Update on Platform 2.0 and the Future Plans of KuCoin

Dear KuCoin Users, I Would Like to Give You an Update on Platform 2.0 and the Future Plans of KuCoin.

Read the original post on Michael’s official LinkedIn profile

Our team has been working hard to provide you with an updated roadmap for the rest of 2018 and the coming year.  We have based our new plan on all of the knowledge and feedback that we have received over the past year.  Since our last roadmap was created, KuCoin grew rapidly, and we went through a massive expansion.  This started in Q3, 2017, and continued with even larger growth through Q1, 2018.  Due to some complications related to this rapid growth and some unforeseen circumstances, our old roadmap did not fit with KuCoin’s future developmental plans anymore.  Of course, this growth wouldn’t have been possible without you, and I would personally like to thank all of our dedicated users for this.

Now, I would like to provide you with our new targets and future plans.  The graphics for the roadmap on the website, and news providing all of the specific details will be published in the coming weeks.  However, for the time being, I would like to share our most important priorities for the rest of this year and next year with you.

Platform 2.0

First, I would like to address Platform 2.0.  We have decided to extend the release date until the end of Q4, 2018.  While we released the front-end design for the homepage in July, the main back-end and trading system are not yet ready to be released to the public.

What started as a set of smaller upgrades to the existing system, ended up resulting in a full redesign of the trading platform.  We are using a vast majority of KuCoin’s resources to code and ensure that Platform 2.0 matches our high-performance expectations.

KuCoin 2.0 will be much more than a single exchange—it will be a dynamic, secure and malleable trading platform which will allow us to scale and add quite a diverse set of features.

As I know, many users have asked for stop orders.  The new platform will have the following stop orders:  FOK (Fill or Kill), IOC (Immediate or Cancel) and GTT (Good till Time).  We are also optimizing our matching engine to support as many as 100,000 TPS.  Another feature will be a new computation mode for trading fees.  With this feature, people will be charged different trading fees based on their trading behaviors.

Another upgrade will be for APIs.  There will be a new WebSocket API, including full level 1 market data, level 2 market data and level 3 market data.  In addition, real-time market data and balance data streams will be supported, which will help to strengthen the market depth.  We will also have a new Rest API, which will be more stable, efficient and secure.

Some other features on the new platform will be that new users can register via their phone number, as opposed to their email address.  Also, for security purposes, you will be able to add your phone number to your account.  Once added, you will receive an SMS anytime a deposit or withdrawal occurs.

I know many users have also requested that we add a dust collector feature.  This feature will be implemented sometime in Q1, 2019.

In addition to all of the new features, once the new platform is live in Q4, 2018, we will start subletting our technology to key partners around the world to expand globally, but in a very localized and targeted method.

The new 2.0 platform is designed so that it can be separated into subnets.  These subnets will be localized exchanges that run on our main KuCoin network, but are still independent of it.  I believe this will give our exchange a powerful advantage when expanding into new markets since each new exchange can act as a separate entity.  This allows these subnets (localized exchanges) to quickly adapt to the rapidly changing legal aspects and jurisdictions of whichever market or country they are targeting and servicing.

Global Communities

The next update is related to our Global Community Programs.  I stated in my last article that these were starting to take shape.  The first four communities began in July-August.  These communities are for Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, and Spanish speaking countries.  While the first four are still new, they are starting to grow rapidly.  We will continue to build communities for different countries and languages to reach more users, and I want KuCoin to be a global brand that respects and adapts to the individual needs and requirements for each specific user group.  By having specific communities for our user base, we hope to attend to the needs of our users in their native language.  I feel by doing this; it will bring a sense of familiarity and trust to KuCoin and form a connection to help us better communicate with our user base.  This will also help us to create more effective marketing campaigns that are country or language specific, which in turn will help KuCoin to grow. In the future, these communities will have localized exchanges based on Platform 2.0 to serve them better.  I plan to have a total of ten global communities up and running by Q2, 2019.

Following the development of the global communities and localized markets based on platform 2.0, we will focus more of our marketing power in these specific regions, as I stated above.  We will, of course, continue our global marketing campaigns, but as we expand into more specific countries or areas, they need to be targeted as well.  These localized marketing campaigns will not only be in users’ native languages but also target specific advertising platforms popular in these countries.  This will ensure that KuCoin is well represented in the real-world events of each individual localized community.  These campaigns are already live and running, and we will continue to expand as more communities are launched.  All of this is to help KuCoin grow into one of the top exchanges available on the market.  KuCoin is “The People’s Exchange,” and we want to do our best to connect with the people.

