Exclusive interview with Ouinex crypto exchange team: Dr. Lisa Majmin & Ilies Larbi

Ouinex is the new player in the game. Co-founded by an international team of seven executives, the upcoming “Crypto Exchange for Active Traders” is led by Ilies Larbi, who was Global Head of Partnerships at FXCM for 15 years. 

Headquartered in Paris, the fintech startup boasts a proprietary matching engine and General User Interface (GUI) with advanced functionalities, with the aim of providing fast execution, low spreads, and security to the active investors in the European Union, Africa and Latin America.

Ouinex is being set up to become a favorite spot for all kinds of trading, focusing on the active trader and including high-frequency. Bots, however, are only welcomed for trading activities. Customer services will not make use of bots, as the highly experienced team firmly believes in human connections and interactions, and that only the human touch can provide exceptional customer support.

The exchange’s co-founders have built extensive networks of institutional and retail traders, which allowed them to learn from the industry’s past mistakes and from the users’ needs of today.

The team is comprised of Ilies Larbi (ex- FXCM) as Chief Executive Officer; Benjamin Verdot (ex-FXCM) as Chief Commercial Officer; Dr. Lisa Majmin (ex-Standard Bank) as Chief Strategy Officer, and Christophe Lechevallier as Chief Financial Officer. 

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As the startup currently raises funds in a pre-seed round and prepares to announce its very own initial coin offering (ICO) for its token OUIX, Finance Feeds spoke with chief executive Ilies Larbi and chief strategy officer, Dr. Lisa Majmin to learn more about Ouinex. 

What is Ouinex?

Ouinex (pronounced ‘win-ex’) is a crypto exchange designed for the active trader, built using best-in-class technology within a secure and regulated ecosystem.

How does Ouinex differentiate itself from existing exchanges?

Ouinex will differentiate itself in a few ways:

Our proprietary trading platform will include a suite of unique advanced trading functionalities we’ve been developing for a while now. These functionalities stem from surveys and feedback we have gathered in the past months from our network of HNW Traders in the TradFI world looking to enter cryptos but haven’t yet made the leap.

By sourcing liquidity from some of the largest exchanges (both Cex & Dex) across the globe, Ouinex will provide superior trade execution (reduced latency, depth of liquidity, and Best Bid-Offer pricing).

Our approach to digitisation is addressed by reinstating human engagement at the core of the industry suffering from poor client services across the board. Our primary objective is to focus on just that (no chat bots, human interaction at the centre of our services) whilst leveraging off decentralisation and our community of active traders.

Lastly, Ouinex will be operating within a regulated environment and, therefore, is trader-centric.

The founding team comprises high-profile figures within the industry and illustrates the ongoing trend of TradFi talent moving to Crypto. Is this where the opportunity lies?

The digital asset universe is too large to ignore, with about $2tn+ market value and 200mn+ users. We believe that the evolution of decentralized finance has led to a growing interest and demand for associated assets. Crypto trading and investing are becoming more mainstream, and the opportunity set grows as awareness increases.

What are the main challenges of building and launching your own Crypto Exchange today?

As with any new venture, the first challenge is to define it. That is, to conceptualize the vision realistically, both financially and sustainably. Building a crypto exchange requires commercial savvy, technical sophistication in blockchain technology and trading, extensive operational experience within the financial services industry, and the foresight to combine the vision with the skill sets on hand. Ouinex has achieved this by regrouping a team of senior executives, each with over a decade of experience in their respective fields in tier 1 institutions.

You will be focusing on the EU, Africa, and LATAM. What are the regulatory requirements for such an operation?

The crypto regulatory environment the world over has been uncertain. Ouinex is in the process of applying for the PSAN (category 3) license in France. We anticipate extending our coverage to the rest of Europe once MICA is in place, enabling us to passport our license to other significant markets. We will be using our offshore entity to service our EM clients. However, we are firm believers in physical presence and direct contact with our clients. Thus, as the regulatory environment matures, we keep an eye on any jurisdiction that would allow for physical presence within a clear legal framework.

What will be the trading offering at launch?

Post-ICO and upon launch, our platform offering will include the ability to trade in both spot and OTC crypto products in major pairs using advanced trading functionalities that active traders are used to, including the ability to generate institutional grade analytical performance reports on trading. Soon after, we will be enhancing the platform and user functionality to include a series of services in our ecosystem, including the ability to backtest and automate trading strategies and launch a bots marketplace.

Could you share details about the pre-seed funding and the upcoming initial coin offering?

Ouinex will be offering investors the opportunity to acquire OUIX, our BEP20 utility token, in the first and second ICO rounds and during the pre-seed funding period for a restricted group. OUIX tokens will provide investors with an opportunity to take part in the venture and for our users to benefit from a series of advantages and reduced fees when using our ecosystem. Our tokens will be available in limited amounts staged over the aforementioned periods, in line with our platform enhancements and business development strategy.

With a high-profile team of finance and blockchain specialists, a proprietary trading platform for advanced trading and automation with quality execution and a high touch approach under a secure and regulated environment, Ouinex is set to be a winner.