The Future of Payments with Concordium: Smart Money, Secure Identity, and Protocol-Level Power

For years, the blockchain space has promised a future of programmable money, seamless payments, and trustless systems—yet the reality has fallen short. In this AMA, Concordium’s Chief Commercial Officer Mike Milner peels back the layers of hype to reveal what’s actually holding the industry back, and how Concordium’s unique protocol-level approach is finally making that vision tangible. From stablecoins and compliance to developer momentum and real-world adoption, this conversation lays out a clear -and refreshingly honest- path forward.

1 Opening Remarks: Setting the Stage for the AMA

Overview:

• Host introduces the AMA with Mike Milner, Chief Commercial Officer at Concordium.
• The session coincides with Concordium’s Spotlight launch on Bitpanda.
• Topics to be covered include:
  • Blockchain and native identity
  • PayFi and smart money
  • Building and rebuilding trust in crypto
  • Team, vision, roadmap

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2 Mike Milner’s Journey: From FX Desks to Concordium’s Vision

Background & Career Path:

• Mike Milner is the Chief Commercial Officer at Concordium, having joined about six months ago.
• Prior role: Global Head of Revenue at Copper, a leading crypto collateral management firm, where he spent over six years.
• He entered crypto accidentally in 2017–2018 while working on an FX desk in London. Clients began requesting Bitcoin purchases, sparking his transition from FX to crypto.

Why Web3:

• Initially skeptical, but client demand and market potential led him into the space.
• Within months, he transitioned from 95% FX to 95% crypto—“fell in love” with the sector.

Why Concordium:

• Attracted by the unique capabilities of Concordium’s technology:
  • High TPS, fast finality, public blockchain with built-in identity layer.
• Focused on payments and PayFi—aiming to simplify and secure the payment stack.
• Passionate about Concordium’s mission to de-risk stablecoin adoption by addressing:
  • Anonymity concerns causing regulatory hesitation
  • Custodial risks from smart contracts

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3 What Truly Excites Mike Milner

Core Motivation:

• Mike is driven by the opportunity to finally realize the long-promised vision of “programmable money.”

Key Insight:

• Despite years of hype around programmable money, most of the industry still isn’t actually programming the money itself.
• Instead, people use stablecoins inside smart contracts and give up custody, especially risky in long-term scenarios.
• This introduces custodial and cybersecurity risks, undermining trust and usability.

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4 Concordium’s Vision

Main Problem Concordium Aims to Solve:

• De-risking adoption of stablecoins for real-world, non-Web3 entities like traditional finance (TradFi), Main Street businesses, and enterprises.
• Despite the appeal of stablecoins being faster, cheaper, and better, adoption remains low due to one major hurdle:
  • Anonymity risk is a regulatory and reputational red flag for institutions.

How Concordium Addresses This:

• Built-in Identity Layer (at the protocol level):
• Ensures accountability and compliance without revealing user identity on-chain.
• Public chain stays transparent, but sensitive ID info remains private unless lawfully requested.

Enabling Real-World Use Cases via Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs):

• Users can selectively disclose specific attributes (e.g., age, nationality, jurisdiction status) without revealing full identity.
• Examples of ZK use cases:
  • Proving you’re over 18 or 21
  • Demonstrating you’re not a U.S. citizen or not in a sanctioned region

Outcome:

• Bridges the gap between Web3 ideals and real-world business requirements.
• Allows businesses to engage in compliant stablecoin transactions without needing full customer doxxing.

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5 Institutional Response

Reception from institutions has been highly positive.

• Partners recognize Concordium’s unique approach, especially compared to other blockchain solutions.
• Key concerns from institutions remain consistent:
  • Custodial risk
  • Anonymity and compliance concerns
• Concordium’s model directly addresses these blockers, offering:
  • A credible compliance path
  • A way to de-risk and accelerate market entry

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6 Addressing Market Concerns

Building Credibility: Compliance-First Blockchain Without Smart Contract Risk

• Acknowledges that recent meme coin frenzies and hacks damage the industry’s credibility.
• These trends delay real-world adoption by undermining trust from institutions and regulators.
• Sustainable growth in crypto requires restoring trust and professionalism.

