Hello dear readers and welcome back to MegaCrypto Casino and the next in our series of articles exploring topics related to cryptocurrencies, crypto casinos, blockchain and everything related. As always, it is a pleasure to bring you new information, new viewpoints and new perspectives, and as always, I trust that the information presented herein will be useful and interesting.
But before starting, I absolutely must thank our readers for the very, very, kind comments recently received; sparing us your valuable time, and your kind words were deeply appreciated.
So, on to this week’s subject, where today, we will be taking a firsthand look at peer-to-peer crypto trading; or to be more precise, an aspect of this which I have seen several associates and acquaintances become drawn into by the glittering promise of substantial profits; but which, for the majority, ends up only in frustration, loss of time, unwelcome expenditure and eventually defeat.
So, what is this unenviable endeavour?
Crypto Intermediary/Introductory Services
“Well, nothing wrong with that” I hear you say.
“I just introduce John, who my mate says is a buyer, to that seller I heard of through my other mate’s contact, and bish-bash-bosh; I’m in for a percent or two in comms … nothing simpler.”
Well, this is pretty much how things start out, but before you know it, you might end up a frustrated, exhausted and poorer man a year or so down the road. But how? Well, listen in and I’ll give you the low-down on a secretive ‘grey-zone’ world that’s going on right now, even as you’re downing your Gin and Tonic and beating some Nigel to that last canape.
But none of this is the usual fanciful hearsay and tall stories that you hear doing the rounds; these are the first-hand experiences of acquaintances and associates who have been there, done it and got the T-shirt; related here, so that anyone considering getting involved themselves, can learn therefrom and avoid some of the pitfalls. It is also worth mentioning right from the get-go, that there are many variations on the themes presented here: Too many for any article to be all-encompassing and definitive … but if I can at least give you the signposts, you should have the necessary tools to navigate your way through the tortuous waters.
Ok, let’s have at it; but first, it might perhaps be logical to cover how this grey world exists at all.
Well, a fundamental utility of cryptocurrencies is complete anonymity; anonymity of ownership and of the transacting parties. But hand-in-hand in maintaining this anonymity is maintenance of the strictest secrecy.
So, someone has done a load of business; they’ve accumulated a shedload of crypto and now want to cash out for fiat, or trade out for a different crypto (BTC to USDT for price stability or USDT for BTC to go long BTC). Or … they’ve got a shedload of fiat and want to on-ramp it into crypto to make things more opaque. Or … they’re a crypto mining outfit and want to sell their coins. But in each case and in several others, what do they do? They absolutely cannot go to the mainstream exchanges, as with the exchanges’ KYC regulations, and the need to explain where they got so much crypto or fiat, and the exchanges’ statutory reporting to the authorities, and the subsequent loss of anonymity … and the chance that a very large sale could move the market price; the need for an alternative, imperative.
Enter; peer-to-peer transactions. They simply find a fellow transactor on the opposite side of their trade and voilà!
But wait a minute … this is a highly secretive world. They don’t know anyone on the opposite side of the trade, and they don’t know how to find such a party and they don’t want to randomly ‘put themselves out there’ whilst searching. The solution; find someone who does know a buyer/seller. And that’s the genesis of the intermediary trade: All they have to do is find an intermediary/introducer … and, usually, someone in their circle is bound to know someone who knows one!
And that is exactly also how things start for potential intermediaries; if you’re in the ‘crypto world’ for any length of time you eventually start to build a network of contacts and all of a sudden, you then start to hear about what certain buyers or sellers are looking for … .and as sure as night follows day, most people will then hit upon the idea of hooking up party ‘A’ to a counter party and earn something in the process.
But of course, if you thought that making a tidy profit in comms as an intermediary would just be straightforward, then I have a bridge to sell you!
Now it must be said that very, very occasionally, an intermediary might directly know the principals on both sides of the trade; but in the greatest majority of cases, they only know their side, and even then, often through another third party; so what do they do? Find a counter-side intermediary … and that’s when the fun really starts.
