It’s easy today to look at negative news and headlines around blockchain, and the volatility, as the tech not yet living up to its promise. I see it as parallel to the emergence of the internet, the speed bump of the dot com crash in the early 2000s, and the subsequent rise of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and others.
Despite some headwinds, businesses, non-profits, and governments are forging ahead with blockchain technology – because it works. It fills a need and serves a real purpose: secure, transparent, and auditable data allowing 24/7, global transaction capabilities. We can now better track business data, more effectively manage complex supply chains, expand protections for the work of artists and content creators while ensuring compensation, and drive the continued innovation of financial technology.
“Finance” can, and should, be more programmable, faster, and easier to access for everyone.
Bearing the scars of the Internet boom and its initial crash, I know we are in the early days of a consequential new set of technologies. The internet flourished, but not without some necessary pain and friction to establish how it fit within both the contexts of business and our daily lives–and I believe the same of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency.
Blockchain and digital assets are simply a new vehicle operating under the current regulatory structure and blockchains are rivalrous technologies, not a “new asset class.” I believe the path to success is collaborative, and the best technology will bring traditional and digital finance together to create something new. And, I’m encouraged by the tone and tenor of conversation around blockchain adoption, as it’s become clear that organizations around the world are taking the technology seriously and are working hard to get it right and use it right.
I believe building from a proper foundation and deploying blockchain technology to offer real decentralized networks and infrastructure, not built on securities, will enable American capital markets to be the world’s leader for decades.