We built and expanded Techemynt’s Portal enabling the creation of a NZD stable coin

We built and expanded Techemynt’s Portal.

Here’s what happened.

Heard of crypto?

Of course you have. 

Though the mechanics are hard to get your head around, the concept of a secure, private, and instantaneous form of payment has caught the world’s attention. 

But, like the majority of businesses and individuals, you’re not about to use Bitcoin or Ethereum for commercial transactions. With values that fluctuate the instant a spaceman sends a tweet, they’re just too volatile.

But what if you could have the best of both worlds?

Stablecoins are one solution to the problem of inflexible fiat currency and unstable crypto.

A stablecoin is still a cryptocurrency, but its value is pegged to a reserve asset – such as gold or a fiat currency.

Stablecoins are pretty well-established, with Tether trading stablecoins tethered to national currencies including the USD and the Euro since 2014.

But the 10th most traded currency in the world hadn’t been successfully established as a stablecoin. Until now.

Earlier this year, Techemynt launched a New Zealand Dollar Stablecoin, $NZDs.

As a blockchain-based stablecoin, the $NZDs stablecoin brings the stability and value of the New Zealand dollar with the intrinsic utility of a cryptocurrency.

In the words of Techemynt’s Executive Director, Fran Strajnar:

“$NZDs was in development for over a year. Potential users will include Forex and crypto traders, crypto funds, investors, and eventually merchants and everyday consumers. $NZDs will be available to buyers who wish to acquire at least $100,000NZD from Techemynt directly – smaller orders can be filled on secondary markets like the Dasset exchange [also a New Zealand FSP]”

Fran Strajnar, Executive Director at Techemynt

 

Cryptocurrencies, though insanely popular, are in a nascent state. From a jurisdictional and regulatory perspective, they’re arguably given more scrutiny than other FinTechs. 

The need for a robust, intelligent, secure platform for the $NZDs couldn’t be underestimated. 

That’s where we come in.

YouDo had already built the DealRoom. Now that Techemynt was ready to issue and distribute $NZDs, we set about developing the business end of the platform.

Anyone purchasing $NZDs from Techemynt is required to complete rigorous customer due diligence checks in line with Techemynt’s FSP obligations under this legislation with a very long name.

Having already delivered the initial DealRoom platform to help with onboarding and verification mechanics, Techemynt asked YouDo to further develop its DealRoom to support the issuance and distribution of NZD stablecoin products.

Adam Dodds, Techemynt’s Managing Director, explained that the desire to repurpose the platform would embrace a market opportunity and create a groundswell of support for the $NZDs. 

Choosing YouDo to work with the self-motivated timeline was a no-brainer:

“YouDo has a pedigree in the development of data-centric, robust platforms. We chose them because we needed the assurance that our platform would withstand scrutiny from regulatory eyes. The YouDo team applied their leading software expertise and deep knowledge of the crypto world to our unique requirements.”

Adam Dodds, Techemynt
 

YouDo created a full-scale customer experience to build trust with users and fulfil auditing and governance requirements.

We brought all our expertise together to develop an end-to-end $NZDs trading platform that covered:
 

• Onboarding
• AML/CFT checks
• Product listings
• Quote request, submission, transaction, and allocation functionality
• Invoicing capability via Xero integration
• Customer record keeping via Zoho CRM integration

To establish trust with the end-user, Techemynt’s DealRoom provided clarity around what was on offer and how the process worked.

To satisfy regulators, the legal context was made abundantly clear throughout the entire process – from cold user to trusted user to issue of the $NZDs.

Adam explained that, by almost over-engineering the platform, YouDo helped ensure that Techemynt could build real trust with users. Techemynt could now be comfortable with who acquires the tokens, why they have them, and where they store them.

YouDo and Techemynt worked together to thoroughly test the DealRoom platform. This was crucial to understand the end-to-end experience, ensure consistency of UI, improve efficiency, and perfect the way information was presented.

“We brought in a range of people to our live refinement meetings to test the platform. People with backgrounds in testing, finance, legal, and crypto. Having them all participate allowed us to see the nuanced perspectives of the user experience and feel comfortable that we’d captured everything in the platform.”

Adam Dodds, Techemynt

It was a rewarding project for all involved.

With the existing DealRoom already in place, YouDo was able to move swiftly on the project. What could have been a long-haul delivery was completed within budget in under 5 weeks – a huge advantage for Techemynt.

Software architecture is no easy subject to grasp – even for crypto experts. 

But Adam shares that YouDo translated the complex project into something that Techemynt could easily understand and interact with.

“The project was multifaceted. We had to work out how best to align the agile sprints, how we communicate, how we identify problems and opportunities, and how to integrate them. YouDo accommodated by using a range of different meeting forums, a Slack community, and full-scale work-throughs with all the developers.”

Adam Dodds, Techemynt
 

Where to from here?

For the Techemynt team, it’s time to trade. 

Starting with their primary market of wholesale and large-scale investors, they can continue to observe the market while working on further automation, risk reduction, and greater transparency within the platform. 

And gradually, Techemynt is listing $NZDS on secondary markets, opening $NZDs to everyday traders – watch this space as the rollout gathers pace.

For the YouDo team, this was an epic project. It was a privilege to deliver such a dynamic and intelligent platform in an exciting, rapidly growing industry.

And we were stoked to develop a close relationship with a company doing big things in the New Zealand market. Best case scenario, really.

“We won’t work with anybody else.”

Adam Dodds, Techemynt

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