الرئيس التنفيذي لمجموعة فينيكس لـ CNBC عربية: أسهمنا لم تتأثر بتغيرات أسعار البتكوين ونتفاوض من أجل فتح فرع في أستراليا
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00:03 Hello, everyone, and welcome to a new episode of CEO Talks.
00:17 Today, our guest is Mr. Saeed Mohammed Ali Zayda,
00:21 the co-founder and CEO of Phoenix Group.
00:24 Mr. Saeed, thank you so much for being with us today.
00:26 Thank you.
00:27 Thank you for having us.
00:28 So first, walk us through, what does Phoenix Group do?
00:32 What kind of services does it provide its clients?
00:35 And tell us about your journey and the journey of the company.
00:38 How did it evolve during the past years?
00:41 Absolutely.
00:41 We are very proud to be a UAE company, Abu Dhabi company,
00:45 established in 2016.
00:48 We started with Bitcoin mining, which
00:51 is a process of putting the servers that
00:53 does the transaction in the Bitcoin blockchain.
00:57 And through that, you get rewards in form of Bitcoin.
01:01 The company started in 2016 and is starting
01:04 to grow from a small company.
01:06 Now, we are present in four different continents.
01:10 We are one of the biggest Bitcoin mining companies
01:12 and blockchain companies in the world.
01:15 And in 2019, we were blessed to be
01:20 chosen by Abu Dhabi leadership and IHC
01:23 as the largest market cap company in Middle East,
01:27 second largest in Middle East, that they joined us
01:30 in this force.
01:31 And then we were the first company
01:34 to go public in blockchain in Middle East.
01:36 So it was a historical moment for everybody
01:40 in community in Middle East that the blockchain company joined
01:44 Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.
01:46 So what are the strategic solutions
01:48 the company offers its clients?
01:51 So as a Bitcoin mining company, we
01:55 get investment from the clients.
01:57 And we do this activity on their behalf,
02:00 the activity of Bitcoin mining.
02:02 We have M2 as our regulated crypto exchange, which
02:06 gives access to clients to join the crypto community.
02:10 But I think the most significant change right now
02:13 is after us being in Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange,
02:17 people can actually buy our shares
02:19 and let us handle the hard part, which is the investment.
02:23 And we navigate them through this volatile market.
02:26 Because the challenges with crypto market
02:28 is a lot of times because of the wrong advice
02:32 as people join into stuff that it's very volatile, let's say.
02:39 Us being an expert, now people can essentially
02:43 buy Phoenix shares in Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.
02:46 They sit back and let the experts do the job.
02:49 So to what extent are the services
02:51 that you provide your clients are customized?
02:53 To what extent can you do tailoring
02:56 to specific customers and clients' needs?
02:58 Very tailor-made.
03:00 Basically, we can do any sort of solution.
03:03 We have clients that they want to do in the desert.
03:07 I mean, the biggest, the monumental site
03:10 that we build in Rima Island in Abu Dhabi,
03:13 it was against the bet of a lot of industry experts
03:16 that in this weather condition and this humidity,
03:19 it's not possible.
03:20 But we made it happen.
03:22 We believe that tailor-made solution
03:24 is the way to go because of the energy
03:26 consumption of our industry.
03:29 And that's what we do for the clients.
03:33 Anything they want, we will make it basically tailor-made
03:36 solution for them.
03:37 So when you look at what's happening with Bitcoin prices,
03:41 and we've reached record highs recently, to what extent
03:45 is that reflecting on the sentiment of investors
03:48 to invest in company stock?
03:51 No, this is actually--
03:53 a lot of people don't know what we do.
03:54 That's why our stock hasn't been moved with the Bitcoin price,
03:59 like the companies that are listed in US.
04:02 That's why we are a very undervalued stock,
04:04 considering our revenues and profits,
04:07 compared to our US competitors.
