CRYPTO ‘EXPERTS’: Who can we really trust? With Marco Morazzoni (Semoto)

Crypto Cast is back! Host PK kicks off the new series with an interview with Marco Morazzoni, CEO and Founder of Semoto, the largest B2B ecosystem in Web3. PK and Marco ask the big question of how we know who to trust in crypto, and why Marco created Semoto to build a community of vetted and approved service providers. From wannabe ‘blockchain experts’, to a potential pending apocalypse when it comes to market abuse, they breakdown how to know if people really do know their stuff and the fundamental services crypto businesses actually do need. There’s pressure on founders to build fast and compliantly, so here’s why getting the fundamentals of legal, compliance, and infrastructure right from the start is critical to long-term success. 

Crypto Cast is the leading podcast for crypto founders and leaders. Join hosts Pavan ‘PK’ Kaur, James Burnie, Kathryn Dodds and Bart Kacicki, a team of specialist crypto advisors and lawyers at international firm gunnercooke. The team chat with some of the biggest industry names about everything you need to know on the business of web3, NFTs, DAOs, AI and blockchain. From regulatory updates to building the tech, and from marketing and tokenomics to gearing up for a successful exit, you’ll hear all the hot takes on the future of crypto. gunnercooke has one of the largest full-service crypto teams in Europe and the US, specialising in blockchain, Web3, crypto assets, DAOs, AI and DeFi, who have helped shape the legal and regulatory frameworks central to today’s crypto landscape.   

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Transcript

00:00:00:06 - 00:00:07:15
PK
Hi and welcome to the latest series of Crypto Cast by gunnercooke. I'm joined by Marco, CEO and founder of Semoto. Hi Marco. 
00:00:07:19 - 00:00:09:13
Marco
Hi there. Thanks a lot for having me. 
00:00:09:15 - 00:00:14:17
PK
You're welcome. So tell us all about Semoto and the journey. 
00:00:14:19 - 00:00:50:21
Marco
So, how to describe Semoto. We are by now the largest B2B ecosystem in Web3. What do we do? We operate in two separate ways. We have a marketplace where we vet, list, and collect reviews for several hundreds of the top companies in blockchain, crypto, generally speaking, Web3. And on the side, we also have a consulting and advisory business where we kind of bring all the pieces of the puzzle together for the client. 
00:00:50:21 - 00:00:57:16
PK
Oh wow, and so where did you feel the need to set up Semoto came from? 
00:00:57:18 - 00:01:23:04
Marco
I come from TradFi as a background. I was, a broker in derivatives. So throughout my career, my role has always been to fulfill clients request because the person that wants to trade with you generally comes with a variety of issues, can be finding a custodian, an advisory firm for his fund, maybe an administrator. So you're always, required to know people around you. 
00:01:23:10 - 00:01:45:18
Marco
When I then moved into, crypto starting executing for a few funds in family offices, I noticed that, the industry was extremely fragmented. People didn't know each other. And more importantly, there were so many wannabe experts at the time. So this is when the idea came to mind. 
00:01:45:20 - 00:01:58:24
PK
And you speak a lot about trust, which is something we feel quite strongly here at gunnercooke. And so how was one able to discern what a trusted expert, as our trusted provider is, and how does Semoto support in that journey? 
00:01:59:01 - 00:02:20:19
Marco
That's a great question. It's probably one of my favorites. First of all, I would like to explain that Semoto doesn't, it doesn't want to be the gated community where we make the final decision if you are an expert or not, we analyze, we vet your business. So we do give you that stamp of approval and credibility. 
00:02:20:24 - 00:02:35:08
Marco
But almost as the second layer, this is when the community comes in. And this is why collecting reviews is so important through review and through our ranking process. This is when the true experts comes out. 
00:02:35:10 - 00:02:57:10
PK
Interesting. And so we've been in the industry longer than we can recollect, And so people that are looking to set up consultancy firms that offer services to founders, do you have any advice for them. And what is the process like in terms of getting on to the Semoto platform and joining the ecosystem? 
