What’s Next for Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency After the FTX Collapse?
Over the last week, as crypto exchange FTX crumbled into bankruptcy amid revelations of misappropriation of customer funds, imaginary marks and risky bets, crypto’s proponents and detractors alike have instead posed a question in place of a phrase. “Wait, wasn’t bitcoin supposed to solve this?” In light of the growing apathy, it’s important that we grab the reins tighter and hold on to the fundamentals principles, as well as the possibilities that the blockchain, cryptocurrency and its applications provide for the future of commerce globally.
The Way Forward for the Global Blockchain Ecosystem
Cryptocurrency is a single application of the blockchain, and it would be easy to get distracted if you were building technology that utilizes the blockchain. But as with any new technology, bad faith actors shouldn’t be a deterrent to building technology that resolves critical pain points, despite low customer and investor faith. Ultimately, the mission is about deploying blockchain technology to solve real problems and how we can make it accessible to more people; anything else is a distraction.
The first time we envisioned Koolute powering real estate's value chain on blockchain. Just a few people were curious, but today, we have received tons of requests from architects based in Senegal, Abidjan and throughout Africa who are interested in learning about the benefits of blockchain technology for real estate.
From where we stand, we are confident that the space needs endearing regulations that are on par with the risks and create a safe space for blockchain innovation to thrive. We need to do more to highlight corporate governance needs and vulnerabilities, but this isn’t new even in traditional financial systems.
Additionally, we need to be bullish about investor protection, security, integrity, licensing and regulations, thorough due diligence, and process transparency. There’s also an increased need to do the painstaking work that it takes to create an overarching and consistent global framework and policy standards across jurisdictions, as well as deepen cross border collaboration to tackle legal and regulatory challenges. JP Morgan has been recently quoted saying that the collapse of FTX could be the catalyst to massively ramp up the institutional adoption of crypto. While FTX is empowering skeptics, all of the recent collapses have been from centralized players and not from decentralized protocols.
Data and trust will be important ingredients for the long term survival of this industry, and we are confident that the blockchain has a critical role to play in supercharging growth for commerce, health care, real estate, the possibilities are endless.
Let’s keep building.