04:09 Their stock jumped by 5 to 6x, while ours has moved only 10%,
04:14 because the market exactly doesn't know what Phoenix does.
04:18 And that's essentially why we have
04:21 to explain to everybody what we do
04:23 and what benefits we are bringing
04:25 for investors to the table.
04:27 So the services that you provide are mainly
04:30 focused here in UAE, or just in GCC and the region overall?
04:34 No, we have data centers in US, in the state of South Carolina.
04:38 We have in Canada, in the state of Manitoba.
04:41 We have in Norway, north of Norway.
04:44 We recently signed a negotiating site in Australia.
04:49 So we are trying to diversify ourselves across the region.
04:52 Our monumental site is in Abu Dhabi.
04:55 We signed with the government of Oman.
04:57 So we are developing in Salalah in Oman, which
05:00 has a perfect weather condition.
05:04 And we are negotiating as we go with the different countries,
05:07 which I cannot share.
05:08 But the goal is to essentially diversify ourselves
05:14 to reduce the geographical risk.
05:16 So we are essentially, we want to be decentralized,
05:19 in a sense.
05:20 To what extent is the regulatory environment
05:23 a key factor to your success and any expansion plans
05:26 that you're going to have forward?
05:28 I think the fact that we are listed in Abu Dhabi Exchange
05:31 shows that the leadership of the country, how impressive
05:36 and how foreseeing is the regulation.
05:41 So right now, Abu Dhabi is the main player
05:46 in the regulatory regime.
05:49 ADGM essentially has the most advanced regime of regulated.
05:53 That's why most of the blockchain companies
05:56 are moving to UAE and moving to Abu Dhabi,
05:59 because the landscape is so easy for them to operate right now.
06:04 And I think most of our success, apart
06:07 from the hard team of the work, was
06:10 contributed by the regulatory framework in Abu Dhabi
06:13 that allowed us to be in a stock exchange
06:16 or to be in this position.
06:18 So we are forever grateful to the government,
06:22 to the visionary leaders that essentially made it possible
06:26 for young guys like us to go to this regulatory framework
06:30 and can offer our services to broad masses.
06:35 When you look at growth opportunities,
06:37 whether in the region, whether in new services
06:39 that you can provide your clients,
06:41 where do you see growth opportunities?
06:42 And to what extent do you have expansion plans,
06:45 geographic expansion plans?
06:48 I think the way it's worked, traditionally people
06:51 were looking at Singapore and Miami and US as the place to go.
06:56 I think geographically, Abu Dhabi
06:58 is uniquely positioned itself as the best place
07:02 to perform blockchain and digital asset services.
07:07 I believe that the number of the companies that are moving
07:11 is significant and it's going to grow.
07:14 And I honestly believe Abu Dhabi is
07:16 the place to be if you want to be within the virtual asset
07:19 communities.
07:21 Great.
07:21 So when you look at technology-- and of course,
07:25 technology is a huge part.
07:27 It's the core part of what the company, Phoenix Company, does.
07:31 How do you actually adapt to technological advancement
07:34 and bring more technology and more advancement in technology
07:40 to your daily operations?
07:43 Having being listed and having access to capital markets
07:47 allowed us to bring a higher talent engagement.
07:53 So now a lot of people want to join us.
07:56 Even we have people that want to come from traditional finance,
08:00 big houses, to this space.
08:03 Because for them, blockchain is the revolution.
08:06 And now Phoenix being a listed entity,
08:09 it gives them the recognition to leave
08:11 their stable and big jobs to come and join us
08:14 in this journey.
08:15 So the technology, we are moving ahead of it
08:18 by hiring the best talent it is out there.
08:21 And also, we have programs within Phoenix
08:24 for young talents that they come from university.
08:27 So they can come for essentially a learning curve with us
08:31 as a basically learning curve.
08:34 And on that, we basically choose the best talents
08:39 and we onboard them within Phoenix community.