So, who exactly are these other intermediaries? Are they especially skilled professional experts? Not a bit of it! As I’ve just alluded to above, some are just ordinary folk who are following the chance of making a crust. Others are actual professionals such as Lawyers or Accountants who might be directly acting for their client but looking to hook up with a counterparty; others (and there are a lot of them out there are just out-and-out sharks, scoundrels, wasters and crooks, who would ‘do you over’ and cut you out of a deal in a heartbeat. But in pretty much 99% of all cases, all of these have no great clue about crypto and how it actually works, nor of the business process or procedure for actually transacting, nor of the actual comms structure, and unbelievably, a good number will sink a deal rather than them getting what they perceive as less than their due.
Right then, with the scenario set, let’s delve into the workings of what goes on in this gray-zone world and some of the mishaps, mayhem and tomfoolery that often ensues.
Show Me the Money!
Ok, you’ve decided to make a few bucks in introductory comms but haven’t a clue as to what the comms are nor how they are structured. Well, my friend, a surprising number of folk dabbling in this business also don’t; so, if we can get the basics right, then at least you’re in with a fighting chance.
Having explained that the major reason for peer-to-peer transactions is to avoid the mainstream channels, for whatever reason, then the next concept to understand is that there is a price for this. The price is in the form of a discount given to the buyer by the seller. There is, of course, an additional price to be paid to the facilitators, in the form of a commission.
Deal commissions are quoted as; 6/3 or 8/4 or 5/3 or many variations thereof. Sometimes people will tell you; “minus 6 minus 3”, “minus 8 minus 4” etc.
The first figure is the Gross percentage discount that the seller has agreed to. The second figure is the NET discount due to the buyer; remaining commissions available jointly to buyer and seller side intermediaries is, of course, calculated by subtracting the first figure from the second.
So, in a 6/3 deal for example, the seller will discount the total deal by 6% out of which 3% is the discount received by the buyer and the remaining 3% is usually split equally between intermediaries. Or to afford greater clarity; in a 5/3 deal, the seller gives away 5% Gross in discounts, of which the buyer receives a 3% buying discount and the remaining 2% is split equally between intermediaries.
Simple right?
Well, one would have thought so.
In some cases, a proposed contract might indicate; “5/3 Buyer’s side 1.5% Closed”.
What does this mean? Well basically, it means that some greedy swine on the buyer’s side, either has some personal connection to the buyer, or has persuaded the buyer that they deserve 1.5% comms and the buyer has agreed to fix this in the contract. This, of course then leaves only 0.5% comms for the seller side intermediaries!
So, what can you do?
Practically, nothing. You’ll likely have no leverage, as intermediary comms are irrelevant to both buyer and seller; they are a cost, and their own Gross or NET discount are fixed regardless, so they basically don’t care and aren’t interested in helping you.
Your two options are; accept the 0.5% and make at least something … or blow the deal off in a fit of rage.
How?
Well, because everyone knows that everyone will screw everyone else given half the chance, right up to the last minute when the deal is signed, and the IMFPA (which stands for Irrevocable Master Fee Protection Agreement) and sometimes an NDA with ‘non-solicitation’ is signed, buyer and seller (or their direct mandates) usually only speak via Zoom and always via the lead intermediaries; they seldom have direct access or contact details. So, it’s simply a matter of saying “no deal … goodbye” and cutting everyone off right there.
You would be amazed at how many times this has happened and how brain-numbingly stupid this is, and it stems from a fixation on percentages and a complete failure to do some simple math’s (or math, for our U.S. readers).
On a deal of say 10,000 BTC the Gross value (at today’s rates) would be $690m. So even a ‘measly’ 0.5% works out to $3.45m. The really stupid thing is that most intermediaries you encounter, haven’t yet done the ‘big deal’ that they are constantly striving for and are consequently not ‘well-off’. Yet when the opportunity is right there before them, they get carried away by their egos and all they see is the ‘measly’ 0.5% whilst not seeing the solid $3.45M.
Speaking of comms; another thing that you will eventually come across is a ‘sob story’.
As mentioned, it is not uncommon to have a chain of intermediaries on one or both sides of the trade; ‘A’ knows the seller; ‘A’ went through ‘B’ to get to you, and you found the buy side intermediary … which makes you part of the sell-side team’.
So say there’s 1% to be split between the three of you on the seller side; sometimes ‘B’ may tell you that he was actually introduced to ‘A’ through a couple of people on his side, or he has some partners on his side, and he has to split with them … but that means that he takes home less than you and it’s not fair and that you should allocate some comms from your share to make things ‘fairer’.