00:02:57:16 - 00:03:19:15
Marco
That's a great question. And we are not actually in the business of being a barrier to filter out new people. They want to come into the space is not what we want to do. We just want to put a clear stamp on who are proven experts people that you can trust, people that have solid track records, whoever wants to come into the industry. 
00:03:19:17 - 00:03:37:06
Marco
I would simply say embrace it. prove that you are an expert. So first of all, educate yourself and that get your hands dirty. So serve clients. Start from the bottom up as everyone is that is done. And prove to the industry that you are a genuine expert. 
00:03:37:08 - 00:03:47:23
PK
I think as long as there's that real good intention, and desire to be abreast of the latest trends and really mastering your craft, then the supports around you. 
00:03:48:00 - 00:04:04:20
Marco
100% and people will appreciate people that are still educating themselves, but, providing value to the industry. The mission for Semoto is actually to filter out those people that simply change their LinkedIn title to blockchain expert. This is what we want to fight against. 
00:04:04:22 - 00:04:20:12
PK
Yes, yes. And so I mean, arguably to your point earlier, there's a plethora of service providers in the space right now. What would you say are the key essential service providers that a crypto founder needs right now? And are there any gaps? 
00:04:20:14 - 00:04:52:06
Marco
So from there is a distinction between what I think and what the probably the average, start up, think is important for them. Unfortunately, there is probably still a misconception that the good old and large community are the only important thing. Because if you ask me, is strong legal support and regulatory framework is the only really important thing because that is what is really going to cost you a lot of money. 
00:04:52:06 - 00:05:19:16
Marco
If you make mistakes. people think that with a large community is going to be easier to raise money, and probably was true up to few years ago, the dynamics of change exponentially. So I always suggest founders to spend time and money structuring the project properly. Then if you grow, you grow with the right people. But don't throw money at, random KOLs or things like that. 
00:05:19:18 - 00:05:38:04
PK
Yeah, it's quite interesting, certainly with what the FCA is putting out right now around. with finfluencers as they are so lovingly called. And to your point as well, the legal element is so, so fundamental to that from the set up, to getting your SaaS done, to how you are engaging with VCs, to how are you designing your tokenomics and your modelling? 
00:05:38:04 - 00:05:57:16
PK
How you're classifying the token all the way through to your marketing, and how you're doing that in a way that purports to be compliant with the local rules, whether you're starting offshore or. And that sort of came in by structure. But that's not advice. that's on came and be the structure or you're then looking to come on shore and go straight from like the license, let's say, how, you know. 
00:05:57:18 - 00:06:18:11
Marco
I think you're absolutely right. And let's take the token as the perfect example. This is why, Semoto was born. Because if we analyze the different pieces of the puzzle, launching a token means setting up a business in a different jurisdiction. You want somebody that can not just advise you, but get you set up physically with the company. 
00:06:18:13 - 00:06:41:19
Marco
Then you want a lawyer to tell you if you're designing a security or a utility, then you want token economic expert. Then you're looking for a auditing company to audit and the security of the product. And only then then you are looking for marketing, market making, listing, and the list goes on and on and on. So how does a founder finds all these pieces? 
00:06:41:21 - 00:06:52:22
Marco
And keep in mind that comparing one to the other one, those are negotiations that can set you back over a couple of months, just wasted in negotiation. This is what we're trying to improve on. 
00:06:53:01 - 00:07:18:22
PK
And this is a bit of a best practice in the room as well, because clients and people tend to approach me as a CMO. And often we are the guiding light that says actually, before we look at your marketing and we before we look at your token design and before we actually help you scale and structure your kind of community operations and everything in a way that's compliant, you need to look at where exactly you set up. 
00:07:18:22 - 00:07:40:09
PK
What exactly is the business model, what are you building in, and do you need a token in the first place? So how how exactly does the token come into the fold. And these are all fundamental points because while setup has an impact on how and where you market what your target audience is as a material impacts on how you market and who you market to, and these are all fundamentals. 
