Bitcoin has a reputation as being a stable store of value in the cryptocurrency space, but one company proves that the largest coin has utility besides being an investment. Chantelle Borrelli is the co-founder and CEO of CrownBits Rewards, a loyalty platform that offers cash-back rewards in Bitcoin. Borrelli discusses with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News, how incentive programs are what's needed for mass adoption in Bitcoin to happen.
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this big one, having to use cases outside of being investment in the store of value. Well, that's the topic of our conversation with our next guest. GenTel Barela. She is the CEO and founder. Co-founder I've found this. Welcome to the show. Thank you, David, for being here. Found bits. We're going to talk about your company and what that means, but I've been getting this question a lot, whether or not Bitcoin has any intrinsic value outside of investments, a set of store value.
Basically. Can we use Bitcoin for anything? I know our Salvador has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender. I know there are some vendors in the U S that allow payments through a big one, but there are still skeptics out there that say, Bitcoin doesn't have any use case you agree with that? I do not. I think Bitcoin does have.
Use case I think it has even more potential in the cryptocurrency industry. Um, when I first started with getting into cryptocurrency and blockchain, I started just investing. So, I mean, I could pay, uh, for defy products. I could pay for a bunch of different things within cryptocurrency industry, um, with Bitcoin, but at the same time, I think it has potential to be in.
Other vendors just as you were mentioning. Um, and that's also the solution. That's the solution that I, that my company combis rewards provides. So tell us about how that works. So rewards program using Bitcoin, right? So basically if I can summarize I'm going shopping, I'm going to buy, I don't know anything, a suit.
I can go on your platform, which I believe is the first of its client. And I can buy something and I can get rewards programs. Where rewards points and I can be paid back in crypto. Is that how it works? So that's, yes. That's one path that we have on our platform. So essentially it's a payments platform, but attached to it is a rewards platform.
So we have 10,000 north American brands you can shop at, uh, essentially you can find. So on, on one of the, let's say Macy's, do you want to go shopping for a suit on Macy's Macy's but let's stick with that example. Okay. Let's look at the example. Uh, you go boss, do they sell that? I don't know. Yeah. Okay.
Good to know. So you can buy that suit, uh, through Macy's let's say, and then you're getting a kickback, uh, with crown Victoria. On a percentage of that sale. So then that, that reward goes back in your Chromebooks rewards wallet, and then once you reach a threshold, um, you can then cash that out in a cryptocurrency in any actually digital asset, uh, that's implemented on our platform.
Um, and then you could also opt to use that those rewards. Sure. A bunch of purchases that you do through the platform and use it, uh, to get a certain amount off your next purchase, for instance. Okay. Okay. So then I got to ask you this rewards program exists already. Why not create a platform that offers payback in the act?
Currencies are us dollars. What's the benefit of using. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of people in the cryptocurrency industry that currently hold a lot of Bitcoin, a lot of Ethereum, a lot of these, uh, decentralized points. Right? So the thing is, is that the Wayne solution that we want to provide is, Hey, all you, Bitcoin holders, all you with theory and holders.
This is also how you can spend that. And not only holds it cause there's. I think that are out there right now to actually spend cryptocurrency. So we're doing it sort of in a clever way to sopping. And also we also have a whole partner us section of our business that we partner. Since with Ava, private aviation companies, you can get a kickback for purchasing your next airline ticket, for instance.
So those, these are all ways that you can use your rewards wallet or your cryptocurrency, and put it into the platform and pay for that airline. And Bitcoin, why did you choose Bitcoin as your first point Bitcoin? Because it is number one, it's the, it's the first cryptocurrency. It's more a universal currency that most people would know even outside of crypto.
Uh, so it's essentially the first point that we want to launch our platform with. And it's also one of the mostly held currencies that there is in crypto. You wouldn't consider something like. Theory M or any other, um, any other protocol down the line? I think down the line, that is definitely a feature that we want to add.