Actually, it’s not uncommon to actually have associated parties in your ‘personal group’ that you might split comms with, however, he’s now saying that ‘if you can’t accommodate this, it’s not going to be worth his while and he’ll just ‘bin’ the deal and everyone will get nothing. As mentioned previously, this is all facilitated by the fact that you have never been privy to ‘A’s contact details due to the all-pervasive secrecy and mistrust. So, what do you do?
Well, all you can do is what ‘B’ failed to do … the math’s.
If the monetary amount you’re left with after ‘re-allocating’ comms is still attractive to you, then by all means go for it. If not, then tell him that “who he has to share with is his problem and he can go and stick his deal.” It wouldn’t be the first potential deal to end this way, so no need to feel bad … just ‘dust yourself off’, get back in the saddle and get onto the next potential deal.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves … this was just intended as a quick explanation of the comms structure and how it works … before we even get there, we’ve got to find our counterparty and structure the beginnings of a deal.
So let’s do it!!!
Hello … is it Me You’re Looking For?
Ok, you have found yourself a buyer or seller and have their requirements and transactional procedures (in this example, let’s be on the ‘buy’ side). You got this either directly (in which case you’re lucky), or through another intermediary (in which case you likely don’t yet have direct one-to-one contact with your own principal).
You trawl your network and find a counterparty intermediary. You make contact, and establish that the needs of one side broadly match the needs of the other; so, what next?
You need to know exactly who you are dealing with, establish their bone fides and establish that they really have the required crypto that you’re looking for. You do this by requesting an exchange of C.I.S. (Client Information Sheet). This is a one or two page summary which details the fronting entity that the deal is going through and the principal’s details; it also includes a copy of the principal’s, or direct mandate’s passport. Additionally, at this first stage, it is expected that the buyer will also send proof of funds and the seller will send details of their crypto wallet holding the coins to be sold.
A word on the wallet: it must be stipulated that the wallet have less than say, 100 transactions and absolutely NOT be an exchange wallet i.e. not on Coinbase, Kraken etc. Because if you don’t hold your crypto personally on a cold wallet, you truly don’t own the funds and at the point of transacting, they can even be frozen by the exchange … not great if you have already paid for said coin!
Regarding the 100 transactions. There are various reasons why you want this:
- A high transaction count is indicative of an active trading wallet, likely an exchange wallet.
- To prevent the likelihood of "dusting" or high-frequency micro-transactions to break up, mix, or obscure illicit funds before cashing out to a buyer.
- You want ‘clean and untainted’ crypto that won’t come back to bite you. Crypto with a questionable history, retains that history. The greater the transactions, the greater the possibility of problematic coins.
Right then. Back to the exchange of CIS, proof-of-funds and proof of wallet; and herein participants often hit their first buffer … who sends first?
Now this is far more than childish argument or manly posturing; you are sending off sensitive and confidential documentation and relying on the reliability of the other side to reciprocate by return (and vice versa). Naturally everyone is reluctant to send first!
Actually, in the experiences of my own acquaintances, instances of actual fraud utilizing this type of documentation is very rare; some intermediaries are cut-throat, devious and immoral for sure … but not actually in that way. What can happen through is that one’s documentation can get ‘touted around’.
You see, information and a pipeline of clients are everything in this game, and even if they don’t actually have a counterparty for you, some intermediaries will say that they do, then tout your CIS around until they actually do. There are many CISs doing the rounds, but they circulate for a while and eventually get ‘binned’ once they have been flogged to death. An acquaintance once had his principal’s CIS passed round as a buyer; he only found out, when a completely different intermediary approached him with the same CIS to see whether he could match this to a seller!!
Anyway, this type of scenario is often characterized by delays in getting reciprocal CISs and lame accompanying excuses such as the client is delayed because he is ‘travelling’, ‘is sick’, ‘his mother has just died’, ‘he has had a car crash’, he has just had a heart operation’. Yes, all actual excuses given to acquaintances! Of course, the other reason for at least a reasonable delay, is that the intermediary is likely the bottom rung of a chain of intermediaries and the documentation request has to work its way up the line.
