Bitnovo – Crypto Wallet - Interview with the developer of a fantastic app

Did you have any prior development or coding experience?

I do! I first learned both Java and Android around 2012 when I was in my bachelor’s second year. I developed a multigame app that contained a sudoku, a 3-in-a-row, and a mineseeker. It helped me understand how things worked in Android: activities, intents, services, threading, etc. I even published it on Play Store at the time! I also programmed an Android app out of my final degree project, which was about creating and sharing hiking trails. It was a very exciting process where I polished my skills before getting ready to join the actual market and getting a job.

Around 2015 I started working as a full-stack developer, and among the things, I did during one of my first jobs was to fully rebuild the company’s iOS app. I also worked for a while as a freelancer Android developer, where I built from the scratch an Android app for an important Spanish bank. On these occasions, I learned how things work in actual companies, and especially how critical mistakes can be. Apps cannot be easily updated, so if something’s broken in the app it requires you to start a whole new process to remove that version from the market, apologize to your users, and suggest them to switch to a newer version.

What was the most challenging aspect of developing mobile app?

The most critical aspect of this development has undoubtedly been how to deal with many different blockchains in a single app. A cryptocurrency wallet requires to be secure, fast, and reliable. You cannot afford to scare your users, because they can freak out very easily if they do not see their funds are there and are safe. Also, you have to avoid confusion as much as possible. Blockchains sometimes have reorganizations of the blocks, forks, transactions that last forever on the mempool, and many other issues that can affect the status of a transaction. All those scenarios have to be handled in the best possible way, and the approach we’ve taken is to inform the user with clarity and transparency, but always minimizing the risks.

_{José Molina - Blockchain engineer at Bitnovo}

The interviewee is Jose Molina, the blockchain engineer at Bitnovo. As a cryptocurrency passionate, he works in cryptocurrency adoption in order to offer the world an alternative financial system where rules are not dictated but built by ourselves in a decentralized and peer-to-peer manner.
Bitnovo is a Spanish company, with its headquarters in Valencia, whose mission is to facilitate access to the world of cryptocurrencies, converting their purchase/sale into a simple, fast, and safe process.

From this idea and illusion, they created the Bitnovo platform, a simple and intuitive website that offers services throughout Europe for the easy purchase/sale of cryptocurrencies.
The Bitnovo team has worked hard to become a pioneer in the Bitcoin and other cryptos purchase services, making them available in more than 40,000 points of sale. Among which are supermarkets and big retailers such as Fnac, Game, Eroski, or Worten.
In addition, with the introduction of the Bitcard debit card to sell cryptocurrencies and Crypto ATMs, Bitnovo has made bitcoin and cryptocurrencies available to everyone.
Today Bitnovo is made up of a valid and solid team of people, who continue to work with great passion and dedication, to contribute and leave a small mark in socio-economic development.

Name a few of your favorite apps and reason you love them.

From the cryptocurrency side my favourite mobile wallet is Argent. In my opinion it is a masterpiece from the engineering point of view. It managed to wipe out those tedious 12-word seeds that users had to keep safe and instead used trusted guardians. It definitely served as an inspiration to me, but unfortunately that security mechanism is only valid for the Ethereum blockchain, which implies we cannot use it for a multiwallet.

On the second position I’d like to mention Exodus. They simply made what I think is the best crypto wallet right now on the market. They have the cleanest UI/UX I’ve ever seen, and they support hundreds of cryptocurrencies and tokens. There’s not much more to say about them: what they do, they do it right.

How long have you been working on this app?

Around half a year. The team is pretty limited and we are all involved in many parallel developments, which means I couldn’t spend as much time as I’d have wished. Still, development is nowadays getting boosted on Android and we expect to do it on iOS reasonably soon.

What need of the user did you have in mind when developing this app?

Security. We are managing real funds, and the user has trusted us among other really good choices. This is a confidence that firstly represents an honor for the team and secondly puts us in a position where there’s no option to disappoint the user. We must make sure security is a first-class citizen in the app, and even educate newcomers into best practices if needed.

In what way do you think your app is better than similar apps on the market? Please describe in detail what innovation you think you bring and what you are proud of in your app.

Bitnovo is focused on cryptocurrency adoption. While other apps might have a pretty good team and features, wallets might not be ready to be used for the majority of the population. People need something very simple yet efficient, and nowadays one of the most common questions people ask is: “how can I actually get cryptocurrencies for my brand new wallet?”. Bitnovo offers a whole ecosystem for users to get them into crypto: from cryptocurrency vouchers to virtual and physical POS, through decentralized finance (DeFi), among many others. The wallet intends to serve as a tool for newcomers to exchange their fiat money, and that’s a feature most of our competitors simply don’t have. Or if they do, it’s not such a complete solution as the one Bitnovo has.

What are your future plans and expected features of the coming new versions of this app?

For the first version we just wanted to have a fully functional wallet. Sending, receiving, and buying/selling crypto. That’s it.
That being said, there are many more features we would like to include in future versions, being DeFi the most interesting one. Decentralized finance (DeFi) is something most users are really into, and many people are curious about. It allows you to make financial operations with your cryptocurrencies without the need for an intermediary. That means no registration needed, no permission required, no questions asked. Just go and lend your money to receive interests, ask for a loan, invest in a company with tokenized shares… there’s a whole new decentralized world out there where Bitnovo would definitely like to take part.
Lastly, there are many cryptocurrencies out there that raise our users’ attention. Of course, it’s our goal to include them in the wallet as soon as we can. This is however a never-ending task, since every now and then new cryptocurrencies appear, so we have to remain cautious and be very selective with new potential additions. We know we cannot include them all at once, and each one of them might represent a challenge and cost time and effort.

Assuming new users of your app are reading this page. What do you want to ask them to do (contact you about X, Share the app, etc.)?

I would simply ask them to be constructive and participate in the development as well. The feedback they can provide has an enormous value for us, and we are aware that in order to make the best cryptocurrency wallet out there we will need them. Our target is not easy, and we know we cannot do it alone. That’s why we invite our users to walk that path with us.

Everything in the crypto world is still new, and there’s a lot to be improved. That’s why I’d like users to know that we are actively researching and following the best developments in the sector. I’d want them to know that we’ll do our best to offer the best cryptocurrency wallet.