Concordium’s Differentiators to Inspire Confidence:

• Avoids Smart Contract Custody Risks:
  • Traditional payment features (e.g. direct debits, payroll, scheduled transfers) on most blockchains require giving up custody to smart contracts.
  • Concordium rejects this model and instead offers Protocol-Level Tokens (PLTs).

PLTs Enable Native Programmability:

• Programmable money features (like time-locked or scheduled payments) are built into the protocol layer, not external contracts.
• Assets remain in the user’s control, reducing custodial and cyber risks.

Compliance Embedded at Protocol Level:

• Concordium’s identity layer + protocol logic allows financial products (e.g. money market funds) to be:
  • Hard-coded for regulatory compliance, e.g. preventing access to U.S. persons or sanctioned jurisdictions.
  • Enforced at the point of issuance, not dependent on external validators or ad hoc controls.

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7 Memes vs. Maturity: Navigating Mixed Signals in the Crypto Landscape

The Dilemma:

• Recent developments—such as the U.S. president engaging in meme coin antics—create confusion and credibility challenges for serious blockchain projects.
• These moves, even if humorous or politically strategic, send mixed signals:
  • On one side: Europe pushing regulatory clarity (MiCA, etc.)
  • On the other: Global leaders using crypto as meme-driven PR tools

Impact on the Ecosystem:

• Every high-profile meme coin moment:
  • Undermines fundamental trust in crypto’s long-term vision
  • Delays institutional onboarding, despite years of effort
• The industry needs to move beyond short-term speculation and low-utility assets to:
  • Promote stability, compliance, and trust
  • Reinforce the legitimacy of Web3 as an infrastructure layer, not a casino

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8 PayFi & Smart Money: Lowering the Barrier for Institutional Stablecoin Adoption

Ease of Issuing Stablecoins on Concordium:

• From a technical standpoint, launching a stablecoin on Concordium is no harder than doing so on other chains.
• What differentiates Concordium is not the dev lift, but the value proposition and return on investment (ROI) for institutions.

Key Differentiators for Institutions:

• Enhanced ROI Through Built-In Capabilities:
  • Institutions don’t just get a blockchain—they get compliance, identity, and programmability at the protocol level.
  • These features reduce barriers and risk, making adoption more appealing.

Strategic Positioning:

• Concordium isn’t trying to compete with Ethereum or Solana within the current Web3 space.
• Instead, the focus is on expanding the pie—bringing in new players from outside the space (e.g. traditional finance, enterprise, and regulatory-sensitive entities).

What This Enables:

Conversations with institutions center around this question:

“If we remove your adoption blockers, will you finally enter the blockchain space?”

• As Concordium reduces those blockers, it creates a new path to real-world adoption, rather than fighting over existing market share.

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9 Global Strategy: Broad Institutional Interest Across Jurisdictions and Industries

Geographic Focus:

• Initially, Concordium’s go-to-market (GTM) strategy in early 2024 anticipated faster adoption in emerging markets, due to:
  • Higher demand for payment innovation
  • Fewer legacy frictions
  • Reality exceeded expectations—interest has been evenly distributed globally.

Cross-Border Readiness:

• This broad geographic spread validates the need for multi-denominated stablecoins (not just EUR or USD).
• Supports Concordium’s vision for cross-border payments and FX use cases, which require diverse currency support.

Industry Segmentation:

• Adoption trends observed across two ends of the spectrum:

1. High-risk/high-innovation industries (e.g. gaming, gambling) are already engaging with stablecoin payments.

 2. Traditional financial institutions—especially in a post-regulatory shift environment—are actively preparing to enter.

• This dual interest indicates mature, widespread momentum.

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10 Concordium Town Hall

Purpose of the Town Halls:

• Serve as a core communication channel between Concordium’s leadership and its community.
• Recognize and respect long-time supporters by keeping them informed and engaged.
• Support adoption and transparency by regularly updating the broader ecosystem.

Format & Focus Areas:

• Town halls are led by senior management and rotate focus areas to provide full-spectrum updates:
• Previous town hall: Led by CTO Peter Marirosans, focused on tech roadmap and plans for 2025.
• Upcoming town hall: Will focus on go-to-market (GTM) progress, commercial updates, and market entry strategies.

