Bobby Lee is known as one of the original leaders of the cryptocurrency movement, co-founding one of the first bitcoin exchanges in history, BTCC. Naturally, the industry pays close attention to his every move — so eyebrows were raised when he announced his involvement in Ballet, a startup focused on global cryptocurrency adoption that was in “stealth mode.”

To learn more about Lee’s secret project, his outlook on the current cryptocurrency market and the importance of global adoption, Distributed caught up with him for an exclusive interview.

Distributed: In your last venture, you were a pioneer in the Chinese market and that is very much a part of your identity within the industry. How do you see yourself now in that context and with the new venture?

Lee: Well, this is my second startup in the crypto space. It’s exciting to be back doing another startup, and the best part is that I get to leverage my five years of experience running BTCC. What’s different this time is that, for Ballet, it’s a global market and no longer focused on China or Asia. 

We truly believe that our product will help global adoption of bitcoin and cryptocurrency, so we’ll make it available worldwide from day one.

Distributed: How would you describe Bitcoin’s relative position in China compared to forks and newer projects in the eyes of the average new user? And in the eyes of institutions?

Lee: I do see that forks and new projects still get a lot of promotion in China, despite the ICO and token offerings ban by the regulators. It’s a bit unfortunate that the regular folks in China are still falling prey to Ponzi schemes and other multi-level marketing efforts. Regardless, the smarter folks (and institutions) clearly know that bitcoin is different, as it’s a decentralized global asset class, a true safe-haven asset. Through more education and more time, I think people in China will eventually understand that just because Bitcoin is good, not all projects and investments schemes are necessarily good also.

Distributed: How do you view the exchange business now compared to when you were running BTCC?

Lee: With my perspective now, having sold off BTCC last year, I have realized that the exchange business is actually very tough. I’m constantly surprised to see all of the people rushing into the exchange business, launching a new exchange here or there. I now think that, for the most part, it’s just not a good business to be in.

Distributed: You’ve been traveling a good bit and speaking at events over the last year. What trends in terms of new business concepts are you most excited about in Bitcoin?

Lee: Well, honestly, the conferences and speaking circuits don’t necessarily reveal the most exciting trends in the industry. In general, something only becomes a trend if there’s a lot of followers and copycats. So, by the time a business model or offering becomes a trend, that’s usually a bad sign, as it’s probably oversaturated and can no longer fulfill its original expectations.

Distributed: What markets are you most excited about for their potential for high-velocity Bitcoin adoption?

Lee: Right now, I’m looking at global adoption of Bitcoin through the lens of wallet solutions. How can we make a wallet that’s truly easy to use, safe to hold your cryptocurrency and reliable enough for long-term safekeeping? I’m excited to bring this solution to our industry, as I think it’s about time we have something that’s truly usable by the everyday person.

Distributed: At BTCC, you also had a physical bitcoin product. Do you have any new thoughts on the value proposition of that product?

Lee: That was a very fun project, and it was called BTCC Mint. We made these physical bitcoin of different sizes and denominations, all loaded with virgin bitcoin mined from our BTCC mining pool. 

The denominations ranged from large full blocks of plus and plus BTC, to titanium coins of 5, 1 and one-half bitcoin, down to poker chips with different colors and denominations as little as BTC. It was amazing because, for the first time, you could now see bitcoin in a physical form, allowing you to safeguard it easily, without complicated technologies. Best of all, you can now give out bitcoin as gifts! The BTCC Mint business stopped in , and now all of these coins are sold out. In fact, they sell in the open market for quite a premium, due to their collectable nature.

Distributed: What is something the Bitcoin community should be focusing more on right now?

Lee: I think the Bitcoin community should focus on how to allow more people into the industry, to use bitcoin. And regarding the definition of “use,” I’m not just talking about spending bitcoin at coffee shops and restaurants. I think an equally important aspect of using bitcoin is in the investment angle. 

At least for me personally, over the past eight and a half years, the single best use case of bitcoin over the past has been holding it as an investment, to benefit from the appreciation in price. I think the industry should try and allow more people to get in on this usage of bitcoin, as a global safe haven asset class, to hold and appreciate in value, during this time of increasing money printing by central banks worldwide. 

Distributed: What are you most looking forward to about being back in the mix and starting a new venture? 

Lee: It’s the opportunity to work with people in the office, to create a brand new product from scratch and, hopefully, make a dent in the industry. We love what we’re doing at Ballet because all of us truly find our upcoming product to be super innovative and awesome. At least, that’s what I think. 

We are building an amazing product that we will be using ourselves every day and will be recommending it to our own family and friends. What will be exciting is to see what the broader market thinks of our first product from Ballet. Success is never guaranteed, but at least we’re having great fun during our journey, designing and making it. Hope you all get to see it soon, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll like it just as much as we do.