Um, I think that if, if theory, um, even, uh, co like any point that's based off of cosmos, for instance, uh, we would be, we would be definitely thinking about adding that to the pop form as well. What about this? Yeah, I've heard from Bitcoin maximalists that we shouldn't ever buy anything with Bitcoin because the value is going to go up.
So in the sense that let's say I buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks with some Bitcoin, Starbucks is getting a much better deal because you're holding onto that Bitcoin. And my coffee's not going to. X, you know, 10 times the next, whatever number of years it's getting consumed. Of course, that's assuming that Bitcoin will continuously grow in value.
So how would you respond to that argument? That look, it's not a really a good idea to transact with big point at all, that everyone has a habit that they're used to, whether it's within finance, uh, with. And something, uh, they all have their own way of being comfortable with it. So that's why with our platform, we give them that option.
They can, you can either pay for something with it. If you ha if you want to, or you can earn cryptocurrency and add more to your wallet and hold it. So for the Bitcoin maximalist, right. With that option with people who maybe want to maybe they don't know a lot about cryptocurrency or blockchain industry.
So maybe this is a good way to migrate them over and to kind of show them around the industry, show them what's available. So then how the transactions really communicate in one, how much stuff do I have to buy your platform before I get one Bitcoin,
you know, Actually I have a good response to that. So, um, I would say that if you're just shopping for your shoes and your suit, uh, it might take you a little bit of time, but, uh, if you're transacting for airline tickets or for, uh, certain partners that we have, for instance, uh, we're going to be partnering with a lot of exchanges.
Um, that, that is definitely. The ability that you could, you could be on tickets. I mean, maybe not airline ticket, traveling my suits are more expensive than my slugs it's possible. Well, yeah. Well, sure. Then, well then you just get air miles, right? I mean, that's just, you both, that's the beauty about it. You can use your credit card, you could get your points with it at the same time, you're getting crown bits rewards as well.
I want to talk a bit about. Talk about Shantelle. So you started as a Waterloo grad, the only Waterloo, I'm not alum that I personally know that hasn't done engineering or science. I did my, my mistake engineering engineering, non-fire biology. And then, and then you're a young entrepreneur. So how did your transition from science scratch to.
Starting your own cryptocurrencies. You have a funny story. I, I do, yes. So I started out with, um, studying at university of Waterloo during my time there. I actually got into blockchain just as a hobby, really. And, uh, I had a great group of friends. We were all into crypto. So that was around 2018. Um, so I got, I was not really an early comer into the industry, uh, but I always said to myself that I really wanted to, I found that this industry is so passionate with the companies that they're coming out with, the projects that they're working on.
And I really felt like I, I really wanted to get into blockchain cryptocurrency and start my own thing with it. So I started thinking about ideas that I. So for me, I love fashion. And, um, I thought about bringing sort of a clever platform to Canada because there really wasn't anything like it in Canada.
Um, and I, and I really wanted to start where the adoption in Canada of using cryptocurrency, uh, through shopping online. That's how it started. Okay. And cryptocurrencies, but why blockchain in particular? I mean, you could have moved. Area fashion. Um, but you chose to integrate blockchain technology with your business, with the industry.
Right now, it's very, there, there's not a lot of adoption happening from other industries. And so what my place in this industry right now is sort of a hybrid. So what I want to do is essentially get partners outside the industry. So for instance, aviation, other merchants, Payment cards like credit cards, um, and have those existing user bases start using our platform and eventually migrate into cryptocurrency.
Yeah. So for the, a young entrepreneurs watching Chantelle right now who want to learn how to do this themselves, what advice do you have? Well, tell, tell us your story of how. I think you're working already and that you did this part-time this was your side hustle. Yeah, this was actually my side hustle.
So, um, I started with doing, I had a full-time job. I mean, I was working like 16 hours a day on this for at least two years. And it was really an idea that I really liked. And then it just started growing and growing and growing as I got more and more momentum. And actually the funny thing is, is that. I actually never even told my family that I was doing this.
