Dear Stakeholders,

Thank you for your patience, and I hope you are spending your holidays merrily, joyfully, and together with your loved ones.

Let me tell you about the recent changes to the team and our way forward. Earlier this year, we have launched the alpha and had close to 400 people participating in testing it. Of course, there are things to improve, odd bugs here and there, but overall the product looks stable enough to be launched after some more development effort and security review.

There was a huge issue, however — one of finances & risk. The launch is a non-reversible decision, with commitments to be made – legal, financial, and operational. We have reached a point where we had to choose – commit fully or reject take off.

We do not want to launch only to close the exchange shortly after, like some others in 2019. We do not want to launch and get hacked in a week. There is no goal to launch the exchange no matter what, and see what happens. There is a goal to create value for our customers and eventually build a profitable business. We need to stand out among the competition and take calculated risks.

We thought long and hard about this, and have decided that proceeding as is carries too much risk and uncertainty and may very well lead to disastrous results and eventual bankruptcy. There are course corrections to be made.

First, we have let go of our Development team. Their job is mostly done, and if we are to continue with the product as is, mine and Anton’s hands will be at work to finish the remaining parts. Second, we have let go of our CS team. It is a sunk cost fallacy to continue sustaining the CS team without any customers. These actions have dramatically reduced our burn rate. Third, we are tidying up other expenses to bring the burn rate down even more and preserve more capital.

As our next, increasingly crucial steps, we are reconsidering our financial model, personnel required for operations, and the product itself. Mothership still has substantial financial resources, the developed intellectual property, licenses from the FIU, and, most importantly, the experience we got from doing all this for the past 2.5 years. Now we have to figure out how to best utilize all these resources, make the business work and risks worth it. It will take time and, thankfully, we still have it. When we make our next moves, we will let you know.

Your Mothership Captain
Arseniy