Interview: NoOnes Vision Mission for Bitcoin Adoption and Empowerment in the Global South

Since its inception two years ago, NoOnes, a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform, has achieved a lot of success in a short period of time. As a visionary entrepreneur, Ray Youssef, CEO of Noones, is leading the way in the evolving crypto world. Yusuf and his team believe that using Bitcoin as a tool will bring power to the Global South.

In this exclusive interview, Rebecca Campbell, crypto content editor at CoinJournal, spoke with Ray Youssef, co-founder and CEO at NoOnes, to discuss NoOnes' vision and how it and Bitcoin can empower the Global South. Yusuf delves into the challenges they face, financial apartheid in Africa, political pressure from the West, limitless opportunities for the Global South, and how the relationship between crypto and people is evolving.

Rebecca Campbell (RC): Can you tell me about NoOnes and where the name came from?

Ray Youssef (RY): NoOnes is an excellent app for the Global South. We started as a peer-to-peer crypto marketplace, but we always plan to be more than that. In less than two years, we've added a spot exchange and virtual Visa card, and we're about to launch our NoOnes gift card. We are also a messenger app and you can even recharge your mobile phone. NoOnes is built for the people of the Global South, so we don't have the problems of a US-based business serving people in the Global South.

How NoOnes got its name is a funny story. When NoOnes was just a dream, a series of brainstorming sessions with the people who helped start it, I was having these random thoughts about our family dog ​​that died 15 years ago. Her name was Heidi, but my mother gave her a nickname – Nons.

I loved that dog and for some reason she was in my thoughts at that moment so one day as a joke I said “we should call the company Nonce”. I wrote it down on paper and saw it read like NoOnes and thought it was perfect. It captures the truth of what we want to do in terms of a decentralized marketplace. Your money is NoOnes business. Your data is NoOnes business. Your business is NoOnes business.

RC: What are your vision and goals with NoOnes?

RY: My vision and goals have not changed since I realized the power of crypto and peer-to-peer. There are many people who want to get rich in crypto, but that never motivates me. I see crypto as a leveler, an equalizer. And I saw how it makes a difference to people who are always left behind by the financial system because their money is the wrong color or their passport is the wrong type.

As I saw crypto and peer-to-peer working together to create this ecosystem that allowed any form of money to become another form of money, I realized that it was the way to end financial apartheid. I say financial apartheid because that's what the global financial system is – it discriminates against people because of who they are and where they come from. I've known that for a long time. At NoOnes, we can change that because we are located in the Global South and tailor our products to those who need them most.

My vision is to see hundreds of cities like Dubai across the Global South, where people can trade freely, build wealth and improve their lives and the lives of their families.

RC: Can you talk about the role NoOnes and Bitcoin play in empowering the Global South?

RY: First of all, we are based here. That means we have boots on the ground and can talk to people using our marketplace to buy crypto, trade gift cards, make payments, send money, whatever. Our products are not based on the Western model and then forced on people because they have no other choice.

Take KYC for example. When I was in the US, we often had to file suspicious activity reports and freeze Global South client funds when they were flagged in the system for whatever reason. Then we had to wait for the American inspectors to come back to us and say, “Okay, you can release these people.” Sometimes, we had to wait years before releasing client funds.

Meanwhile, these people, who did nothing wrong, had to wait until the supervisor said they could get their own money. In the meantime, the regulators had to find money elsewhere to cover what they had locked up. Not even the banks can do that, but Uncle Sam can. It was crazy. Why do we put our customers through such pain?

The United States still controls Africa to the point where it is difficult for countries to trade with each other. That's part of the financial apartheid I'm talking about. Check out what happened recently with Binance. A new CEO has stepped in and the first thing they will do is disable pan-African trading on Binance peer-to-peer. Kenyans can only trade with Kenyans and Ghanaians only with Ghanaians.

This is the policy the US has been using to protect Africa and the rest of the global south. We are changing that. I spend a lot of time advocating for pan-African trade. It is a vital part of making the Global South rich. Imagine if someone doing business in New York couldn't do business with a business in New Jersey. Will any American put up with this? Why are Africans needed?

