Buying a coffee for Ethereum or Netflix subscription for dollars or euros, saving a brand new NFT, and getting cashback in cryptocurrencies for all purchases made at a specific shop — it’s not about the future. It’s about today created by the Ukrainian R&D center of the global fintech company Wirex, and you also can join it.
Wirex is a fintech company licensed by the UK financial regulator and has been operating in the market since 2014 with two products. Wirex App allows paying for goods and services with cryptocurrencies, automatically converting them into euros and dollars. And Wirex Wallet is a decentralized crypto wallet that allows using DeFi apps and NFTs.
These Wirex’s fintech products that erase borders between conventional and decentralized finances so that the customers can use cryptocurrencies like dollars or euros have been developed by Ukrainian programmers in the Kyiv R&D center and new development hubs in Lviv (Ukraine) and Wroclaw (Poland).
Купувати каву за Ethereum, оплачувати підписку на Netflix у доларах чи євро, зберігати свій новенький NFT та отримувати кешбек у криптовалюті за кожну здійснену покупку у магазині — це не про майбутнє. Це про сьогодення, що створюють розробники українського R&D-центру глобальної фінтех-компанії Wirex, до якого можете долучитися й ви.
Wirex — ліцензована британським фінансовим регулятором фінтех-компанія, що працює на ринку з 2014 року і має два продукти: Wirex App, що дозволяє оплачувати товари й послуги криптовалютами, автоматично конвертуючи їх у євро та долари, а також Wirex Wallet — децентралізований криптогаманець, який відкриває доступ до DeFi-застосунків та NFT.
Усі ці фінтех-продукти Wirex, що стирають кордони між традиційними та децентралізованими фінансами й дозволяють клієнтам використовувати криптовалюти на рівні з доларами та євро, створюють українські розробники у R&D-центрі Києва, а також нещодавно відкритих хабах у Львові та польському Вроцлаві.
Wirex is a fintech company that has always handled cryptocurrencies the same way as conventional money. Our goal is to let people use any assets anywhere. Wirex was the first company in Europe that created a debit card powered by Mastercard that instantly converts cryptocurrencies and fiat money by purchasing.
In 2019, we launched our token WXT, which is used to pay our users cashback for online and offline purchases.
In 2020, we realized that the future of Web 3.0 was coming, so we decided to create a decentralized crypto wallet — Wirex Wallet — a tool for Web 3.0 Wirex users. Basically, it is a decentralized application granting access to blockchain protocols and products without involving any central regulatory body. With Wirex Wallet, you can save and manage your digital assets, including NFTs, and work with fiat money functions and crypto bridges between different blockchains.
Our vision at Wirex Wallet is to combine centralized finances, so-called CeFi, with decentralized ones, DeFi. So, through Wirex App and Wirex Wallet, we will provide people with access to various ecosystems and remove borders between them.
Another step in developing Wirex Wallet is the credit blockchain protocol Nereus, which got five billion WXT in investments from the company. It allows to provide loans secured with cryptocurrencies and earn on deposits.
After Nereus credit protocol implementation, we will pay attention to more interactions with financial markets in the form of currency exchange protocols, algorithmic stablecoins, liquidity provider protocols, and developing derivatives that can be used in both CeFi and DeFi apps.
Nereus is built on the Avalanche blockchain. We are going to develop it for all EVM compatible blockchains (based on the Ethereum), especially with Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols that allow scaling up Ethereum.
In addition, we will dedicate our efforts to combining new Web 3.0 apps, DeFi, and metaverse with centralized apps we developed in the past. For this, we are looking for talented IT professionals.
Nowadays, over 250 IT specialists work on Wirex products in Ukrainian R&D centers.
Nereus is built on the Avalanche blockchain. We are going to develop it for all EVM compatible blockchains (based on the Ethereum), especially with Layer 1 and Layer 2 protocols that allow scaling up Ethereum.
Fintech is an actively developing industry where the newest technologies are used: microservice architecture, API integration with many crypto exchanges and payment services, smart contracts for blockchain solutions
So, Wirex has no legacy code, and most developers work on it. However, unlike banks, fintech companies can definitely make decisions faster. Every team member can offer new features for Wirex products and see how it’s being implemented in our apps. To improve the output, Wirex R&D team members organize TechFridays, where they study the retrospective and learn new technologies.
Despite the war, the company continues its growth. We plan to hire 100 to 150 new employees by the end of 2022.
A part of recent investments will be spent on developing a new blockchain, and we are looking for Solidity Developers and .NET Developers. To improve our financial services, we need QAs, Product Owners, and Domain Coordinators.
Wirex is a product company looking for both technical and non-technical staff. For example, we need People Partners, Customer Support Agents and Product Designers. We have a lot of job openings in different directions so that everybody can find something suitable for them.
A part of recent investments will be spent on developing a new blockchain, and we are looking for Solidity Developers and .NET Developers. To improve our financial services, we need QAs, Product Owners, and Domain Coordinators.
To become a part of the Wirex R&D team, first, you need to learn about our company and its social media, study how it works, and read the latest news on Wirex.
Then, the interviews to check applicants’ technical skills and experience can vary depending on their profession.