Community Engagement:

• Concordium views its community as being at the forefront of adoption.
• Town halls are a way to both listen and inform—bridging the internal work with external excitement and expectations.

11 Concordium’s Evolution

Origins and Founding Vision:

• Founded in 2018 by Lars Seier Christensen, co-founder and former CEO of Saxo Bank.
• The mission from the outset: bridge traditional finance (TradFi) with blockchain, making Concordium a credible platform for real-world adoption.

Two Key Evolution Points:

1. Refined Strategic Focus:

• Concordium’s identity layer offers vast potential across dozens of real-world use cases.
• But this breadth risked spreading the project too thin.
• Solution: narrow the GTM focus to PayFi and de-risking the payment stack, enabling clear positioning and tangible adoption pathways.

 2. Leadership Transformation:

• A new management team was brought in to align with the sharpened focus:
  • Mike Milner – ex-Copper, Chief Commercial Officer
  • Boris Bohrer-Bilowitzki – ex-Copper founding partner, now CEO
  • Varun Kabra – former CMO at ProtonMail, Tezos, Revolut; ex-Google (YouTube & Android), now Chief Marketing & Growth Officer
  • Peter Marirosans– CTO with experience at another blockchain and former CTO of a CBDC-focused RLN project

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12 Concordium Team Size

• The Concordium team currently consists of just over 70 people.
• Team size has remained relatively stable over time, with no significant growth or downsizing.
• The organization is tech-heavy by design, aligning with its current product development and protocol-level innovation focus.
• While a few additions may occur, there’s no intention to scale aggressively, as the current size is considered fit-for-purpose.

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13 Roadmap & Strategy: Laying the Foundation for PayFi Adoption

Next 6–12 Months: What’s Coming for Concordium

• The roadmap is centered around executing Concordium’s PayFi strategy in clear, phased steps:

1. Secure the Issuers (Now–Short Term)

• Priority: Onboard stablecoin issuers as the foundation of the payment stack.
• Rationale: You can’t build PayFi without a reliable unit of value transfer in place.
• Status: Progress is ahead of schedule.

2. Build Out the Payment Infrastructure (Mid-Term)

• Once issuer base reaches critical mass, focus shifts to integrating payment infrastructure.
• Objective: Streamline the stack for real-world usability—compress layers, ensure interoperability.

3. Unlock Real-World Demand (Longer Term)

• Goal: Connect supply (issuers + infrastructure) with demand (businesses & users).
• Concordium aims to play matchmaker between institutional participants and end users.

Strategic Context:

• The evolving regulatory and political environment -including recent administration changes-  has boosted global interest.
• Further details, including updates on new partnerships, are expected in the next Town Hall on the 24th.

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14 Upcoming Events

Next major event:

• Concordium team will be attending Token2049 in Dubai at the end of the month.
• Open invitation for attendees to reach out via Twitter to connect with the team.

Event strategy for 2025:

• More events planned throughout the year.
• Still finalizing which key conferences and symposiums to attend after Token2049.

15 Market Sentiment 

Too Many Alts, Not Enough Substance

General Outlook:

• Mike sees the current market as not wildly different from previous cycles, but with one major shift:
  • A flood of altcoins without real value.

Key Observations:

• Altcoin lag isn’t surprising:
  • There’s not more capital in the space—just more tokens competing for the same liquidity.
  • This dilutes capital rotation, which previously fueled broad alt rallies after Bitcoin and Ethereum ran.

ETF Effect?

• Not directly blamed, but the altcoin underperformance is more about internal oversaturation than institutional flows.

Cycle Differences:

• In past cycles, alt rotation felt natural. Today, many altcoins are fluff with no delivery.
• Market is starting to expose weak projects:

“When the tide goes out, you see who’s swimming naked.” – A fitting Buffett quote for this stage of the cycle.

Outlook for 2025:

• Expect continued shakeout of low-substance projects.
• Market maturity may force a refocus on fundamentals and real-world value, especially amid rising institutional scrutiny.

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16 Q&A 1 Identity Revocation

Key Concerns Raised:

• What happens if a user’s identity is revoked or keys are compromised?
• Can Concordium or its validators censor users based on location or actions?
• How does the project balance identity traceability with privacy, especially across jurisdictions?

