Who’s Who in Crypto: Andrew Grech, CEO and Co-Founder CryptoSpend

CryptoSpend is an app and virtual payments card that bridges the gap between cryptocurrency and traditional finance. It is specifically designed for Australians to receive, spend and save cryptocurrencies, all in one place.

Andrew Grech was just like any other young Aussie university student, when a discussion in a university tutorial about ‘business ideas’, completely changed his life. He told the class he wanted to make it possible for people to buy things directly with cryptocurrency, stating “I trade crypto and there’s no real easy way to spend it.”

At the end of the tutorial, fellow student Richard Voice (who is now the other co-founder of CryptoSpend), stopped Andrew for a chat to discuss the idea further.

Less than two years later, they launched CryptoSpend.

What are your priorities with CryptoSpend for the next 12 months?

The next year is all about growth for CryptoSpend and ensuring we see as many Australians as possible using the platform.

What makes CryptoSpend so special is it is such a great way to get started in crypto and is an awesome way to be able to use cryptocurrency. Our clients love being able to get real-world usage out of their crypto and use it as a currency, which is often more difficult on other platforms.

It is also such a fantastic way for people to just start off with small amounts to dip their toes in.

What is also really exciting for us currently is we are starting to push quite hard on the branding/marketing front
to get the CryptoSpend name and brand out there – which is ultimately all about getting the CryptoSpend card into as many Aussie households and wallets as we can.

What does crypto mean to you and what drew you to it?

I was initially drawn to crypto during the 2017 bull run. What I love about it is never before have we had a truly borderless digital currency, that is decentralised in nature. That in itself holds massive value and will ultimately grow to coincide with fiat currencies in the future.

What is your long-term view of crypto?

Crypto in the long term will coincide with fiat currencies.

I don’t envisage it overtaking fiat altogether, but I estimate it will grow to a point where cryptos will run alongside CBDCs to eliminate any intermediary risk.

I think right now, it is a bit hard for everyone to completely understand, but we are seeing mass adoption increase on a rapid scale – just look at how quickly things have advanced in terms of mass awareness and adoption by not only the business and investment community but also more broadly by everyday consumers who are now spending cryptocurrency using their CryptoSpend cards – all in such a relatively short period of time.

That’s what we are all about at CryptoSpend – we want to make it as easy as possible for people to get involved, and spend their crypto.

What advice would you give people investing in crypto?

Do not over-leverage and only invest what you can afford to lose, because at the end of the day, it is still a volatile asset class.

Obviously, we are not financial advisors and don’t profess to be, but I would always suggest people should stick to cryptos that have actual uses, and stay away from meme coins – no matter how exciting they may initially appear to be.

How do you feel about the way the world is regulating crypto?

I think regulation is good and there should be more sensible regulation to continue the journey of legitimising the industry.

Unfortunately, there are still some illegitimate operators out there who are involved in crypto, like so many other industries. We always advise people to spend time researching to find the best and most legitimate operators, before making any decision around investing in crypto.

This is why at CryptoSpend, we spend a lot of time focusing on how we can protect and ensure our clients have a safe and protected environment to operate in.

More broadly, in Australia, it is pleasing to see that the Federal Treasury is actively working with industry to come up with regulations that will help with consumer protection, whilst not stifling innovation – we are fully supportive of that.