Everything about cryptocurrencies.

Misleading by their mere name and their original purpose for which they were created, they are indeed the future! that is what Costas A Joannou the Chairman of the board of  the Power Snooker Group in London, has described the crypto currencies  . Having created his own crypto currency he knows all of its secrets, the strengths and weaknesses. He speaks to marketpost.gr about the crypto currency market and explains why the PowerSnookerCoin or PSC for short,  is different  than the rest of them.

Interview with Hara Avgerinos

What difference does the blockchain have from the respective banking systems? Do you think this technology will be used in the future by financial institutions?

Blockchain is a software that was created about 10 years ago to serve global payments for international transactions in such a way that there was no identification of the originator but a also had to be reliable. Its credibility is extraordinary because any transaction should be consented by all parties involved, which avoids any attempt to break the process or fraud through it. Today it is highly reliable and you can see all the traces of the transaction from the first moment to the last. The term "crypto" gives them a negative meaning and is therefore misunderstood. In practice, I think it is very likely that the blockchain technology will be used  by many financial institutions. Here in London there are already discussions to use such technology in the banking sector while there are thoughts to use it in the UK land register as well. It is a fact that crypto currencies have  been used in the past for money laundering and other  illegal activities but these are activities that we have been carried out for many centuries and it's not a phenomenon arising directly from the crypto economy. Therefore it is an unfair description which is so widely used,  instead of finding out what cryptography and cryptology is all about.

-Why has the price of bitcoin soared recently?

The value of crypto currencies is determined largely by their demand and supply . At this moment there are only 17m bitcoins in circulation and the maximum that it will ever be available is 21m. Ability to create more bitcoins beyond their pre determined amount of 21m does not exist. So when the supply narrows and demand increases, the result is for the price to go high.

Why are there bans on credit transactions in Europe and America?

Bearing in mind that this is a market that is not controlled by any authority but by only the rules of the free economy it does causes some anxiety. The problem today is that a large proportion of those involved in crypto currencies use crypto currencies derivatives, which led to borrowing and this is very dangerous in a very volatile market . I am of the opinion that a body should be set up, voluntary or not, in order to control this market and in order to have some regulation over it. 
As long as there is no central monetary policy regulating crypto economy bad things will happen and people will take advantages of the underlying economy climate surrounding the crypto markets. Just to understand the size of these markets, we are talking about markets that counts in  billions of US$. Personally we will welcome some regulations  because we are familiar with these and in fact we are operating on that basis . A regulatory framework should be put in place, and hence, throwing out unreliable participants. Along with this, however, there should be a tax policy that motivates those who wish to develop in this area as well as the people who wants invest in it. Fund raising in this manner will only help the country where the enterprise is situated and hence we sense a rush as to which country will be the crypto valley of the world. However with such financial complexity behind it and the constant negativity about the crypto economy as is considered disrupting, major economies are taking their time to welcome this innovative technology.

- Explain what is the PowerSnookerCoin or PSC for short and what's the difference from other crypto currencies.

Our own crypto currency is connected to  Power Snooker Group a UK based organisation with subsidiary companies in the UK, the USA and China.  The PSC was born out of the necessity to create an ecosystem, a community of members of the Power Snooker Group. We are aiming for a one  million members worldwide. In November 2011 when the Power Snooker UK championship took, 620,000 attended the event and it was televised in 193 countries. There is a large community that follows the power snooker sport and this is one of the key elements that differentiates our crypto currency from any other. In fact, we studied the features of all different type of currencies and incorporated some of their functionalities into our own currency. Depending on the quantity of PSCs that one buys, escalating rights are accrued.
The second element that differentiates the PSC from the rest is that it is based on and is linked to the company's activities. The goal is to raise money that we will invest in real estate to use them for the Power Snooker operations. It is a crypto currency that is supported with not only tangible assets but also, the company's Intectual Properties.  Therefore the PSC is not supported by just theoretical wealth but with a specific, tangible wealth. We have also created two applications with Power Snooker games. 
The idea for creating the PSC was to facilitate the Power Snooker Group activities and facilitate  the Global Power Snooker Community. Given my financial background i.e. being an Ex Banker and a practising Chartered Certified Accountant,  it was easy for me to design it in such a way with so many different functionalities.
I also feel that many of the crypto currencies that are currently  circulating today are totally unsupported and relying on a start up rather than an existing business model and hence are very vulnerable.