"Never open an email that you do not recognise."
Susan Toby Tweet
Working on her own or with others for over 20+ years, Susan Toby has delivered businesses innovative, people-centered services. With degrees in Education, an MBA, and a partial Master of HR she brings varied experiences to the work she undertakes.
Susan works with an integrated team of highly innovative, skilled professionals that add value, providing customized solutions to clients. A creative out-of-the-box thinker she has lived and worked in Asia, the US, and the UK.
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Table of Contents
Thanks for doing this interview with us! Could you tell us how you first got involved in the Regtech or Crypto markets?
Susan Toby: I was living in Indonesia when i first learnt about Bitcoin. Friends were investing but losing money as it was the ‘wild west’ during those days and you couldn’t trust anyone. It was until I returned back to australia in 2015 that i got involved in the crypto ecosystem with ICO’s and a few coins.
It was during that time I met my business partner Mike Philbert a US Military Cybersecurity expert who was also delving into this space. We formed an alliance and started to do some work writing articles for companies in the ICO space. Later I did some work for blockchain companies. Like most early adopters we were self taught about crypto and encountered scams and lost money along the way. The crypto space is very complex both technically and with jargon.
There are many sites that provide material to learn from exchanges and-text based courses to youtube and podcasts, however there is nothing interactive . In 2021, The CryptoPlayground was born from this experience to ‘make crypto less cryptic’ for users around the world through a series of 5 learning journeys helping reduce the complexity of the environment and assist them transition to the world of cryptocurrencies.
What are the five ways that Regulation and Regtech can help stabilize the Crypto Economy?
Susan Toby: In Australia crypto is regulated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) under the Australian Consumer Law. Josh Frydenberg has signalled he wants stronger regulation to help stabilize the economy and this aligns with other countries such as the USA who are developing additional crypto regulations. The five ways that regulation will stabilize the economy are:
- Stopping cryptocurrency crime and illegal tax evasion
- Providing stablecoin regulation
- Licensing of crypto exchanges
- Allowing investment vehicles like crypto ETFs to flourish with institutional investment funds.
- Protect the integrity of the market with different payment mechanisms
What are the top things that crypto firms should think about so they can be more competitive?
Susan Toby: The top things crypto firms should think about so they can be more competitive is how to enhance their service offerings to their client base.
This includes::
- Simplification of the platform
- Quality customer service so that when an issue arises individuals have the opportunity to get support immediately
- Providing access to new coins and services such as NFT’s
- Rewarding long time users
- Ensuring security is at the top of their to do list and even giving their clients hardware wallets if not staking or yield farming
What are some things you do to protect your data from being stolen or accessed by unauthorized people?
Susan Toby: Never open an email that you do not recognise. First look at the email address as often they are a series of jumbled letters or incoherent addresses. Phishing has become a big challenge where cyber criminals send messages via email, SMS, instant messaging or social media platforms to steal confidential information.
They often contain a link to a fake website where you are encouraged to enter confidential details..In Australia, a monthly average of over 6,000 phishing attacks per 100,000 people equating to 35% of the population, occurred in 2021. Make sure your operating system updates are installed and use anti malware software. From a crypto perspective a hardware wallet such as Securx, Ledger or Trezor are worthwhile investments to ensure your crypto data is secure.
Can you share a story of a time when things did not go your way? What helped you to keep going and to overcome that difficulty?
Susan Toby: I was trying to login to Independent Reserve a crypto exchange. and each time i logged in it rejected my login. Needless to say frustrating especially when the market is down and you want to buy crypto. What kept me going wss my resilience to not give up and fortunately also not be locked out of the site. I had already sent a request for username and a request for password and nothing was working.
Next i sent a message to the organisation and that returned a mail daemon message. I tried ”having issues with logging in on their site’ message and finally sent off information to have someone respond. I was informed that my postcode was wrong. Who uses postcodes to determine authenticity?
I along with many move states, countries, houses, locations and they asked me to recall when i signed up which i have no idea. At this stage i am still waiting to hear back to see what can be done to overcome this difficulty but you can’t give up especially when you need to get into the platform.
What are some things you do every day, even if you’re busy?
Susan Toby: I look at the crypto and share markets to see what is happening. I try to go to the gym or for a walk to ensure my well being is being taken care of. I tend to do some learning of some kind daily.
Which upcoming conferences are you most looking forward to?
Susan Toby: Spark Festival, 2022 Syd Aust, London Tech week 2023 , Cryptocurrency Conference USA 2023
Can you please share with us a life lesson that is important to you? How has that lesson been relevant in your life?
Susan Toby: Never loan money even with the caveat of repayment and a written contract, because sometimes situations change and the person may then not be able to repay.
If you could start a movement that would help a lot of people, what would that be?
Susan Toby: I would start a movement of “each one teach one” to promote and incentivize those equipped with knowledge (financial education, leadership, mentorship) to uplift those around them to realize their potential, achieve personal accountability for their circumstances and attain financial and time freedom in an accelerated manner.
The movement would target disadvantaged communities and individuals through active engagements. We have to assume that if people had the appropriate resources or information they would choose to redefine their lives but due to social class division there is a disproportionate advantage for the few who gain and retain knowledge
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Susan Toby for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Susan Toby or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.