Identity Revocation Process:

• Concordium is still a public blockchain: wallet addresses are visible, but not linked to identities by default.
• Identity linkage is only revealed through a legal process:
  • Requires a Swiss court order.
  • Involves multi-sig-style access by distributed Swiss law firms to revoke identity and disclose information.
  • Data is only shared with the court—not the public or protocol participants.

Cross-Jurisdiction Complexity:

• If a non-Swiss country wants access to identity data:
  • Concordium defers to local legal processes and issuer responsibilities.
  • Issuers must coordinate with local regulators and comply with jurisdictional requirements.

Zero-Knowledge Proofs vs. Law Enforcement:

• ZK proofs are used for day-to-day privacy and selective disclosure:
  • E.g., proving age or jurisdiction without revealing full identity.
  • Helps businesses enforce rules like KYC or regulatory restrictions without compromising user privacy.
• ID revocation, in contrast, is strictly a law enforcement process and is not linked to everyday ZK usage.

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17 Q&A 2: Stablecoin Integration & Real-World Asset Tokenization

Can stablecoins like USDT/USDC become more institution-friendly on Concordium?

• Yes—this is precisely the value Concordium offers to stablecoin issuers:
  • Enables regulatory alignment through its built-in identity layer.
  • Allows issuers to better engage with local regulators and meet compliance expectations.
• Concordium is already in discussions around this use case.

Does Concordium support tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) and DePIN applications?

• Yes—actively. Tokenization of RWAs is a major strategic focus.

Mike highlights two evolving opportunities:

1. Secondary Market for Tokenized Securities

• Today, tokenized money market funds focus on primary issuance/redemption with KYC—but secondary trading is limited.
• Concordium’s identity layer could enable a compliant, freer-flowing secondary market:
• Ensures only eligible participants can hold/trade regulated instruments.
• Maintains full alignment with financial promotion and distribution laws.

2. Tokenized Private Credit as Collateral for Stablecoins

• Emerging interest in tokenizing private credit as a mid-risk alternative to:
  • Money market funds (low risk)
  • On-exchange strategies (higher risk)
• Could serve as backing assets for yield-generating stablecoins.
• Concordium is actively exploring these use cases with ecosystem partners.

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18 Q&A 3: Interoperability, GDPR & Privacy in Practice

Q1: Is Concordium exploring cross-chain solutions to extend its identity and compliance features to other Layer 1s?

• Concordium is currently non-EVM, so direct interoperability is more complex—but technically possible.
• Core question being debated internally:

      - Should Concordium even pursue interoperability with chains like Ethereum?

Why the hesitation?

• Concordium’s focus is growing the real-world, institutional user base, not serving existing Web3-native users.
• Partners and institutions actually prefer a “clean” ecosystem:
  • No risk of tainted assets from other chains.
  • Greater trust in provenance, identity, and compliance.
• Conclusion: Interoperability is still under discussion, but not currently prioritized—many stakeholders value Concordium’s self-contained, compliant architecture.

Q2: How does Concordium ensure GDPR compliance and privacy, especially with identity-sensitive data?

• No personal data is stored or processed by Concordium itself.
• Identity verification is performed by external, regulated ID providers (like those used by Revolut, Monzo, etc.).
• Concordium never sees or holds user ID data—it only verifies that identity exists via ZK proofs.
• GDPR compliance is jurisdiction-dependent:
  • Requirements vary by geography.
  • Issuers and partners are responsible for adapting to local regulations.
• Concordium provides infrastructure and tools, but compliance execution lies with regulated partners.

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19 Q&A 4: Is Concordium’s Tech Only for Institutions—or Also for Small Ecosystems?

Is Concordium also building for smaller-scale users and niche ecosystems—not just institutions?

• Yes, Concordium’s go-to-market (GTM) strategy includes niche use cases and smaller ecosystems.
• Mike emphasizes a classic “nail a niche, then scale” approach:
  • First: Concentrate on targeted verticals to gain traction and brand recognition.
  • Then: Expand into adjacent markets with similar needs or regulatory hurdles.