08:42 Do you have collaborations with technological companies
08:46 and partnerships when it comes to having more technology feed
08:51 in into your core business?
08:53 I mean, we are great.
08:54 I mean, one of the key facts that a lot of people
08:57 don't know that AI and blockchain is a new topic.
09:01 But in UAE, we have a Ministry of AI from 2016.
09:06 And then we have Zayed University,
09:08 which has courses for blockchain.
09:11 So we are looking at close collaboration
09:14 with Zayed University and these institutions
09:17 that the young talents that they come out of this,
09:20 they come for practical courses to us.
09:23 And from that, we can hire the local talent, which
09:26 I believe is the future of the country.
09:30 You mentioned earlier that, which
09:32 is a fact that UAE has a ministry
09:36 for artificial intelligence.
09:37 So to what extent do you have collaboration
09:39 with the UAE government when it comes
09:40 to deploying blockchain technology in the government
09:45 services?
09:47 I mean, the Ministry of AI and the fact
09:52 that we are a listed entity and trusted by the government,
09:56 definitely the collaborations has been there
09:59 in a form of advising.
10:01 And it will grow as time goes on,
10:05 because UAE essentially is a forefront in digitalization.
10:09 And I think by 2030 to '35, significantly everything
10:14 will be digitized in the country.
10:16 So we try our best to be part of this movement,
10:21 to be a part of this community as we are a listed UAE entity.
10:26 Do you think that the digitization strategy
10:29 in the region overall will also need more blockchain
10:32 technology adoption?
10:34 Absolutely.
10:35 Blockchain revolutionized the work,
10:38 will increase the speed massively.
10:42 And essentially, it will reduce the human error in a sense.
10:47 So the whole region will benefit from this.
10:51 But the adoption within the countries will be different.
10:55 We have UAE, which is a forefront.
10:57 Then we have other countries that they are basically
11:00 fastening the process.
11:02 But as a whole, it will help the region a lot.
11:07 What's your vision for Phoenix for the coming decades?
11:12 So the main thing that Phoenix is focusing on,
11:15 apart from our normal activities,
11:17 is the digitalization of real assets.
11:20 So what we are trying to do is the challenge
11:23 with small and SME enterprises, small and medium enterprises,
11:28 they cannot go to the IPO route.
11:30 They cannot raise money from capital market.
11:33 The way to fix this is by digitalization and tokenization
11:37 of those companies.
11:39 So we're going to tokenize real businesses.
11:42 And we allow them to raise money from the blockchain community.
11:47 And those people actually become a shareholder in the company.
11:51 So this is my vision.
11:53 And the goal is in the next 24 months, we do 80 businesses.
11:58 We already identified some.
12:01 So 80 businesses go through a real tokenized process.
12:06 What are some of these businesses?
12:09 I cannot share the names.
12:10 But I can tell you it goes from a flower shop to a bakery.
12:14 So it doesn't need that you be a complicated business,
12:17 because that's the challenge.
12:18 Imagine you have a small business
12:20 and you want to grow your business.
12:22 You don't have an option to go to capital market.
12:25 And sometimes banks are hard to give loans.
12:27 But if you come to us, we tokenize your business.
12:31 You sell some of your shares in the form
12:33 of token, which is similar to IPO process.
12:36 But rather than you go to a year of doing the IPO,
12:40 you do this in two months.
12:41 And that's the difference.
12:43 So the idea is you do 80 of these businesses.
12:46 And we are creating a marketplace
12:47 that people can go and trade these tokenized assets.
12:52 So I believe this is the future for Phoenix,
12:56 a significant part of it.
12:58 Thank you so much, Mr. Saeed, for joining us.
13:00 We wish you the best of luck with everything that you do.
13:03 Mr. Saeed Mohamed Alizeideh, the co-founder and CEO
13:06 of Phoenix Group.
13:07 With this, ladies and gentlemen, we
13:09 come to the end of this episode of CEO Talk.
13:11 See you.
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