Przemek Kowalczyk is the co-founder and CEO of Ramp Network, where he has spent the past eight years addressing crypto onboarding at scale. With a background in physics and computer science, he has led product and engineering teams to deliver user-focused Web3 payments. Previously, he worked at Boston Consulting Group in advanced analytics and machine learning and co-founded Blockchain Hub Warsaw, a non-profit connecting Poland’s leading blockchain projects.
Ramp Network is a financial technology company offering on- and off-ramp solutions that connect cryptocurrency with the global financial system. It serves users in over 150 countries and supports major payment methods, including debit and credit cards, bank transfers, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Pix, and more.
Ramp started in 2018 when the on/off-ramp space looked very different. How has the experience of building then compared to today, and what have been some pivotal moments in your growth journey?
Before Ramp Network, in 2017, my co-founder and I attempted to build a customer-centric product on Ethereum. It failed, and one key lesson was that we lacked good UX for on- and off-ramps. At that time, the typical experience of buying crypto involved sending money to a shady exchange, begging your bank not to close your account, discovering that most payment cards didn’t work for this purpose, and often failing to start using crypto in the end. We realised that if we wanted the crypto ecosystem to provide solutions for everyday users, we needed to remove this entry barrier. That’s why we launched Ramp Network, with a mission to onboard the next millions of crypto users.
The early days involved a difficult journey through service providers, banks, and regulators who didn’t understand what blockchains are and often had an allergic reaction to any money flowing in or out of the ecosystem, suspecting foul play as a rule, not an exception. Nowadays, understanding has improved, regulations are clearer, but they also require even more effort to manage daily. Those entering the market today face substantial barriers that didn’t exist before.
For on-ramping, the most critical moments happen when a new crypto use case enters the market and new user behaviour appears, requiring a different product strategy and rapid adjustments. For example, play-to-earn (we enabled the early days of the Axie Infinity surge) or crypto off-ramping from World App. Reaching operational status in all 50 US states was a major milestone for 2024.
With MiCAR coming into force, how does your EU strategy differ from your US or LATAM approach?
The US involves navigating a complex state-by-state framework and establishing credibility in a mature but fragmented market. The EU is moving toward a unified framework with MiCAR, presenting both challenges and opportunities. Compliance requirements are demanding, but they enable scalable growth once met. We started preparing early by registering as a VASP with the Central Bank of Ireland last year, and we are now working to secure our MiCAR license, which we expect to receive in the coming weeks. LATAM, on the other hand, focuses more on solving practical issues like remittances, volatility hedging, and access to stablecoins. We customise our approach to fit each region’s regulatory environment and user needs.
Your research finds that 80% of users cite security as the top factor in crypto adoption. What steps are you taking to address that, and how does your SOC 2 Type II certification change your risk posture?
Security begins with trust. For us, that involves strict compliance, robust encryption, ongoing monitoring, and transparent processes for both users and partners. It also means designing workflows where the safest option is the simplest one because if safety feels complicated, user adoption declines. Our SOC 2 Type II certification is a vital part of that promise. While many providers settle for minimal standards, we went further by developing a comprehensive controls framework that addresses all five SOC 2 Trust Criteria, including the optional ones. It’s not about merely checking compliance boxes; it’s about implementing genuine, operational security. For partners, this reduces vendor risk. For users, it offers confidence that their data is protected with the same level of security as leading banks and SaaS providers.
With integrations like Metamask L2 offramps to BitPay’s buy-and-sell loop, how do you prioritise which ecosystems to focus on?
We focus on ecosystems where our infrastructure can remove real friction for end users and where partners agree on UX standards. This involves considering transaction volumes, developer activity, and user intent, as well as whether the integration can offer something significantly better than what exists today. That said, we’re always open to partnering with new and emerging ecosystems, not just the top ones. While we proactively prioritise high-impact opportunities, we also collaborate with smaller projects and aim to provide them with the same high level of service.
Ramp’s new checkout reduces start times and the number of steps by 50%. How did user research shape those changes?
We listened to where people dropped off, starting by talking to them directly. We conducted surveys with our customers and held live interviews with a variety of individuals, from those trying crypto for the first time and sharing their challenges, to experienced experts who suggested how to improve the process. We also analysed our internal data to identify where users abandoned the flow or which screens caused confusion. It wasn’t about adding more features; it was about reducing friction. Every extra click, form field, or page load could lead to abandonment. By simplifying steps, enhancing autofill, and preloading more data, we made the process feel nearly instant. That’s what users said they wanted: fast, seamless, and predictable.
With Open Banking and Native Flow offramping being standout features, where do you see the next big UX breakthrough in on/offramps?
We believe the next leap is in contextual payments. Users won’t think “I’m on-ramping” or “I’m off-ramping”; they’ll just move value instantly from wherever they are, whether that’s a game, a DeFi protocol, or a chat app. It’s about making crypto rails feel invisible.
Ramp positions itself as “one KYC, hundreds of products.” How much of your future product roadmap revolves around improving the ID layer?
A lot. The ID layer is crucial for making the ecosystem interoperable. Once a user has verified with us, they should be able to access an expanding network of products without repeating the process. This benefits compliance, partners, and user experience, and we see it as one of the main ways to unlock growth. We are also exploring document-free KYC in certain countries, as we previously did in Brazil, to allow faster verification on the go. At the same time, we’re developing KYC-sharing initiatives with select partners so that if a new user has already completed KYC with them, they can be automatically verified with Ramp Network and avoid the process altogether. The goal is to make verification secure, portable, and nearly invisible to the end user.
Beyond speed and convenience, what do you see as the next frontier for on/off ramps in a multichain, tokenised economy?
Before, on- and off-ramps removed the complexity of traditional exchanges by offering a simpler, more intuitive way to buy and sell crypto, closer to a traditional e-commerce checkout. In a multichain, tokenised economy, we believe the next step is interoperability that hides crypto’s complexity entirely. Users shouldn’t have to think about which chain an asset sits on, whether they have the right wallet connected, or if they hold the native token to pay gas fees.
Buying a tokenised stock or stablecoin should feel just like making an online purchase with a card. At Ramp Network, we handle the routing, bridging, and fee abstraction behind the scenes, so even if the transaction touches multiple blockchains, the user experience remains simple and predictable. Abstracting gas fees is especially important. For example, we want to allow someone to off-ramp stablecoins without them worrying about topping up ETH, SOL, or MATIC just to cover network costs.
The real frontier for us is making value movement chain-agnostic and instant, so the “how” disappears and all that’s left is the outcome the user wants, whether that’s topping up a gaming wallet, sending remittances, or cashing out a tokenised asset.