Eventually though, through negotiation, cajoling, arguments, one-upmanship and all manner of manoeuvring, a working accord is usually reached and details exchanged. The next step is invariably a Zoom / WhatsApp, because you and your principal need to actually speak to the counter principal to confirm verbally and definitively that each other’s procedures align exactly. Also, because you can often get the ‘measure’ of someone whilst speaking and gauge whether it is worthwhile continuing or whether they are a complete waster.
Now of course, you never put your actual principal on the first call; you first need to assess the counterparties. Although everyone insists that the actual principal himself must be on the call, you can lie and tell them that you (or the next intermediary up) are the ‘direct mandate’ and in general, the counterparty will initially do the same anyway! Sometimes, you do get an actual direct mandate (often if the principal is working through an accountant or solicitor), sometimes you even get mandates or intermediaries who lie and say that they are the principal! Anyway, it all comes out in the wash and usually after the first call.
So … you’re all set; you press ‘join call’ and besides yourself, or yourself and the intermediary above you and possibly a mandate, what pops up? A whole football team!!!
What’s Going On?
Well my friends, you have just dropped into a not uncommon scenario. Every interested party is on the call to ensure their interests and to ensure that they do not get cut out of the deal. You can conceivably get up to 4-5 ‘spare’ parties on a call and as soon as you see this, you’re usually just best off asking for a re-schedule with only essential players present … if not just call it quits.
Why? Well, the chances are that you just won’t easily get much further even if there is a real deal to be had because someone will mess it up.
Typically, on a ‘football team’ call, you introduce yourself and the ‘people who matter’ on the other side do the same. The other hangers-on will happily just sit there and never say a word nor give a word of introduction … because they have no real role other than as hangers-on.
Sometimes, just for fun, you can address them in turn directly and ask their role in the deal and sit back in amusement as you hear them fumble about for an answer.
But as mentioned, their presence is usually no laughing matter. Ok, so you decided to proceed anyway, you went through things and broadly agreed procedures, commissions etc and you end the call having reached a basis for proceeding. What happens next? Well often you find that what was agreed is subsequently amended or contested. Why? Because football teams of intermediaries are just bitches!
After your call, they will all have got together, argued and harangued each-other and insisted on adjustments or amendments that they perceive will protect or improve their position, but that complicate or sour your side of the deal.
Common characteristics of these wasters are:
- A general laziness and slow wittedness,
- An inability to have fully understood the conversation that you all had.
- No real understanding of the proper structure of a deal.
- An overriding tendency to fixate on whether their percentage sounds ‘too low’ combined with a failure to have actually calculated how much their ‘low’ percentage is actually worth to them in monetary terms.
As they say; “don’t pitch the bitch’ … well, don’t pitch these bitches either!
Having pushed aside extraneous participants, subsequent calls will, hopefully firm up working procedures and lead to a formal contract. But there are several ‘make-or-break’ hurdles to cross before getting to this point:
- Discounts and commissions … although, these are usually agreed quite early as there is a known and accepted market range.
- Wallet control and proof of funds.
- The big one; who moves first!
- Regarding the above; security and guarantees.
- Escrow? Can be done but usually causes trouble. Has to be a mutually acceptable and properly licensed escrow in a decent jurisdiction … and one who will work on commission rather than any up-front payment. Agreement on an escrow is the cause of many failures.
- BGL (Bank guarantee letter)?
- MT103 with MT199 etc.
- Sometimes suggested; meeting and transacting in person. Perhaps ok if done at a secure location such as Bank premises, or Transguard if in Dubai, but will mean up-front expenses and you should always be aware of $5 wrench attacks. You’ll probably want to avoid this for the reasons above, but particularly if the counterparties seem to want to rush you into this and tell you that they can deal ‘right away’ or ‘as soon as possible’.
At this point I’d like to add a few pointers relating to wallet control and proof of funds; all gleaned from first-hand experiences … so that you don’t ever get caught out.
First, proof of funds.
I have every confidence in believing that our regular readers here at Mega Crypto Casino will never get caught out by the offer of a ‘bank account screenshot’ or bank statement PDF as proof of funds. A usually acceptable format is a video containing proof of date, showing account login (minus passwords of course), and showing account screen balance.
But beware; my associates now generally don’t accept videos of logins from an app. The reason is that it is now so easy to get bespoke apps built and make them look and behave exactly like real banking apps, that you can never be sure that what you’re seeing is real. Always insist on a PC login video.
Other proofs for much higher-end transactions include banking officer to banking officer verifications, MT799, MT999 etc.
