The GFLC panel discusses the present and future of the blockchain

The current status and future potential of blockchain and cryptocurrencies have been the focal points of a panel at the Global Financial Leadership Conference this week in Naples, Florida.

The speakers were Arthur Hayes, co-founder and CEO of BitMEX; Dan O & # 39; Prey, chief marketing officer at Digital Asset; and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder and executive chairman of Reddit and co-founder of Initialized Capital. The moderator was Laura Shin, producer and presenter of the podcast "Unchained".

Here are some of the highlights:

• The speakers agreed that the cryptocurrency is far from being a significant class of activity, although Hayes said he saw a chance that it will change over the next 10 years. He said that the new products that are emerging from traditional financial institutions probably started in the fall, but they do not consider it a "bitcoin verdict that's better or worse right now." O & # 39; Prey noted that corporate software "takes a long time to do well" if institutions are adopting a long-term vision and building the infrastructure necessary to allow the access required by customers.
• "I deeply believe this is a worthwhile investment to do now," Ohanian said, because the "charlatans" were frightened by the cryptocurrency and "smart and motivated" people are working in space. "People will only try to push the blockchain into something that does not really make sense," Ohanian said, so the first question of Capital Initialized in response to a crypto step is whether a blockchain is needed or if a standard database will be sufficient.
• Or & # 39; Prey said that the hype is starting to dissipate and that the "real" projects are emerging, often in a more silent way. One example is the Australian Exchange Securities Exchange which replaces its own post-trading system for equity securities with distributed ledger technology, which shows a focus on business issues that are realistic to solve, he said.
• Many of the products advertised as decentralized are not, in the sense that they are often "just a way to get money from people who do not know … what's going on behind the scenes," Hayes said. "I think we still have a long way to go before we get to this utopia of decentralized applications," he said. The speakers said that the user experience is crucial, regardless of whether a product is decentralized.
• On the subject of tokenized securities, Ohanian said he wants the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop "truly weighted regulation" that allows space activities. He said he is excited about their long-term potential. Hayes, meanwhile, said he does not "see how retail investors … will get excited about an equity that looks like a bit of a digitized token". They could be heavily regulated, leading to high legal costs that could be a barrier, he said.