RC: What are the challenges and opportunities for Bitcoin to reach its full potential in the Global South?

Ri: We have many challenges, but the biggest one is the political pressure of the West. Anything against the West and their central banks is against it. The governments and elites that run the global financial system are strong because they have a series of sliders, multiple levers that push and pull to control everything.

They can pull one way and say, “Oh Nigeria, you didn't listen to us, so we're going to lower your slider to zero.” They can move these levers at any time, so they have great power, and they can control the world economy. They can punish or reward marketplaces, even entire economies, and we need to compensate for this.

Crypto and peer-to-peer payments are why the West has such a problem with crypto. That's why he puts people who don't follow his example in jail.

The possibilities in the Global South are limitless. Africa is the fastest growing country of any continent. It has a population of 1.5 billion and will add another billion in the next 25 years. Currently there is a youth unemployment problem, but I see that as an opportunity. I have met many young Africans who are intelligent and dynamic and all want to succeed. I've seen many of them use our marketplace to make money, start businesses, and change their lives.

India also has amazing opportunities like Latin America. In all these areas there are so many opportunities for people to create businesses by piggybacking on our platform – this is one of the biggest successes of NoOnes, I think. We cannot have success unless we help others succeed, and that ethic is missing in today's corporate world.

Which companies give 50% of their profits back to people who use their products? We're doing it at NoOnes. We want people to help us spread the word about crypto and peer-to-peer power, so we have bonuses, incentives, and an affiliate program that rewards people who help us grow. We want the Global South to know that it does not have to adapt the Western model that does not suit its needs.

If we add all those things together – young people who are flexible, smart, hardworking and ready to seize opportunities, a universal container and store of wealth for money and a Noones marketplace for financial and free services for the Global South. Trade – We will reach the potential of the Global South, and I think it can happen quickly. Most Westerners are surprised by this.

RC: How does NoOnes differ from Paxful?

RY: Paxful had a big disadvantage – it was based in the US. I've already talked about KYC and the challenges we face trying to help people in the Global South as a US company. You can't do it – and it gets worse. Check out what happened to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao; [the former CEO of Binance]. He went to jail. Look what happened to Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram – he went to jail the minute his plane landed in France.

I had the same vision at Paxful that I have now, and it took me a long time to realize that I might not be able to achieve my mission of running an American company. But now the tie is off. Since we are in the Global South, nothing can stop us now.

I learned years ago that my priority is to serve my users, my customers. They can fire the CEO. As a child, I learned helping my parents run a newsstand in Columbus Circle, New York City.

In the US, the priority for most companies is to serve the government, then if you're happy you can help your customers. It's not right. And I don't do that. We saw what happened with Binance. their user data b [Israeli Defense Forces] The IDF and hundreds of people lost millions of dollars – and some were killed. Compare NoOnes privacy policy with Binance privacy policy. We do not give away our user data. I couldn't say that when I was Paxful's CEO.

RC: How do you see NoOnes evolving over the next 5-10 years?

RY: Nobody's going to be big, that's for sure. Sometimes I have to remind myself that we weren't there two years ago because we've come so far in such a short time, but this is just the beginning. People may think of us as a peer-to-peer crypto marketplace, but we're always adding new products, making existing ones better, and listening to our users to give them what they need.

I talk about our business as an ecosystem because that's the best way to describe how we're evolving. We created a marketplace for crypto and gift cards, added space exchanges and other products, and put the profits back into that ecosystem. People are building their businesses on our platform.

Expats working overseas send money home and realize our platform is a better, faster and cheaper way to do it than using a traditional money exchange – so they start doing it for their friends and create a side hustle. Someone needs to make a payment in another country, but they don't have a bank account, they use our platform – they see how easy it is, and they start doing the same for other people. And it all feeds into the ecosystem.

