During our stay at the Bitcoin Expo 2015 over the past weekend, we met up with a lot of interesting people. Alejandro De La Torre is one of those fine people who you can instantly strike up a conversation with, as he is one of the most down-to-earth guys you will ever meet. But did you know he is the CEO and co-founder of SendChat, a very popular messaging application that also lets users send cryptocurrency around the world?
Even though the conversation we had with Mr. De La Torre was not an actual interview, we have written down the information he gave us in the interview format, making it a bit easier for our readers to find out what we talked about exactly.
JP : It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Alejandro. Could you tell us a bit more about how SendChat stores users’ cryptocurrency, and what type of wallets are being used?
Alejandro : It is a pleasure to meet you as well! As you know, SendChat users have their wallet addresses connected to their usernames, making it far easier for people to send money to each other. No longer will you need to remember these awkward combinations of numbers and digits, just enter a username, send the money, and you are done.
All of our users’ funds is being kept in cold storage, and as far as wallets go, we use Electrum wallets for all supported currencies (Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Darkcoin). It only takes us 10 seconds to move funds out of cold storage, so our users won’t even notice a delay in sending a transaction. We take security really serious, and this is just the first step of many to make SendChat the most secure social messaging app which handles cryptocurrency transfers.
JP : You mention more security measures are on their way. Is there anything you can tell us about that at this point in time?
Alejandro : SendChat is currently working on implementing an additional security feature in the form of two-factor authentication. This features will be optional, but we would like to take the time to tell our users they should enable either or even both of these features when they are released. You can never compromise on user security, and that is exactly why we are adding additional layers of protection.
In regards to the two-factor authentication, SendChat will support multiple options such as Google Authenticator, Yubikey, MePin and others. We want to give our users the chance to use their preferred 2FA method, and are working hard on implementing all of the available options. More detailed information will be provided once these features roll out in the near future.
SMS verification is a mandatory step when users sign up to start using the SendChat service. A text message containing the verification code will be sent to the user’s mobile phone number, in order to validate the sign up information provided during the process.
JP : SendChat has some competition when it comes to using the Telegram Source Code. GetGems is also a social messenger platform supporting cryptocurrencies. What are some of the main differences between SendChat and GetGems?
Alejandro : SendChat supports multiple major cryptocurrencies, whereas GetGems only supports Bitcoin and GEMS at this point in time. Our platform lets users send Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Darkcoin to anyone else in the world. Given the fact these are the three biggest cryptocurrency communities right now, SendChat is on the right track for mass adoption.
Furthermore, GetGems users are currently required to also have the Telegram application installed on their mobile device in order to be “found” by friends to add them to their contacts. This is not the case with SendChat, as anyone will be able to look up a SendChat username and add them immediately, even if they do not have Telegram installed.
JP : Are there any plans for SendChat to include support for additional cryptocurrencies, other than SendCoin, should that fundraiser prove to be successful?
Alejandro : SendChat is constantly evaluating coins, and we truly appreciate submissions made to us by the cryptocurrency community. Submissions can be sent to us by using the “Submit Your Coin” option, located in the top menu on the website. We have received a lot of feedback from various coin communities so far.
JP : SendChat as a platform needs to evolve to stay ahead of the curve. Can you enlighten us about some of the upcoming features in 2015?
Alejandro : We have several things planned for SendChat in 2015, which will all prove to be very beneficial to both cryptocurrency users and people looking to get involved with digital currencies alike. Our goal is to make SendChat a platform where users can learn more about sending and receiving cryptocurrency, as well as where to buy and sell these currencies.
JP : And what do you mean exactly by saying “where to buy and sell these currencies”?
Alejandro : Exactly what it sounds like. SendChat will offer a feature allowing users to buy all of our supported digital currencies with their debit or credit card, without them even having to leave the SendChat application itself. Our main goal is to build up an ecosystem where people can buy digital currency, send them to others if needed, and stay in touch with friends, family and loved ones.
To this day, it remains a fairly technical process for people to buy digital currency is an easy and accessible environment. Especially because they have to trust a third party with documents to verify their identity, which can take up to a few business days before the process is completed. The same can be said for selling digital currencies and receiving fiat money, it simply takes a lot of time and SendChat will be trying to change that experience once this feature goes live.
JP : I’m not sure if you are able to answer this question right now, but will SendChat be handling the funds themselves or will they use a partner to process the transactions?
Alejandro : SendChat will not touch any customers’ funds at any point in time. In order to process transactions,w e will rely on our partner Crypto Capital. Our partner will offer support for 30 local currencies which can be sued to both buy and sell digital currencies stored in your SendChat client.
Crypto Capital meets all KYC/AML requirements, and users will need to register with our partner to buy and sell their digital currencies. To put this into perspective, it will take about 10 minutes for fiat currency to move into a customer’s account with Crypto Capital.
JP : That sounds really great, and we are looking forward to find out more about it! Without trying to sound greedy or anything, are there other projects planned for SendChat?
Alejandro : A lot of new features will be coming to SendChat in the future. To give you a small example : we are working on a feature which lets users send gifts to other SendChat users. Gifts can be in the form of the supported digital currencies, or even content. On top of that, we are also working on integration multisignature wallets and enabling group chats for our users.
We at CryptoArticles would like to thank Alejandro De La Torre for his time in answering our questions in regards to SendChat. We will also be keeping a close eye on the further development of the announced features, and work on sorting an interview with Crypto Capital in the next few weeks.
Websites : http://sendchat.org/
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