BestChange, first-hand: a unique interview with the platform's founder
BestChange founder and CEO Denis Malkov has spoken to the press for the first time in the project's 18 years of existence. The original interview was published by the ForkLog portal, while we summarized and translated the key takeaways for you.
On publicity
Denis has never sought fame, nor has he strived for anonymity. However, BestChange is growing rapidly, the project's social networks are undergoing rebranding, and the website will soon be brought to a new level and cater to a wider geography, thanks to numerous new tools and improved user experience. The upcoming changes will undoubtedly attract the attention of a broader audience. Hence, the founder of BestChange decided to speak about his role in the project, its history, and plans for the future.
On his youth
Growing up, Denis Malkov was an avid programmer. At school, he wrote simple programs on Delphi and PHP websites.
The BestChange CEO stood at the very origins of the project and was directly involved in all processes for a long time, but now he focuses on team management.
Currently, Denis Malkov is based in the global crypto hub — the United Arab Emirates.
On the creation of BestChange
While still a student, Malkov became interested in electronic currencies and even worked as an exchanger administrator. Unfortunately, the exchanger's software was not robust enough and yielded to a hacker attack. But it is thanks to this experience that the future BestChange CEO turned his attention to exchanger aggregators: these websites were less risky to operate and attracted more traffic than simple exchangers.
The idea of launching an exchange rate monitoring website came — and was implemented — in 2007. Version 1 did not consider cryptocurrencies, tracking only the exchange rates in electronic payment systems like WebMoney and E-gold. In 2012, the first exchangers that worked with Bitcoin appeared.
However, BestChange gained real popularity in 2016-2017: at that time, many people wanted to purchase Bitcoin, and BestChange, already a widely known and trusted service, turned into a leading aggregator of exchangers overnight.
Initially, the platform had competitors, but they eventually closed, while BestChange passed the test of time.
On monetization
BestChange monetizes user traffic. Every month, an average of 1.1 million visit the platform: they look for favorable exchange rates, then click through to exchange offices, and finally, review their exchange experience. Exchangers are interested in this traffic source, so they are ready to pay a small commission.
On popular trading pairs
BestChange monitors exchange rates for 40,000 trading pairs, but it is impossible to single out a users' favorite. Most often, people search for exchange offers for USDT-TRON, but the amount of these searches does not exceed 5% of the total requests.
On registration
The company's headquarters is located in the UAE. However, BestChange can register a business in other jurisdictions should this become necessary.
On the listing procedure
The English-speaking audience can see offers from 404 exchangers while looking for the best rate on BestChange. The project receives many requests from exchangers, but only those that pass a thorough examination aimed at minimizing financial risks for BestChange users will be listed in the catalog. The detailed listing requirements and conditions are available on the project's website, and if necessary, the integration team is always ready to help and consult.
BestChange can exclude listed exchangers that display suspicious activity, communicate with their customers disrespectfully on multiple occasions, or fail to fulfill the requirements for listed exchangers.
On regulations
Denis Malkov emphasized that BestChange had strengthened its AML policy adherence at the request of regulators. He explained that the project informed users, ensured internal control of AML cases, and educated its own specialists. It intensified the selection of exchangers before listing and control over their compliance with the rules after listing and launched a tool users can rely on to run an AML check on their own.
BestChange relies heavily on global best practices; it also creates and adheres to its own standards and operation rules for checking and listing new exchangers, excluding unscrupulous services, combating money laundering, and resolving disputes. These rules are essential to protecting users' rights and preventing fraud on the platform.
On responsibility
BestChange does not bear legal responsibility for transactions on third-party platforms, since the project only provides links to exchanges, but does not participate in financial transactions. However, Denis Malkov highlighted that the BestChange team cares about the well-being of their users, so it provides assistance in problematic situations.
On principles
BestChange adheres to the principle of free access to information for everyone. In 2022, some exchangers began to limit service by citizenship, but the BestChange team proposed a compromise: specific trading pairs were excluded from monitoring. Now, users can only see the exchangers that are ready to work with them, regardless of citizenship.
On personal data
Most of the services presented on BestChange comply with the Travel Rule. In general, after the implementation of the Fifth EU Directive and AML rules, most large services began to request data from senders and recipients, and some exchangers pass these requirements on to their clients.
At the same time, Denis Malkov said that monitoring does not store personal data, so it is virtually unable to share it even in the event of an official request.
On rebranding
The process started on social media and will reach the BestChange website by the end of this year, too. The roadmap includes many new and exciting updates, which the team will announce shortly. Join the BestChange Telegram channel to stay tuned.