JOHN BAILON
His thorough knowledge of IT and finance comes in handy for John Bailon, the cofounder and CEO of a company that pioneers in blockchain technology Photography: Alex Van Hagen; Creative Direction & Styling: Monique Madsen; Interview: Jeanna Lanting; Groomi
How did you start your career?
It was back in 2013 when I first discovered Bitcoin. It was trading at around US$40 then, so I bought some. I read into its technicalities, and it became apparent that it was perfect for me—I was into tech, I’m a programmer, and I’m really interested in finance.
I met a number of people who were also interested in cryptocurrency, and together, we decided to set up a company: Satoshi Citadel Industries (SCI). The idea of it—cryptocurrency
— was very vague back then. We just thought that Bitcoin would either blow up and be huge or be small. Either way, we took the leap and built something out of it.
What are you currently working on?
We’re building a couple of new projects at SCI, one of which is an orderbook exchange called Citadax.
An orderbook exchange is similar to what a stock exchange is, except it’s for cryptocurrency. We’re at the final stages of launching that, pending regulations. We’re also building an SCI network. We have a few products under our company and the network will combine and merge everything together into one token network.
What is your favourite part of the job?
Creating a product that could potentially be part and parcel of the future. I like that we have the opportunity to build something that has the potential to provide real value to other people. For example, in the space of blockchain, it’s a new technology that not many understand. But if we are successful in bringing in products like this, people can learn more about it and take advantage of this technology in such a way that one may not yet realise. I want my company to be part of a future wherein blockchain technology is firmly entrenched in society and people are able to use it with ease and benefit from its advantages.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far?
At the end of the day, it’s really about putting in the work. It doesn’t matter how resourceful or wealthy or smart you are— work really has to come in.
For example, when we started in 2014, we engaged with the Central Bank. We told them that cryptocurrency is something they should start regulating and they refused, saying it was too small for them at the time. After three years we were able to convince them to come up with regulations and look into the whole industry. Now, they have set up a new unit within BSP to cover fintech or financial technology companies.
We needed patience to endure and invest in all of this before seeing it come into fruition. But more importantly, we worked hard to lay the groundwork for all this. We also had to understand that being agile and versatile is necessary to move forward. So, you just really have to put in the work and be patient and just tr ust in what you’re trying to do to be successful.