Now let’s look at wallet control / proof of crypto funds.
Depending on whether you are working with BTC or say, USDT, you may ask, or be asked for a Satoshi or an A, B, test to demonstrate wallet control. Proof of wallet balance can be gleaned by simple provision of the wallet address.
So, to define terms; a Satoshi test (or microtransaction test) is a cryptocurrency verification method used to prove you own and control BTC in a self-hosted private wallet. One party will be asked to transfer a stipulated amount of BTC, for example $1.24, to a counterparty’s wallet.
Similarly, it would work in exactly the same way for USDT; one party might be asked to transfer a small sum to the counterparty’s wallet.
In both cases, the sending party would provide that transaction hash as proof of transaction and the receiving party would confirm receipt in due course.
Now not so long ago, people would do Satoshis and A,B, tests without much thought, but then problems started to arise in relation to hash misuse. Just like C.I.S.s, hashes started to be touted around as bait for other deals, and in one case, an attempt was even made to use it as the basis to attempt to collateralize a loan.
Also, because many deals ultimately break down, and although the loss of $1.24 isn’t going to break you, if you subsequently keep sending Satoshis or A,B,s what it will do is add unwanted additional transactions on your wallet and should the receiving wallet be tainted now or subsequently, your own wallet will forever have an association with it on the blockchain.
So now, to prove wallet control, most sensible folk simply insist on sending between their own wallets. The counterparty is asked to stipulate a specific amount, and a hash is subsequently provided once the transfer is done. To appease even the most pedantic of counterparties, as this is between one’s own wallets, one can even volunteer an A,B,C test if so inclined. Now, of course, this doesn’t entirely prevent hash misuse, however, it makes attempts more difficult, as the counterparty cannot now demonstrate control over any of the wallets to third parties.
Now, this should be more than sufficient to prove wallet control and if there is any kick-back on this then quite honestly, consider walking away, as this level of pointless obstinacy at this early stage indicates that you probably won’t get much further when the major negotiations start.
Getting a final agreement is ultimately down to everyone’s skills in negotiation, compromise and actual ability to structure and fulfil on each phase. Sometimes it’s doable and sometimes, no matter how much wrangling, it just won’t work for one side; either because it just won’t work, or because the counterparty were just wasters. That’s just how it is.
One tip that will really help you along the way is to confirm everything said, at each higher level during your conversations. Even if there is a direct mandate, you will eventually still speak directly with the principal and you should confirm everything again with them. By this stage, you will have already spoken to levels of intermediaries and mandates, and it may be of no surprise that these people sometimes lie … blatantly.
You may be told that the principal will only do this or that, or only do it a certain way, or has said that he cannot accept parts of your modus, however, many times it has transpired that no such thing was ever actually said and it was made up, for who knows what reason. By checking at each stage whether what was related to you was factual, these deceptions are exposed immediately. And don’t be shy about exposing exactly who it was that misled you … they need to be called out and silenced and proper negotiations put back on track … and hopefully, they may even get a slice cut out of their comms as punishment.
Who Pays the Piper?
So now on to the end game.
With negotiations and methodology finally resolved you should now have contracts signed by both parties, schedules and tranches agreed, and your IMFPA in hand, ready for the countdown to start tranching.
A word on your comms: Always make sure that you have a written agreement as to your comms split. You would be surprised as to just how many people forgo this and rely on a promise. Now although this still doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get shafted, at least it’s something in hand that potentially protects you or gives you the basis for later action, of whatever variety. But at the end of the day, any contract is only as good as the pool of funds you have to enable you to pay to take things down the legal route; it seldom works out anyway and only the legal professionals end up better off.
Perhaps more importantly; make sure that you really know which side is paying your comms!
You would be shocked as to how many people cannot be bothered to read a contract diligently from end-to-end. Towards the final sections of the contract, you will find the schedules, the trenches and the disposal of commissions. Now obviously, on execution of the contract, Net commission funds should always retain directly and subsequently be paid out solely through your own side, but on a few occasions, some strange arrangement has been written in so that Net funds go to the counterparty’s side to be forwarded to your side therefrom. Obviously, this should always be spotted early, but it just goes to show you what inattentiveness can result in.
Oh … and always ensure that you’re paid in crypto. Just you try and make that large deposit into your bank and see what happens!