Strategic Ecosystem Building:

• Concordium won’t go it alone:
  • Success depends on a strong network of partners—issuers, compliance experts, payment infrastructure providers, etc.
  • These partners will bring domain-specific knowledge to enable scalable adoption across all tiers of users, not just large enterprises.
• This strategy ensures that:
  • Smaller projects and niche ecosystems can plug into Concordium’s regulatory-grade tools.
  • Adoption is inclusive, layered, and scalable—from startups to institutional giants.

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20 What Reassurances Does Concordium Offer Stablecoin Issuers?

With stablecoins like USDT facing regulatory uncertainty (e.g. delisting in Europe), what concrete assurances does Concordium offer to new issuers?

Key Points:

• Concordium is in a unique commercial position:
  • As an open-source technology company, there’s no cost to explore or use its capabilities.
  • Issuers can inspect the tech up front, unlike a SaaS model where you’d “buy now and see how it works later.”

Two Main Assurances for Issuers:

1. Elimination of Smart Contract Custodial Risk

• Concordium allows you to never give up custody of your stablecoins to a smart contract.
• This solves a major risk issue in mainstream adoption, especially for longer-dated or automated payments.
• Mike emphasizes: “That’s lost the industry billions already.”

2. Protocol-Level Identity Layer

• Concordium’s ID layer supports geofencing, age verification, and jurisdictional compliance.
• This is especially powerful for payments that require ID attributes (like location or age).
• It’s a foundational feature that helps break down real-world adoption barriers.

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21  What’s Next for Concordium’s Marketing?

Concordium is taking a balanced, middle-of-the-road approach to marketing.

• The effort is led by a strong internal team, headed by Varun, previously at Revolut, Tezos, and Google.
• The company’s ethos is clear:

“We put our money where our mouth is.”

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22 What Does Success Look Like for Concordium?

• “Every company has metrics.”
• “But zooming out… what really defines success for us?”

Success isn’t just numbers—it’s narrative change.

• If by the end of the year, the industry begins to acknowledge the real blockers to adoption, that would be progress.

Anonymity: Feature or Flaw?

• For years, anonymity has been celebrated as a core feature of blockchain.
• But for many outside of Web3, it’s not a strength—it’s a stumbling block.
• If we can start that honest conversation, that maybe, just maybe, what we value is also what’s holding others back…

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23 Momentum — What’s Driving 850% Developer Growth?

The growth is real:

• An 850% increase in developer activity since launching the GTM strategy in early February.
• Achieving that in just a few months represents one of the fastest adoption curves Mike has seen.

Why developers are showing up:

• The tech is genuinely unique:
  • Concordium offers capabilities no other chain currently can, especially around identity, compliance, and protocol-level programmability.
• The timing is right:
  • In the wake of global regulatory shifts, especially post-administration change, many builders and companies are actively looking for compliant infrastructure.

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24 What Will Really Drive Adoption of Stablecoins for Payments?

Where will adoption come from—consumers or institutions? Will it be top-down or bottom-up?

Mike’s Perspective:

• Long-term? Likely top-down:
  • Institutions adopt first, users follow—“if your bank starts using a digital euro, you’ll use it by default.”
  • But how many years that takes is debatable.

Short-term? It won’t happen just because it’s crypto.

• Adoption won’t come from ideology.
• Most people don’t care whether they’re paying for coffee with a stablecoin or fiat.
• So crypto for the sake of crypto won’t cut it.
• To drive real usage, you must:
  • Solve a real-world problem
  • Remove friction from an existing process

Example: Age Verification in High-Risk Industries

• Problem:
  • Adult content platforms are being forced to implement strict age verification
  • New regulations are spreading—US, Europe, Latin America
  • Users don’t want to upload personal data due to privacy concerns
• Solution:
  • Use Concordium’s identity layer and stablecoins
  • Users can prove they’re over 18 without revealing who they are
  • Zero-knowledge proof enables anonymous compliance
  • Businesses reduce regulatory risk and avoid losing customers

Real adoption will come from:

• Targeting niche markets with regulatory pressure and friction
• Offering stablecoin payments that solve a problem and build trust
• Letting the tech quietly remove barriers—without needing to sell “crypto” at all

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25 Final Remarks & Call to Action from Mike Milner

For those interested in what’s next:

• Join the upcoming Town Hall on April 24
• Expect more substance, more “meat on the bone”, and deeper insight into what’s unfolding

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