For example, Android and iOS developers can get a task to model a situation and define the required functionality.
In such a case, a candidate must describe in detail how and with which technologies they will create that functionality. They need to understand what are the advantages of the selected approach and what are the alternatives.
Of course, Senior Developers must explain why it should work or not. Watching a candidate at thinking, it becomes clear how this person analyzes the data and uses it for solving problems.
It would help if you remembered that in the fintech industry, technologies are changing at the speed of light. So you need to adapt yourself quickly to a new reality and use it in your work. For this, employees must spend time on self-development and self-learning and be aware of industry trends to know what happens there.
Before February 2022, the company raised a $15 million financing. Because the headquarter is located in the United Kingdom and the business works in the US, EU, Asia, and Pacific countries, the number of transactions through Wirex’s products is continuously growing. So, the business part of the company hadn’t been affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, Wirex blocked its products for the territory of the Russian Federation and supported the measures to isolate Russia from the global financial markets.
But this war has become a shock to every Ukrainian. And we at Wirex did our best to bring our employees to safe places and relocate them to the Western regions of Ukraine and Poland.
Wirex planned to expand the R&D centers in Lviv and Kharkiv this spring. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine changed it towards Europe. That’s why in March 2022, we opened the development hubs in Lviv and Wroclaw.
We plan to create an international team of talented professionals from different parts of the world. But now, the main point is to guarantee the safety of our team members and their families. Of course, we understand that many people cannot leave the country. Still, we can provide them with a secure workplace, guarantee the well-being of their families, and support the Ukrainian economy.
The main advantage of Wirex is that the company is always challenging. A People Partner is constantly in touch with their teams, especially newcomers. Based on the previous experience, most of our new teammates note that they could work on the same projects without significant progress and lose time. But it’s totally opposite at Wirex — the company experiences a high development rate, applies advanced technologies, and sets creative tasks so that the newcomers can skill up in a relatively short period. Then they will feel more self-sufficient and show better results!
Usually, such people stay with the company for a long time because they can see quickly what a difference makes Wirex by empowering their professional development in a short time.
The main advantage of Wirex is that the company is always challenging.
To create an innovative fintech product in the rapidly changing environment, all our teammates are united with shared values, such as:
Creation of a high-quality product by exceeding the expectations of our users.
That ensures the maximum freedom and professional and personal growth.
That are essential for the development of new skills and creation of the product itself.
And high development standards that rely on the responsibility but not on time spent to achieve the goal.
As one of the most significant values of the company. Our girls and boys cherish a lot the professionals they interact with to support and improve the company’s products.
Moreover, during the communication with a People Partner, the newcomers often mention that their teammates are open-minded and ready to come for help and share their experiences. So I am happy to say that at Wirex, everybody is interested in a quick onboarding and development of newcomers — to split loads equally and get better results together by creating a high-quality product.
Wirex B2C Android Developer, Oleksandr Hrybuk is answering the question
The product is a thing that sets Wirex apart from other companies. Wirex App is exclusively available to all the company’s team members, so, when you are an active user of your own product, you can see the results of your activities right away.
Here, even an ordinary developer can make their suggestions regarding both the work that directly concerns their area of responsibility and issues affecting the company in general. For example, I suggested that we should improve our work with Google Play reviews. I was struck by the fact that even though this was not my area of responsibility, my opinion was heard. And I saw the first results of improvement in this area within a month.
I can also mention that management processes are well-organized and don’t hinder your work.
On the contrary, managers help you, no one interferes with your area of responsibility, and they do everything possible to make it easier for you to perform your tasks.
Wirex is the first company among those I have dealt with that has tech Fridays. These are days when we can spend the whole day improving our code base, switching to newer and cooler approaches and development tools, and changing things in the project architecture.
There is also a very good feedback system. I often get feedback on my contribution to the product support from the team lead and the management. So, I can rest assured that I will get honest information about how the team has improved a particular feature.
Wirex Back End Team Lead, Yevhenii Kokhan is answering the question
Before coming to Wirex, I had worked at Microsoft. And one of the reasons for leaving that company to join Wirex R&D and for staying here till now is the speed of making decisions, the opportunity to influence them, and interesting tasks.
For example, it takes one or two months to go from an idea to launching a new financial service. This is relatively fast, and it allows us to check how that product has worked for our clients. To speed up the launch, we often make an MVP to have a chance to test it out ourselves. We practice "dogfooding." That is the practice of using own products or services — developers create a product and use it to understand what is convenient and what is not and what can be improved.
Among our latest developments are deposits, X-Accounts, and cryptocurrency loans.
So, to look at it in the context of the Ukrainian fintech, we have really interesting tasks, exciting to work on, such as Cryptoback – cashback in cryptocurrencies, cryptocurrency deposits, and rewards.
In the first place, those tasks are interesting because of the demand for those products. In the first six months, 100,000 users utilized our deposits (X-Accounts). And we also made half a million cryptoback payments (cashback in our own cryptocurrency) in a month.
The ability to see the final result is great — it is an additional motivation to finish the development of new functionality and use your achievement. It is pleasant to pay with a Wirex card in the store and get the cashback that was created by you.
