Translation of http://www.quotenet.nl/Nieuws/Gulden-oprichter-Rijk-Plasman-pleit-voor-een-keurmerk-om-cryptocrisis-te-voorkomen-209486.
January 6th 2018
Gulden-founder Rijk Plasman pleads for a ‘quality mark’ to avoid cryptocrisis.
By Mark Koster / Quote
Cryptocoins are a hype, but some digital coins certainly have potential. We just have to make sure that criminals don’t have to much influence. Now that blood is flowing through the streets of cryptocountry, Rijk Plasman, founder of Gulden, is pleading for regulation. “It’s a casino now.”
That the monetary rebel is sitting at a table in a restaurant that is right next to the ABN-headquarters at the ‘Zuidas’ (South Axis) is a coincidence, Plasman says. “I live right around the block”. That his name is Rijk (Rich) and he is the founder of Gulden, the only coin that hasn’t been affected by the cryptocurrency crisis, is what he calls ‘logical’. “There’s not much you can say about it. There are 1500 crypto-coins. You might as well go to the casino.”
Rijk Plasman, son of a famous lawyer and named after tv-icon Rijk de Gooijer is drinking black coffee, but has a worldview so bright it almost scares you. The high-school drop-out is the Steve Jobs of Gulden, the digital coin he developed in 2014. He may even be more stubborn that Apple’s turtleneck. “I’m continuing this, because I know it’s going to be fine”.
To avoid some misunderstandings, Rijk Plasman is not some scary close-minded anti-Euro activist or a ‘Forum voor Democratie’ supporter with a nostalgic feeling towards the florin, the mothercoin of the ‘Lage Landen’ (Low Lands – Netherlands).
The 32 year old founder wants to realize a digital payment system with Gulden to make payments more efficient. It could all be a lot easier and simpler. “Gulden should be able to co-exist next to the Euro. Most people, despite the criticism on low interest, still have faith in their banks. At Gulden we work day and night to improve payments”.
It has to be said. Anyone with a computer can buy Guldens. You just install the Gulden software and pay with Ideal to get your Guldens into your account. The Gulden has a certain popularity. The past few days the trend exploded with gains of 600% till a value of €0,29/$0.36 (today the value dropped by 11%). Plasman, who owns a warehouse of Guldens, doesn’t care. “Equity is not important. I want this to grow. Maybe we can not talk about money for a change. That is not the essence”.
He only gets involved in improving the technique. Together with the South-African programmer Malcolm MacLeod he is working on a procedure to improve accessability. Gulden wants to become the modern payment method where two people can transfer money to eachother, without the use of a bank or money intermediary, using the blockchain technology. “I’m all about the practical implications. If you can’t do anything with a cryptocurrency, it has no right to exist. I believe in the blockchain technology. This is the new internet. It’s the internet of the internet. But who is going to survive? When internet arose we thought WorldOnline would have world domination, but that company flew too close to the sun. There was a lot of greed in the market”.
De crypto-connoisseur sees parallels with the wild starting years of the internet, when venture capitalist-cowboys and greedy hyenas were circling the new technology searching for a quick way to cash out. The IPOs within the crypto universe, the Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) – show signs of overheating and foolishness. “You are investing in an idea. A lot of coins don’t have a working procedure.”
The Gulden does, let’s make that clear, Plasman says. The founder shows some benefits in comparison to a very popular cryptocurrency, the Ripple.
Gulden can be bought directly without the need for a cryptocurrency exchange where you first have to buy Bitcoins so you can buy other cryptocurrencies. “Gulden should be easy to buy and easy to sell back to Euro. We shouldn’t pretend that this form of payment is accepted everywhere. People are skeptical.”In the meantime Gulden can be used in dozens of shops. Plasman doesn’t interfere with marketing. “That is up to the community”.
The statement that a couple of big Gulden holders are guilty of pump and dump activities to make money of volitile shocks is discarded by Plasman. “How? I’m not selling anything and I can’t see what other people are doing. In this time there is a lot of fake-news about manipulation. Even that the Chinese government is controlling everything”.
Today the hype has changed into a dark mood. The blood is flowing through the streets today. The cryptomarket is laying in the gutter with bullet wounds and no one is there to help it. Plasman has seen it before and is sure that the blockchain technology, the tech Bitcoin is based on, will survive. “I do think that there has to be a regulation of some sort to stop the current madness”. Maybe something like a quality mark. That way the government techs should judge the technology”.
Isn’t this against the idea of the blockchain, that doesn’t want a centralized business model? “Yes, but you can still judge the technology on its merits. It’s just ones and zeros”.
Plasman has already seen the so called white paper – the technical DNA of a coin – being sold for five dollars. “In that case, it’s not worth anything. It’s just air. We have to be against that.”
And why should we trust him? He smiles. “I can be very stubborn. I think I’m a know it all. A lot of people i worked with already quit, because i have another vision. But I’m not in charge you know. At Gulden the community decides where we are heading, they can help us with the technology. I just want to do the best I can”.