Decentralized Tokenization: A Conversation With Gate.io’s Marie Tatibouet

The following is an interview we recently had with Marie Tatibouet CMO at Gate.io.

What's your background? How did you get involved in crypto/blockchain? 

MT: I did my major in finance and marketing since I was utterly fascinated with the profound impact these two fields have had on the world as we know it today. Following my education, I started my work in the consumer technology space. Following that, I founded a marketing consultancy that exclusively worked with tech companies. I think it was around 2016 that I stumbled across cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. I just dove head-first into this space. My background in finance helped me a lot in quickly picking up the underlying crypto-economic concepts.

Around 2016, I joined an online platform called 21, mostly to dabble a bit more with this space and to familiarize myself with the different aspects of BTC trading, and voila, I was hooked. Two years later, I got this opportunity to drive marketing at Gate.io, and since then I have been heading the marketing function as a CMO. Gate.io is one of the oldest crypto exchanges globally, and we serve more than 3.5 million users across the globe. 

What value does your company bring to users? 

MT: The constant work we do at Gate.io to always offer our users the highest quality products and services is one reason we are one of the world's leading exchanges, positioned continuously among the top ranking crypto exchanges at Coingecko and Coinmarketcap.

Gate.io is a global blockchain asset exchange platform that enables blockchain enthusiasts to trade and store assets in over 300 leading cryptocurrencies, and over 400 crypto pairs. Recognizing the importance of blockchain security, Gate.io sets itself apart by prioritizing security, transparency, and user-experience, providing users with quick and easy access to digital assets. 

We have one of the most diverse altcoin repositories globally, and our users love it. Our users can engage in both spot and margin trading on our platform along with a variety of other features such as futures, options, and other derivatives. 

Gate.io has grown rapidly over the last few years from a mere exchange to a rich and well-defined crypto ecosystem. Over the last year, we have introduced GateChain – a next-gen public blockchain  focused on decentralized trading and on-chain asset safety. It also provides a unique transaction revoking functionality through cleverly programmed Vault Accounts.

We are also working on launching Hipo DeFi – a high potential Automated Market Maker (AMM) that provides a venue for users to conduct decentralized swaps without crumbling under high slippage that's often associated with such platforms. More than $20 billion have been locked in DeFi, and we believe HipoDeFi will bring a unique DeFi trading experience to our users.  

Plus, we have tons of features on our website like Startup – our IEO platform that has helped projects raise over $600 million since its launch in April 2019 and was named the number 1 platform for IEO ROI by CoinGecko and CoinRank

We offer crypto lending and crypto loans. We also have an in-platform staking program called "HODL & Earn," which allows our users to generate passive income by locking a certain amount of tokens for a predetermined amount of time.

Overall, we have an ecosystem that's continually growing and evolving. It is super exciting to be a part of something so dynamic!

Where do you see your company five years from now? 

MT: We will continue to focus on offering our users a highly secure and user-friendly crypto trading ecosystem - Gate.io, GateChain, DeFi network with stablecoin (USDG), decentralized loans, and very soon, liquidity mining.

Gate.io already has a huge foothold in Asia, and some parts of Europe and the US. We are also seeing huge growth in LatAm, Turkey, and Russia. For this reason, we are expanding our marketing strategy to serve this audience in this regard. A combination of the new strategy, our products, and the excellent crypto appetite in the region will further deepen our footprints.

To that end, we have been hiring new team members to gain a footing in the different parts of the globe. Over the next year, you will see us conducting many more global programs and events that will allow users from other regions  of the world to see our platform's potential.

Along with that, I am also excited to see how Hipo DeFi evolves over the next few years. DeFi is unquestionably the hottest thing in the crypto space right now, and I believe that the number of innovations being done here will increase exponentially over time. With Hipo DeFi, Gate.io will have a significant presence in this space.

What are the most common misconceptions you hear about decentralized tokenization? 

MT: The main problem with people’s perception of tokenization is that they believe it’s a magic sauce that will automatically improve a lousy product; This is something we repeatedly saw in 2017 when Bitcoin reached $20,000. Sub-par products that had no business in tokenizing their protocol flooded the space. More often than not, they simply created tokens to luck into their own million-dollar ICOs. These tokens had no utility, and nor did they have any concretely defined roles. Tokenization just for the sake of tokenization is a recipe for disaster, in my opinion.

What's next for decentralized tokenization in 2021?

MT: The whole space has evolved rapidly, and now there is so much more interoperability between the crypto world and the “real” world. One thing that I am very excited about is the integration of tokenization in traditionally illiquid spaces. Real estate is a prime example. 

For a long-time, real estate was considered the “rich man’s playground,” however, sole ownership may soon become passe. In this new dynamic world of fractional ownership, tokens representing immutable proofs of ownership could be indispensable. 

Why shouldn’t you be able to own property in Malibu? You don’t need to own an entire beach house. You can simply own a tenth of a beach house. This could be possible with tokenization.

Plus, with the rise of non-fungible tokens (NFT), we are seeing an entirely new form of ownership. Recently, a musician sold the royalty on their track for $26,000 through the sale of an NFT. Plus, the features of non-fungibility make NFTs ideal for storing unique documents such as certificates. For example, NFTs could provide a unique way with which students could prove their level of education.