00:07:40:09 - 00:07:44:05
PK
Otherwise you're just burning runway. And for not a lot of return. 
00:07:44:07 - 00:07:46:24
Marco
Potentially having to adjust the project at a later stage. 
00:07:47:04 - 00:07:58:05
PK
So the Semoto ecosystem is growing quite exponentially. Over the last year you started in the UK and now you've scaled globally. Talk to us about that journey and where Semoto is headed. 
00:07:58:07 - 00:08:17:04
Marco
We keep adding verticals, because we realize truly how fragmented the spaces and there is always something new coming up that is quite exciting. And we want the client to search and be able to find a new solution. So what, what we are doing, we are adding new verticals to the marketplace. 
00:08:17:04 - 00:08:39:21
Marco
We have few large companies in the data space, and security joining us, also obviously is, announced a few weeks ago, the major push is now the review system. So we are really going hard and collecting, reviews and explaining these companies, how important it is for their image to collect, to collect reviews. 
00:08:39:23 - 00:09:17:23
Marco
The other exciting thing I, I can probably announce it by now is not secret anymore. We have, set it up, with, DMC. And thanks to the guys at the embassy for the help in Dubai. So the consulting advisory business is going to operate from there. And from that side. We are quite excited because we are launching an RFP or RFQ as a service, bringing the capability to smaller clients, not as large as the big banks, to streamline a request for a service to the entire ecosystem so they can really in a short term. 
00:09:18:00 - 00:09:21:13
Marco
In short, I'm getting, multiple quotes. So this is what is coming next. 
00:09:21:17 - 00:09:52:01
PK
I think that's that's such an interesting view and an approach as well, because quite often we've had my token is global. My proposition is global. And the reality is far from that. And to actually go global, you need to tap into different jurisdictions synergistically and scales and scale in accordance with that. I mean, even if you look at the marketing roles from Vara and the UAE to, and, and the FCA, the rules are all synergistic.
00:09:52:01 - 00:10:07:15
PK
Yeah. There's kind of a, a difference in weighting in the robustness across the jurisdictions. But the approach is synergistic from the regulators. And so, I find it quite interesting that Semoto is ahead of the curve. 
00:10:07:17 - 00:10:29:05
Marco
I think it's really important to give players the capabilities. We know how busy founders are. And, I've seen it myself. Like, you try to do a piece of work and you have to move your attention to run negotiation with multiple vendors. And by the time you make a decision, really months have passed and, you kind of lose control of the process. 
00:10:29:07 - 00:10:55:24
Marco
So coming from, one of the largest data analytic, company out there, elliptic, shout out to the guys on elliptic, they were receiving a lot of, RFP from the major players. So why not to bring that model to any founders? Are you looking for an auditing form for just stream it out and see who really suitable for your needs and your, your balance as well. 
00:10:55:24 - 00:10:57:07
Marco
Your budget. 
00:10:57:09 - 00:11:19:23
PK
I think what's really good about the ecosystem as well is how user friendly it is, right? From our perspective. I mean, we've done over 500 crypto mandates, right? So to us, a lot of the the setup on the structuring and launching tokens or working once or whoever it might be, it's quite cookie cutter from a service provision perspective, i.e. what exactly is required. 
00:11:19:23 - 00:11:38:09
PK
And so being able to use a tool like Semoto and join that ecosystem where you're able to just be like, yes, those guys seem suited to my needs culturally and even at a price point level, it all makes sense and is in tune with us. Where you can almost kind of go out and pick the best strawberries for, for for your business. 
00:11:38:09 - 00:11:39:21
PK
It's great.
00:11:40:00 - 00:11:41:15
Marco
Thanks. Thanks for that. 
00:11:41:17 - 00:11:51:07
PK
And so what do you see as the biggest issue or threats to crypto in the industry over the next five years? 