Key Partnerships and New Programs

Also stated in my last article, was the launch of our new programs and key partnerships.  These being the Institutional Investor Program and Global Titan Ambassador Program.  As part of my ongoing efforts to establish long-term partnerships and secure the support and investments from international funds and key players in the industry, we will continue the expansion of these programs indefinitely.

I would personally like to encourage any institutional traders to apply for our Institutional Investor Program to receive discounted trading fees and exclusive VIP services.  Also, I would also like to inspire any major influencers in the crypto industry or managers of blockchain portfolios to team up with our research and rating departments to help us find more of the crypto-world’s ‘hidden gems’.  To do this, please apply for our Global Titan Ambassador Program.

Now, I would like to inform you about our latest key partnership.  I have been told that some users noted that KuCoin has accomplished investing in Bitcoin Australia, a leading Australian cryptocurrency exchange.  I want to confirm that this is true.  This is not only a great strategic decision but will be an excellent long-lasting partnership for us to help cryptocurrency grow globally.

Blockchain Training Center

Another project that we have been working on over the past several months to help us continue to grow was the implementation of our blockchain training center.  As I stated at the start of this article, we grew exponentially from Q3, 2017, into Q1, 2018.  The reality is the crypto-world is growing faster than we can find skilled employees in this industry.  I am sure we are not the only exchange that was experiencing this problem, but we created a solution.  We started our first blockchain training center four months ago in the Philippines.  We require all new employees for that office to complete the one-month course and pass all tests and quizzes before we employ them.  This program has been very successful in helping provide us with knowledgeable staff for our community and social media management.  As our community continues to grow, so does our team of skilled, knowledgeable staff.

To date, we have successfully graduated over 40 new employees.  We will continue to improve, adapt and expand this program.  My aim is to be able to educate over 100 people per month and open more training centers for our other office locations by Q1, 2019.  As our global expansion, through localized exchanges and communities, gains momentum I want to be in a position to keep this momentum going and push KuCoin to reach new global heights.

Big Data Platform for Blockchain Projects

Now, I would like to inform you about the Big Data Platform for Blockchain Projects.  We have been spending enormous amounts of time and resources on research.  I want KuCoin always to remain a step ahead of the competition, when it comes to finding the best blockchain projects available.  This is not an easy task, given the vast number of new projects that come to the market every day.

However, we have been developing an automated data gathering system which collects project’s data from the markets in real time, their social media activity, and publications.  Not only does it collect this data, but it also analyzes market sentiment around any project that we choose.  My future plan is to scale this database to pick up every project in existence, as soon as they publicly announce themselves.

We have been working on this system for over six months now, and it will become fully operational midway through Q4, 2018.  Initially, the system will be launched for internal use only, but I plan on opening certain levels of access to key partners, investors and valuable users through API calls and special login hierarchy by the end of Q4, 2019.

With the combination of the data collected by this system and our ever-expanding team of blockchain researchers, we have an amazingly powerful tool that will let KuCoin always remain ahead of the competition in this area.  By being able to make quick and accurate decisions that reflect the state of the crypto market in real time, this will allow us to achieve incredible success in this industry.  I want to ensure that KuCoin always remains at the forefront of the blockchain research and data mining industry.

Fiat Exchange

Our Fiat Exchange is currently in alpha version.  I plan on the official release to the public to occur near the end of Q4, 2018.

KuCoin Blockchain Protocol TestNet

This will be available in 2019.  Unfortunately, at this time I cannot give an exact time

KuCoin Social Features

This will be an update added to platform 2.0 in 2019.  Once again, I do not have an exact date.

I appreciate you taking the time to review this article.  While I know it is not exactly a roadmap, I hope that this clarifies what we have been working on, and where KuCoin is headed in the future.  As I stated at the beginning of this article, the roadmap graphics and corresponding news will be published on the website in the coming weeks.  Thanks to all of our loyal and faithful users.  It is because of you that we are “The People’s Exchange”.

Sincerely,

Michael Gan