University studying Biomedical Engineering. I’m also the founder of the Ohio State Bitcoin Group, a pioneering member of the College Cryptocurrency Network, and the Treasurer of the Biomedical Engineering Society at Ohio State.
What is your vision for Bitquick.co ?
For myself, my dream is that BitQuick can provide me with a full time job. I’m passionate about Bitcoin and when I’m working on BitQuick, it doesn’t feel like work. That’s the best type of job to have.
For everyone else, we’re building a platform for people that believe in a globally connected digital economy. I hope that BitQuick can provide a means for users to quickly, safely and easily jump in and out of the Bitcoin ecosystem anywhere around the globe. This will allow Bitcoin to continue breaking into the mainstream, and allow the everyday consumer to take advantage of the money saving power and connectivity that Bitcoin offers.
We also hope to be able to continue helping both the local community, and global community through continued promotions similar to our Breast Cancer Awareness Month promotion.
Tell me any other interesting info about Bitquick.
At Cryptolina we presented some survey results documenting the behavior of users when buying and selling Bitcoin, along with their preferences. The major takeaways were that people haven’t found a go-to favorite method for trading yet because they’ve been plagued by risk, delays, confusion and high fees. With that, we announced our partnership with Xapo to help alleviate the risk factor. We will be the first marketplace to actually insure Bitcoins deposited onto the BitQuick platform by sellers.
We also already have trading platforms in India (BitQuick.in), Taiwan (BitQuick.tw) and Europe along with an alternative crypto trading platform AltQuick.co. Middle East trading has just launched! (BitQuick.me). Tons of great things on the horizon for BitQuick!
After using BitQuick to some bitcoins, it seemed like a much more streamlined localbitcoins, with a much cleaner experience and interface. I wish I would’ve known about it earlier. Give it a try here!