I was, um, I was, I was doing, I would be upstairs in my room. I would be having meetings literally in my closet. Like it was, it was, it was very hush, hush. Um, and then once it sort of blew up, I, I then told them and I was like, Hey, by the way, you know, I have this company that is doing really well. And I mean, they're very supportive.
I love my family, so. Okay. And how big is your closet now? Are you still doing meetings in the closet now? No, no, no, no, no. We we've. We've grown a lot. Yes. Yeah. Good. All right. That's good to hear, uh, entrepreneurs. Friends that are entrepreneurs. They're our biggest challenge at the beginning is raising capital.
How did you overcome that challenge? Um, connecting with the right people. Okay. How do you do that? Be specific now? So I think that with raisings, for an ID, number one, you have to have a good pitch deck, which did you know how to do initially? I did. I did not know how to do. At all actually. So I came from the Northern Silicon valley being Waterloo.
So I actually learned a lot from a lot of CEO's that were around there and they actually helped me to critique my deck and really figure out, um, the timing to really have a good picture of what the business model was, because it's one thing I think, to have a business model, to have a brilliant idea, but the thing is, you also need to explain it properly to.
And that's and that's sometimes I find what's very difficult. So if you have a good support system, if you have some like people that you can count on 12, play at this, because this is a challenge for a lot of people. So let's say I'm a potential investor. I say, Shantelle, you've got a new business idea.
You've got a. Um, I'm not convinced, right? So I'm giving you a bunch of roadblocks. You've got no revenue so far. This is a completely new industry. Cryptocurrencies are new. Um, I don't know. I don't know the next thing about fashion. I mean, convince me that this is a good idea here. I think that number when it depends on the investor that you're talking with.
Right. So they understand the industry, they understand, uh, how many people are in cryptocurrency. That's you gotta know who you're talking to. You were targeting the right investors to begin with. You weren't targeting random people on. I was not talking with random people. No, it was, it was mostly, um, people who knew the industry.
They knew what the potential was and that creating the right idea. And the right adoption, uh, really had potential to scale. And the main key is explaining how it's going to scale explaining that you have all these, like you have all these support systems, you have your partnerships that are, that are, you know, ready to go with the products.
Do you have a solid developer team? You have all these. The systems, all these pillars, for instance, even advisors, right. That's a huge key as well, which a lot of businesses law. So, I mean, I think, I think it's really just, you gotta stick to, to really, um, your idea and making sure that you don't sorta move off the path, tying this back to Bitcoin and we'll end up there.
Do you think Bitcoin. Uh, currency has been fully adopted yet by either institutions or retail investors. I don't think so. I think what they need is an incentivized model and that's exactly what I do. So I've created an incentive model for them to adopt it more into their stores, into their platforms.
And the thing is, is that. We want to start out online. Cause I like, you know, stories for instance, like Amazon. Right. But the key would be to getting it out there. So for instance, shoppers in person, right. Using that QR code that's that's eventually what you're going to see. I think down the line, I think if all the major brands across America with the world start to issue similar incentive.
Or incentive programs such that they have loyalty programs, rewards programs like yourself using blockchain, more people would need more people would have to adopt Bitcoin or other blockchain. I think they wouldn't have to, but I think the curiosity of it being there will. Okay. So you think define blockchain is still in its early stages of adoption.
Super early stages. And I think that it is a growing a growing potential really that people are slowly going to get into. And I think it's just a matter of getting it out there and adopting it in such an, a clever way where people actually pay attention to it. Did you buy your suit on. No, I do not have this store.
We'll work on that. Thank you so much for coming on the show, David. Thank you. Thank you for watching Kichler news. I'm David Lim. Kitco news special coverage at the de-central Miami conference is brought to you by hooked finance, a revolution in defy asset management.