ZyCrypto had a discussion with Claude Lecomte who is the CEO of Minergate (one of the world’s largest mining pools), as he shares his insights on the Crypto market as well as where the future of mining and the crypto sphere is heading to.
- Please Tell Us A Bit About You And What made you dive into the Crypto Mining Business.
First time I heard about Bitcoin eight years ago. The technical side of crypto has drawn my attention, and I started reading about it a lot. It gave me hope about decentralized future.
In 2013 I bought my first ASIC rig and thought about initiating own mining pool. I studied the biggest pools (Slush, Deepbit, BTC Guild, etc.) to figure out the main features of the ideal mining pool.
In 2014 our team launched MinerGate, and since then we have been constantly improving for our users to be satisfied with the services we provide. We always focus on security, anonymity, and simplicity.
- What do you think of the bearish market and How is it affecting Minergate?
I’ve primarily been a miner from the very beginning. I’m a miner because this is how I support the blockchain system. I would say that the bearish trends of the market are affecting mining as well as the other parts of crypto life. When a coin loses value while the mining of that coin retains its level of difficulty, mining becomes a low margin business. Under such circumstances the ‘get rich quick’ paradigm doesn’t work anymore. We can see mining turning into a more professional business. That’s why MinerGate is also transforming into a professional tool.
- Recently MinerGate launched the xFast mining client, Please tell us about it as well as its advantages.
xFast is a real mining innovation. It provides up to a 300% hashrate boost on the older hardware. Open beta version gathered feedback from the people who will use this client, and most of the users’ suggested improvements have been implemented. We hope that xFast will become a new milestone in the development of professional mining clients. It provides the best hashrate for XMR and other CryptoNight-based coins, featuring a hashrate improvement up to 10% on modern hardware, compared to competitors.
- What makes Minergate Better than the rest?
MinerGate focuses on simplicity. We love to work with newcomers. We interact with our user base very closely, providing educational content on our blog and entertainment on
social media (we’ve got Secret Santa going on right now). And of course, our support team is always here to help.
Thanks to our special partnership programs we’ve enabled fee-free instant withdrawals to Freewallet, and gotten informational support from various publications including our partners Cointelegraph, AMBCrypto, Coinspeaker, and ZyCrypto. We have affiliate and referral programs that provide our users with opportunities to increase their income. Our miners feel comfortable using MinerGate and we are doing everything we can to provide them with the best service possible.
- When do you foresee the Crypto Market to Bounce back?
I would rather refrain from making any forecasts for now. You can see that at the moment the cryptomarket is quite volatile. The truth is that it is becoming more and more dependent on traditional financial institutions. For better or worse, crypto capitalism seems to be at the end, and with it the period of exponential growth. What’s left, in terms of future expansion, is tied to the development of the industry along lines of customer service, transparency, and usefulness.
- Where do you see Minergate and the Crypto Market in 5 years?
I can’t say anything for sure. It’s hardly predictable. I am sure about one thing. Both the crypto market and Minergate will definitely exist in 5 years. They will probably both be different from what they are now, but they’ll be solid.
- Do you have any favorite coins and why are they your favorites?
It’s not easy to choose. First, it was Bitcoin. Then I invested in Monero, and currently, it’s my favorite one. But I do keep an eye on a lot of other coins. At the moment we work with 11 cryptocurrencies. We think about adding a few more coins, so keep up with the updates.
- What Do you think of the recent BCH hash war, is it the cause of Bitcoin’s current Massive drop?
Well, in my opinion, BCH is just an altcoin. I believe in Bitcoin Core. I think that such a rivalry inside the blockchain community hinders the development of the whole crypto industry and gives it more credibility issues.
- Anything Else you would like to let us know?
I’d like to point that the democracy offered by the blockchain is really inspiring. I see it as a way for people who have been left out of financial, political, and global matters to gain a voice and exert influence. Now governments are working on official regulations for crypto. More and more companies accept payments in cryptocurrencies. Who would have thought 10 years ago, when Satoshi introduced his brilliant invention, that we would come this far in this short amount of time? And there’s no saying what could happen in the next 10 years.
