Borja Seward, the 28-year-old CEO and co-founder of Roxom, has had an unconventional journey. He’s not your typical Silicon Valley founder with a computer science degree and a string of internships at big tech companies.
Instead, Seward’s path started in Argentina, where he discovered Bitcoin at the young age of 14. “Bitcoin was around 20 bucks,” he recalls. “I used to mine Bitcoin as a kid with my computer. I would mine something roughly like one Bitcoin per month.”
He even tried to spend his hard-earned Bitcoin on the dark web, with less than successful results. “We tried buying things on Silk Road, but they never got to Argentina,” he laughs. “So we basically got scammed a couple of times.”
These early experiences, though comical in retrospect, sparked a lifelong fascination with Bitcoin. Fast forward to 2017, and Seward found himself in a position many dream of: “Bitcoin is 20K, I have more money than my parents,” he says, describing the feeling as “holy **** man, this is insane!”
This was a pivotal moment, solidifying his commitment to the Bitcoin space.
Seward’s entrepreneurial drive led him to co-found Lemon, a major digital assets business in Latin America, which boasts over 3 million users and raised over $50 million in funding.
“We did very well,” he says with characteristic understatement. “I exited the business… sold when I was 23.”
But after a year-long sabbatical, Seward felt the pull of innovation once again. “I got bored from my sabbatical,” he admits. “I wanted to build capital markets, but on-chain.”
This desire gave birth to Roxom, a company that aims to revolutionize the way people think about trading and investing.
Roxom is building a bitcoin-denominated marketplace where users can trade a wide range of assets — stocks, ETFs, commodities, derivatives, and options — all valued and settled in bitcoin.
There’s a popular phrase: “Bitcoin has no top because fiat has no bottom.” However, some Bitcoiners might argue the top is when we just start denominating everything in bitcoin.
This fundamental shift in perspective is precisely what Roxom aims to achieve by introducing bitcoin-denominated capital markets.
“Every single currency in the planet has its own capital markets, its own stock exchanges, commodities exchanges, options exchanges, and so on,” Seward explains. “And Bitcoin still doesn’t.”
He sees this as a glaring omission, especially considering Bitcoin’s growing strength and adoption.
“Bitcoin is the 10th largest currency today… and it still doesn’t have its own capital markets. What the **** is going on?”
Seward believes that capital markets built on bitcoin are inevitable and that they will ultimately become the most dominant in the world.
“We believe that Bitcoin is on its way to become one of the strongest currencies on the planet, if not the strongest,” he states. “And we already know from history what happens. Capital markets that are based on and that work on and settle on that currency outgrow everything else.”
This conviction, along with a deep understanding of both traditional finance and the unique properties of Bitcoin, is what drives Seward and his team.
Roxom is building the infrastructure for a new financial era. “Capital markets are the backbone of any economy,” Seward emphasizes. “It’s like issuing debt, issuing bonds, issuing stocks. Where do investors invest? In capital markets.”
Without the flow of capital nothing gets done. But what exactly are the advantages of using Bitcoin as the foundation for these markets? Seward points to several key benefits:
- 24/7 Accessibility: Unlike traditional markets, which operate on limited hours, Bitcoin markets can run continuously, allowing for greater flexibility and responsiveness.
- Transparency and Security: Bitcoin’s blockchain technology provides an immutable and transparent record of all transactions, reducing the risk of fraud and manipulation.
- Reduced Costs: By eliminating intermediaries and streamlining processes, Bitcoin can significantly lower transaction fees and operational costs.
- Global Reach: Bitcoin transcends geographical boundaries, enabling anyone with an internet connection to participate in these markets assuming they have bitcoin.
- Financial Sovereignty: Individuals have complete control over their bitcoin assets, unlike traditional systems where institutions often hold custody of the same fiat currency one will use to trade on that platform.
Seward is particularly excited about the potential for Bitcoin to democratize access to capital markets.
“Imagine,” he says, “the entire crypto community just depositing bitcoin on Roxom and longing GameStop in one click.” This vision of a more inclusive and accessible financial system is a powerful motivator for the Roxom team.
The company has already made significant strides, securing a crypto license in El Salvador and they are attracting considerable attention from investors, particularly large bitcoin holders eager to find new avenues for yield.
“We’re closing contracts with large whales to build up our bitcoin reserves,” Seward reveals. “So that when we launch, we have a huge balance sheet on bitcoin reserves, so that the market can borrow bitcoin to operate margin markets.”
Roxom’s innovative approach extends to their paper trading platform, where users can practice trading with virtual bitcoin and even experiment with up to 100x leverage.
“Next week we’re launching derivatives on paper,” Seward announces. “You’ll be able to short Apple in bitcoin big time, or anything that you want.”
This much leverage will just be with made-up money, offering a bold and hands-on way to learn and experiment. It reflects the company’s overall ethos: pushing boundaries while having fun.
Seward is confident in Roxom’s potential. “The level of difficulty of what we’re doing, because we have so much support, has dropped down to such a low level that it’s honestly… there is no excuse for Roxom not to be a huge success.”
This confidence is contagious, and it’s easy to get swept up in Seward’s enthusiasm for the future of finance.
Roxom seems well-positioned to lead the charge in bringing capital markets to Bitcoin. As Seward puts it, “It’s mind-blowing, man, even for us that we’re building it. Holy ****! Just imagine.”
It’s encouraging to see someone passionate about making sure Bitcoin becomes a unit of account.
As the Lightning Network proves Bitcoin’s transactional prowess and institutional adoption only continues to solidify its store-of-value status, Roxom’s blueprint for bitcoin-denominated capital markets could finally complete the monetary trifecta: transforming Bitcoin from “just another asset class” into civilization’s true measuring stick.