Peer-to-Peer or Brighton Pier
So, there we are; that’s pretty much the top and bottom of things.
As mentioned, this has been intended as a very general overview on the workings of a lively and high value marketplace unsuspected by most. As also mentioned, it cannot hope to be definitive, as every deal is different, the people are different, their attitudes and modus is different, and because there are really no set nor definitive rules of methodology; participants often follow some loose principals and often ‘freestyle’ the rest.
With this in mind, the basics outlined here still represent a substantial head start for anyone who might be tempted into this area of endeavour. Many participants started with no pre-knowledge at all and were gravely disadvantaged thereby.
… and by now, I’m sure that you are wondering as to ‘what gives’ with the headline title of this article?
… and that nicely brings us to the answer, and also to a change in approach that has proved paradigm changing to one particular associate and to others subsequently. As you might have gleaned, the whole process of closing on one of these deals is ultimately a process of kicking ass (Good), kissing ass (Not Good!), compromising, finding a middle way, shimmying and shammying and working to a middle ground; sometimes giving in and disadvantaging yourself somewhat in the process.
In spite of these best efforts, ultimately, most attempts at closing a deal eventually fail; either through sheer incompatibility of parties, or because the counterparty was a dud or a straight-up crook.
So, what is this magic shift in approach?
Well, one associate was fortunate enough to hook up with a freelance introducer who was intimately tied to a licensed and regulated Swiss financial entity. Because they had to work to immutable standards and procedures, where procedures of the parties were not exactly in alignment, they had no hesitation in disengaging immediately as they had no legal basis for proceeding.
Essentially, they told the potential client to ‘take a hike’ … albeit in a more professional financial parlance.
… actually, just a quick divergence; albeit operating in the ‘white’ zone rather than the ‘grey’, the financial entity divulged to my acquaintance that the success rate in concluding such business was only around 10%.
… ok, back to the main point.
So, the paradigm changing approach that my associate learned was exactly as illustrated; never be afraid or hesitate to tell a counterparty to ‘take a hike’ if your procedures and approach don’t meet. Yes, you can make minor adjustments if these will swing things for you, but on the major stuff; work out your approach, work out what you can manage as a methodology, work out your tolerances and parameters for adjustment and stick to it!
To many, this may feel counter-intuitive; but rather than bending and folding to accommodate people, if your modus is practical, logical and works, stick with it.
An example from cold call tele-sales, where the hit rate is about 1 ‘open’ in 12 calls.
All callers have a script, which some are tempted tweak and ‘freestyle’ as they go along. The really successful players though, are the ones that deliver exactly the same script, each and every time, because each call using that script, takes them one step closer to that eventual hit. The unsuccessful players, discouraged by around call 8-9 try to constantly change their luck by changing essentials of the script and therefore, figuratively, reset the ‘clock’ every time they do this.
So, stick to your guns, and success becomes a matter of probability rather than a matter of luck.
… and the relevance of the title of this article?
Well, it pretty much echoes the advice just given.
We have an idiom here in the UK when we wish to tell someone to ‘take a hike’ or ‘get lost’, but in a more genteel way: We tell people to “Take a long walk off a short Pier”.
Brighton is an iconic seaside destination in southern England. It has two Piers, one was destroyed in a fire decades ago and is thus, particularly short.
I’m sure you now get the meaning.
Worth it?
So, in conclusion, you now know quite a bit more about crypto introductory services than even many beginners already ‘on the pitch’ and trying to close up their first deals.
You have an insight into some of the workings and some of the tomfoolery that is attendant to this business.
And after having now had the insider track on the bare, unadulterated facts, you’re possibly asking yourself; “Is it ever worth getting involved?”. “Is all the time and trouble and stress worth it?”. “If the chance to jump in comes my way, should I go for it or pass?”.
Well, only you know what’s right for you, but as previously mentioned, first do the math’s.
On a small deal of say 2,500 BTC to Fiat/USDT swap with your individual comms set at 0.5%, at current market rates, that would equate to nearly $863,000.
So, is it worth it?
Well dear readers, that’s it for this week’s article. We hope that your time at MegaCrypto Casino has been well spent and you are leaving us enriched for having been with us and for having lent us your valuable time and attention.
Until next time, we wish you personally every happiness and every success in your ventures.