Imagine all these businesses taking the place of traditional banks and money changers – the wealth stays in the Global South instead of lining the pockets of all the executives working for banks and financial institutions in the West. That's one of the reasons why they don't like what we do.

Imagine how easy it would be for everyone in the Global South to make these changes. How easy it is to stop the drain on the resources of the Global South – it has been happening for centuries and must be stopped, and it will be. In five years, maybe less, the NoOnes will lead that drive and be on their way to becoming a Global South superpower.

RC: How do you see the relationship between crypto and the general public?

RY: That's a great question because it's at the forefront of the battle right now. Before I understood crypto, I thought it was just “internet funny money”. Many people still think that way because they don't understand. I'm not sure governments understand it well, but they know it's a threat to the status quo. That is why they tried to stop it and are now trying to control it.

The real power in the world is that which controls the financial system. Those in power have leverage to keep us in place and the way we reverse engineer it must be explained to people in a very clear and logical way if we are to succeed in helping us fix our current human condition. .

Simply put, I'm talking about a currency war, and by currency I mean anything that has value and can be traded. Eventually, the public will win over crypto because its power cannot be denied – even governments realize this now. Some countries have blocked it, then recognized the service, and are now trying to control it. Crypto is not going away.

The real question is whether its content will be lost in the process of being accepted by the general public. Crypto was designed to be trustless and permissionless – meaning we don't have to trust some government or corporation to trust its value.

RC: What is NoOnes currently focusing on?

RY: We are focused on our three core values ​​- Everyone Eats, Energetic Education and Revolutionary Transparency.

I've already talked about giving back 50% of our profits and our affiliate program, and that's part of what we say about “everyone eats.” I don't want to get rich at the expense of people using our products. Some people laugh at me when I say I'm on a mission, but I've been saying it for over a decade because it's true. We will not be happy if we are successful and others around us are not, so it is important to feed everyone.

Another principle is revolutionary transparency. Many businesses talk about transparency, but most don't follow through. This is why we have problems like we saw with FTX. NoOnes is different. Anyone who wants to see business information about NoOnes can do so by viewing the CEO dashboard on our app.

Now our biggest focus is on education. I've talked about the opportunities in the Global South, but those opportunities mean nothing if people don't know about them and learn how crypto can help them solve problems. We created the Noones Academy so people can learn not only how to trade profitably, but how to do it safely.

Some people may want to make payments or send money home, but are afraid of crypto because they have heard negative stories in the media. We want to teach them how easy it is to do and how useful it is. Some people can only use it in a small way – helping them pay for something because they don't have a Visa card or bank account. Others may be skilled and savvy, but unemployed and looking to earn money to pay bills or start a business – maybe learn how to trade gift cards or crypto at NoOnes Academy.

If enough people learn how our super app works, the Global South will change dramatically.

RC: What are your plans for NoOnes in terms of growth and development?

RY: I've already talked about Dubai, but it's a great example of the future of the Global South. Many people think that Dubai is booming because of oil, but that is not true. Sheikh Mohammed made business easy and the environment conducive to business and soon money flowed into Dubai like a river. The money invested has gone back into development and we can see the results today.

My vision is to see cities like Dubai take the lead in Noons across the Global South. We provide the infrastructure, the education and the opportunities, which means being on the ground, listening to people, giving them what they need to help them grow. With our peer-to-peer marketplace, space exchange, virtual Visa cards and gift cards—and new products coming.

We're looking at a peer-reviewed credit score so that users have a rating that can be used to provide financing to startups and business owners. We want to adjust our messaging functionality because this is a great way to attract people that we can educate on the benefits of crypto.

We need more people to help us grow, so we hire people everywhere we do business. Already, our users are helping us by creating content to help educate their citizens. Our growth and development has always been around work. Free trade allows money to flow and that puts people to work to create wealth. I truly believe in universal wealth, but that only happens when the barriers to growth are removed. We have to have people behind us to do this, and that's why education is so important.

Our goal is for NoOnes to have one billion users within seven years, and if we do that, we'll bring the Global South to a resource it's been denied for so long.