00:11:51:09 - 00:12:15:06
Marco
There are multiple for sure. maybe up to a couple of years ago I would have answer with, regulation. I think we, we go up to the point where we are getting finally clarity to it. At the moment, the two biggest issues that I see are funding VC are not deploying. And, that is a huge problem for a lot of founders. 
00:12:15:08 - 00:12:37:12
Marco
At Semoto, we serve a variety of company in a variety of different ways. But still, when it comes to projects, the question that they always ask, can you help me raising? And that is a huge problem. but the second is adoption, because the true issue that we have in the space is that there are great project, great ideas. 
00:12:37:14 - 00:12:54:09
Marco
Just institutional adoption is not going to change it for everyone. We really need, my mum start using blockchain and we need to make it simple. We need to make it bring it to the masses. That is what is really going to change the game. 
00:12:54:11 - 00:13:10:11
PK
You know, I've been saying this for years, but the way to get mass adoption is that the end user has no idea why blockchain is involved. They have a seamless journey. It solves their problem. The branding is clear. What problem does it solve.It's a few clicks away. Yeah, like Semoto. 
00:13:10:16 - 00:13:23:12
Marco
My favorite projects are the one that don't even mention blockchain in the deck, because those are the one that really build something. They use a great piece of technology, something innovative, without having to throw it in your face. 
00:13:23:14 - 00:13:53:19
PK
I think what's been quite interesting is the latest discussion paper that's come out from the FCA, which is DP 25 1, and speaking about how they're looking towards crypto assets. and I think off the back of that, there may be a bit of an apocalypse coming with service providers and the considerations in the room, even looking towards market abuse, are there any sort of oopsie policies in place to mitigate insider trading? 
00:13:53:19 - 00:14:06:12
PK
When you're looking at market makers and exchanges and all these different providers that are interacting with retail? So I think that's going to be one of the more interesting pieces of unfolds over the next 12 to 24 months. 
00:14:06:13 - 00:14:31:21
Marco
I completely agree with you. I mean, I think there are multiple elements. I mean, first of all is market condition. So we are going to see a consolidation, either because not everyone unfortunately is going to to survive due to revenue generation, to simply company buying each other. I mean, not at the level of Coinbase and that'll be I mean, even smaller agencies are going to start teaming up together. 
00:14:31:23 - 00:14:50:16
Marco
And then there are regulator pieces like the FCA, as you mentioned. But we are seeing it in different, part of the globe here in the UK started a while ago. I mean, the financial promotion rule made it clear even marketing agency have to be aware and are going to be, penalized if they don't respect the rules. 
00:14:50:16 - 00:15:04:11
Marco
So more clarity and more on extraction are going to. I wouldn't call it an apocalypse, but they're going to definitely make the industry slightly smaller. 
00:15:04:13 - 00:15:10:21
PK
Yeah, absolutely. So how did the relationship with Semoto and gunnercooke start. 
00:15:10:23 - 00:15:43:06
Marco
Oh you are an extremely important part of the Semoto ecosystem because not only you were one of the first companies, to join, but also one of the largest law firm to join to really believing in what we were building. And since then, we have seen that, the small, medium and large player really getting in touch with you and confirming that you are a major player in the space, not just in the UK, but globally. 
00:15:43:08 - 00:16:00:20
Marco
So between the multiple law firms, you are extremely active. As you said before, you have done an incredible work in the last, in the last few years and, you keep growing, in this Semoto ecosystem, both in reputation and number of clients served. 
00:16:00:22 - 00:16:04:14
PK
There's nothing more rewarding than getting that testimonial through. 
00:16:04:16 - 00:16:05:02
Marco
Pleasure. 
00:16:05:06 - 00:16:25:14
PK
That's the recurring thing. And I think it always validates the hard work and the long hours. It's when we're able to give that client satisfaction and really help them on their journey to scaling or exit whatever the goal might be. So, yeah, thank you for joining us today. Marco. It's been a pleasure to have you as the first guest on the new series. 
00:16:25:15 - 00:16:26:17
Marco
Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me.