Interview with Blockchain Research Institute Founder Alex Tapscott
- 5 years ago
From startups to corporate giants, many are joining the race to use blockchain technology, a decentralized peer-to-peer system that enable online transactions.
For an expert's analysis of the industry and how Korean companies can make use of it, our Kim Hyesung sat down with, Alex Tapscott, investor in blockchain startups, co-author of the best-selling book "Blockchain Revolution" and founder of the Blockchain Research Institute.
Take a look.
1. Blockchain, along with AI, the internet of things and robotics, is considered one of the core technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, why is that?
What blockchain represents is a new evolution of the internet. For the first time in human history, we have a native digital medium for value that allows individuals, businesses and other institutions to move and store and manage assets, peer to peer in the same way that the internet allowed us to move and store information peer to peer. That obviously represents transformational capability for the economy. If you think about certain industries like financial services, still rely a lot mostly on intermediaries middlemen like banks to sit in the middle and establish trust, verify identity and enable movement of value, and now we have a way to replace that.
2. The Korean government and business circles are also trying to use blockchain technology and experiment it in various areas like the voting system, logistics and retail. Where do you see blockchain become the biggest driving force here in Korea??
I think financial services, Koreans could reinvent banking and use it as a new platform for people to access customers outside of Korea and also to broaden services inside Korea, telecommunications, if you look at manufacturing and industrial sectors, Korea's a huge industrial powerhouse, big companies like Samsung and LG and others, they could revolutionize their supply chains with blockchain.
3. What are some challenges that the blockchain technology needs to overcome so that more companies can use the technology and really create disruptions across sectors?
Well there are at least ten different challenges, there are so many actually that we dedicated a whole chapter in my book Blockchain Revolution to address each of these. the biggest ones today are number one is technology scalable to meet demands of companies and institutions, number two is how incumbents will react, what will existing companies do to stop or prevent this from growing. and then the third one of course, is governments and regulations, how do we create new rules or new policies to address the rate of change or innovation.
4. Any advice on the regulation front for the government?
Well, my only advice is that appreciate that as a government you have a lot of information but you may not have all the information. and you have to work with other stakeholders, and they should consider working very closely with industries to create new regulations. The biggest is
For an expert's analysis of the industry and how Korean companies can make use of it, our Kim Hyesung sat down with, Alex Tapscott, investor in blockchain startups, co-author of the best-selling book "Blockchain Revolution" and founder of the Blockchain Research Institute.
Take a look.
1. Blockchain, along with AI, the internet of things and robotics, is considered one of the core technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, why is that?
What blockchain represents is a new evolution of the internet. For the first time in human history, we have a native digital medium for value that allows individuals, businesses and other institutions to move and store and manage assets, peer to peer in the same way that the internet allowed us to move and store information peer to peer. That obviously represents transformational capability for the economy. If you think about certain industries like financial services, still rely a lot mostly on intermediaries middlemen like banks to sit in the middle and establish trust, verify identity and enable movement of value, and now we have a way to replace that.
2. The Korean government and business circles are also trying to use blockchain technology and experiment it in various areas like the voting system, logistics and retail. Where do you see blockchain become the biggest driving force here in Korea??
I think financial services, Koreans could reinvent banking and use it as a new platform for people to access customers outside of Korea and also to broaden services inside Korea, telecommunications, if you look at manufacturing and industrial sectors, Korea's a huge industrial powerhouse, big companies like Samsung and LG and others, they could revolutionize their supply chains with blockchain.
3. What are some challenges that the blockchain technology needs to overcome so that more companies can use the technology and really create disruptions across sectors?
Well there are at least ten different challenges, there are so many actually that we dedicated a whole chapter in my book Blockchain Revolution to address each of these. the biggest ones today are number one is technology scalable to meet demands of companies and institutions, number two is how incumbents will react, what will existing companies do to stop or prevent this from growing. and then the third one of course, is governments and regulations, how do we create new rules or new policies to address the rate of change or innovation.
4. Any advice on the regulation front for the government?
Well, my only advice is that appreciate that as a government you have a lot of information but you may not have all the information. and you have to work with other stakeholders, and they should consider working very closely with industries to create new regulations. The biggest is