Shiwen is a part-time freelance writer, aspiring entrepreneur and overall generalist interested in exploring, researching and writing. Disclosure: The interview subject is an investor in the Bitcoin sector.
Sammel Nigel, a Singaporean pilot and data privacy advocate, is the founder of Find Your Bitcoin Sweden (FYB-SE), the European base of a Bitcoin trading platform founded and located in Singapore. It serves the Nordic nations of Northern Europe.
He has a diverse professional background: after graduating with a computer science diploma from a local polytechnic, he went on to become a fitness trainer before transferring over to the aviation sector as a pilot.
At the beginning of 2013, he put his flying career on hold to take his Bitcoin preoccupation full-time.
Tech in Asia: What sparked your interest in Bitcoin?
Sammel: I’ve always been interested in disruptive technology, particularly areas concerning cryptography and privacy. It probably comes from my family, which consists of several academics and professionals with financial, economic, and math backgrounds. One of my uncles, an accountant and lawyer, used to come over every Sunday to my place and tutor me in current affairs issues when I was younger. I guess this made me interested in what was happening around me, and I quickly realized that technology was always key as it has been repeatedly used to change the world.
When I was introduced to Bitcoins, I was intrigued by its concept and decided to research it, as I’d already been trading on the side during my time as a pilot. Ultimately it pulled me into a whole new world and I ended up starting a Bitcoin exchange.
So what makes you such a strong proponent of Bitcoin?
On a personal level, I find Bitcoin to be an expression of libertarian values combined with mathematics and economics; that appeals to me in a great way. It brings together a diverse community of libertarians, economists, developers, crypto-mathematicians and various others into a single community, enabled by p2p (peer-to-peer) open source technology. Its open source and de-centralised nature of existence is the icing on the cake.
What got you into Bitcoin trading?
An old college mate once mentioned Satoshi Nakamoto (the supposed creator of Bitcoin) during a Facebook chat session in which we were sharing ideas about the current economic situation. I was intrigued and decided to do some research on this entity (I don’t think that there is an individual Satoshi Nakamoto but more likely a group using it as a pseudonym). What I learned showed me a whole new world. That was the start of my Bitcoin adventure and it started with trading fiat currencies for Bitcoins.
How did FYB-SE start?
When I first started Bitcoin trading, I was using FYB SG, amongst other exchanges. After a while, I realized that an old friend was the one managing FYB SG. I told him that I could help him expand into Europe and made a proposal to set up a Swedish exchange. I then partnered up with another pilot and close friend, Björn Nilsson, and started on legal compliance procedures in the beginning of 2013 and got approval to launch it in July.
What are the differences in the Bitcoin markets between Asia and Europe?
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