Birwo CEO and Founder Quetzal Montes shared his journey in establishing his Bitcoin casino and revealed plans to make the brand more exciting and attractive.
“The biggest accomplishment we have had since launch was receiving over 3000 registered users on the first month of operation on a limited budget and almost no market at all,” recalled Quetzal Montes during my interview with him
Quetzal, who is the CEO and founder of Birwo, is a self-confessed disruptive entrepreneur, geek, and Bitcoin enthusiast. He has always been interested in gaming and entertainment industry, had experience in technology and business innovation, had worked for a horse racing betting site, and had once welcomed the thought of starting an online casino.
Birwo, which launched in June 2014 and currently making rounds in the Bitcoin casino industry as one of the attractive platforms online, is the result of his idea.
How has been the reception for Birwo so far?
We have received very good feedback about our bonus and rewards system. But also some comments that recommend us to improve some features of the UI. We are all focusing on these comments and making the best out of it.
Tell me, Quetzal, where did you get the idea for it?
Exploring the industry and opportunities and combining my passion for entertainment I had the idea of starting an online casino. At first it was tough, my friends and family were the first to show disbelief in the idea, however they still supported me. By the time I was planning I came across bitcoin and my interest on it grew, to later combine both concepts and start an online bitcoin casino. Bitcoin has huge advantages as a cryptocurrency but also as a robust payment method.
Did it take you long to launch a Bitcoin casino?
Birwo took 8 months since I gathered the team, looked for investment, worked on the project and then finally launched on past June 18.
There are numerous brands already. What do you think are the best qualities of your casino?
Birwo is a worldwide online casino that mainly focuses on user experience. We work hard every day to deliver new benefits for our users and keep them satisfied with our service. We feature great bonuses and player rewards to people from all over the world. Our site is available in more than 12 languages and we provide quick and efficient customer support, as well as instant transactions. Birwo has the mission of bringing a fair and trustable gambling site for people all over the world, but most important boosting and helping other bitcoin based businesses to grow and for the community to keep expanding.
Has operating Birwo been advantageous to you?
The advantages of operating this kind of business is that it has flexible working hours. We have partners from all over the world, so working and collaborating with someone at 3 AM in the morning is an aspect that the whole team enjoys.
How about the challenges that you encounter for this brand; can you tell me about it?
Managing players and issues and requests every day is a really interesting and challenging task, it really provides very useful feedback that we consider for future improvements. I believe every business key factor is the team. Birwo’s team is a diverse set of people with great knowledge and skills which allows us to analyze every day’s issues as well as strategic planning from different point of views and ideas.
What should we look out for next from Birwo?
The next step for Birwo is implementing an instant bitcoin buying service on the website. We are on talks with some bitcoin exchanges to deliver a way of users to buy bitcoins directly at the site and then using them to play. Furthermore, adding sportsbook is our next big target and we plan to have it ready by the beginning of 2015. This new branch of Birwo will bring exciting ways and benefits for our users to bet on their favorite sports. We are nearly finishing the planning and partnerships necessary for these goals. However we still need more time for implementing.
Are there plans to expand soon, though, or to venture into similar projects?
Not for the moment. The team is now totally focused on Birwo and its development.
What is your take on accepting alternative payment options and supporting altcoins?
By the time Birwo is an only bitcoin casino, we are planning on having other payment methods but the plan is staying with cryptocurrencies. We are considering Litecoin, however we strongly belief bitcoin is Gold 2.0. Every other cryptocurrency has derived and trades for bitcoin.
So, it looks like it is Bitcoin all the way. What you can say about the gambling laws and cryptocurrency regulation, then?
Gambling surely provides entertainment for people. Personally I am a gambling enthusiast; however gambling has long been related to scams, crime, and bad connotations. Gambling laws very strict on most countries, but those who carefully plan and implement regulation that is fair for both sides have benefited
On the other side cryptocurrency legality regulation has similar background as those of gambling. Bitcoin had bad reputation years ago because it was used to host illegal activities as drug trafficking, weapons procurement and more, but then again so is cash. I think crime and illegal activities do not have anything to do with the form of payment. As more and more people become acceptant and understand bitcoin there will be fair regulations and governments, citizens and businesses will use and take advantage of this amazing technology.
Indeed. Would you happen to have a Bitcoin price prediction?
I strongly believe Bitcoin price will surpass its $1,200 dollar mark again by the first quarter of 2015. Also I trust the Winklevoss twins that one day 1 bitcoin will be worth $40,000 dollars.
That’s optimism there! Before we wrap up, what advice can you give other similar brands that are new or are still in the planning stage?
The best advice I could give to these platforms and businesses is to plan carefully their channels and marketing strategy to get to their customers. Sometimes it is hard to find good and trustable marketing partners but once you do they can be a very valuable factor to success.
Very helpful. Thank you for your time, Quetzal!
