Last week I dust off my winter coat, with the persistent cold. In the crypto scene, however, it was one big “winter” all year round, after the Bitcoin’s price dropped to $ 3,000 in December 2018, after having peaked at $ 20,000 in December 2017. In the months that followed, the price rose again until nearly $ 14,000 in July, but in the meantime, only half of that has been left by a pike dive off the course. Unfortunately, the predictions by self-proclaimed experts that the price would rise again to the old record or even higher to $ 50,000, $ 100,000 or even $ 1,000,000 did not come true. Whether that is due to the disappointing launch of BAKKT, the absence of a first ETF or institutional glow wave is difficult to say.

A harsh winter is always good for dying pests, just like in the crypto scene. Over 80% of the projects that did an Initial Coin Offering (method of raising money through crypto-currency) turned out to be an outright scam and research of the most popular crypto-currency website Coinmarketcap shows that of the top 2000 crypto projects, a quarter hasn’t posted an update on code platform Github for more than a year and even a third didn’t do this in the past 5 years.

“Winter is a season to struggle through, to endure, and the price we pay for the brilliant and beautiful spring that follows.”

Erik Voorhees

Na een strenge winter komt altijd de lente en zoals ik al in mijn vorige blog schreef, hebben de projecten die de winter hebben overleefd, allerlei prachtige vorderingen gecommuniceerd en ligt er veel moois in het verschiet voor 2020. Bijna 20% van de wereldbevolking heeft inmiddels wel eens cryptovaluta gekocht volgens Kaspersky en worden volgens Deloitte bedrijven ook steeds positiever.

Kaspersky

After a harsh winter, spring always follows and, as I wrote in my previous blog, the projects that survived the winter have communicated all kinds of wonderful progress and there are many beautiful prospects for 2020. Nearly 20% of the world’s population bought cryptocurrencies according to Kaspersky and according to Deloitte, companies are also becoming more positive about using them.

The crypto scene is one of the few environments I know, that is changing so rapidly at the moment. Prices, new technological developments, actions taken by governments, from one day to the next, have a major impact on issues such as price levels, use and further development of cryptocurrency. Nevertheless, a number of major developments are expected in 2020, which will certainly have a great impact on cryptocurrency.

1) Bitcoin’s Halving

Analyzing the crypto news from the past months, it is mainly about just 1 event that will take place; the ‘halving’ of Bitcoin, which is expected in May 2020. The reward for the ‘miners’ of the Bitcoin blockchain network will then be halved and historically this has always led to a price increase of a few hundred percents, due to, among other things, the decreasing available number of Bitcoins. However, the opinions are divided, because there are also experts who mark the price increase of last year (from $ 3000 to $ 13000) as the corresponding price increase as a “halving effect”.

Some even see the declining reward as something that will actually negatively influence the price, because it is no longer interesting for many small miners to switch on their computers and maintain the Bitcoin blockchain network. With earlier ‘halvings’ the price always increased towards the beginning of the month, so in the first quarter, we will immediately see if it will be the long-awaited catalyst, which not only increases the value of the Bitcoin, but also the strongly connected altcoins, which almost always rise exponentially. Are we going to see a new “all-time high”? Or will it be the biggest deception of cryptocurrency owners in two years? The first months of 2020 will tell!

2) Libra

Recently, at the European Commission’s annual blockchain event in Malaga, I heard the head of Facebook’s Libra talking about their plans for 2020. The company has recently been overwhelmed by loads of negative responses from governments to its latest project and it’s not even certain whether the project will be launched at all. In Europe, Germany, France, and Italy are working on measures to ban the project and the launch in the United States is not yet certain, even though CEO Zuckerberg recently announced that they will only launch if the regulators are fully in line with that. He also warned his investors that the project may not be launched at all. Other top management of the social network published criticism about the project and a number of important shareholders from the first hour; Paypal, Visa, and Mastercard declined their participation, probably under high pressure from the American regulators.

Social Media

In my earlier blog about Libra, I already indicated that I have mixed feelings about the new project. The cesspool with affairs around Facebook seems to be drying up, and the question is whether we want to entrust something so precarious like our financial data (according to Dutch National Bank research, the most privacy-sensitive data for consumers) to the social media company. On the other hand, we still have 1.7 billion (!) people without bank accounts, of which 1 billion have a mobile phone.

According to the World Bank, they now pay high rates (on average 7%) for transferring and receiving money through a third party and therefore cannot save money. Something that the economic growth of a country can contribute significantly to achieving various Social Development Goals of the United Nations. McKinsey even calculated that this $ 3.7 trillion can contribute to the GNP of developing countries in the next 10 years.

Major Concerns

Central banks, such as our Dutch National Bank, all point to two major concerns; the stability of the financial system; what will happen when Libra is so large, that it will have an impact on the monetary policy of the banks? And the question of how the company counteracts money laundering (AML) and identifies all actors on the network (KYC) to combat terrorism financing, for example, have both not made clear yet.

Next year will, therefore, be an interesting year, not just for Libra. Other large companies, such as Wallmart, are also working on their own digital currencies and various governments are now also accelerating their efforts to look seriously at their own digital currencies, such as the European Union and China. There are also companies that stand behind the governments and indicate that the money system should remain in the hands of governments, as Apple’s CEO Tim Cook recently indicated. However, the business case remains very interesting; various studies have shown that consumers spend much more with digital forms of money than with cash, also known as the “house money effect”. The adoption of such a system, even according to the developers of Libra, will take many, many years to come.

3) Big money

I think it has been one of the biggest deceptions last year in the cryptocurrency scene; the introduction of BAKKT. The platform would, on the one hand, allow efficient buying, selling, issuing and storing of cryptocurrencies and, on the other hand, the use of large parties such as Starbucks (with 30,000 branches) which had until recently, more digital payments made than with Apple Pay (in the United States). This was supposed to cause a huge demand for Bitcoin, which would, of course, have a positive effect on the price. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm for the platform was disappointing and the price of Bitcoin fell 19%.

As the parent company owns the largest stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and cooperates with established names such as Microsoft and BCG, the platform must primarily inspire institutional investors, such as pension funds, to invest large sums of money in cryptocurrency. That did not happen before, because the infrastructure simply lacked and the coins are too volatile in value. Both things that BAKKT eliminates with its platform.

Cryptocurrency market

It is no secret that large investors are eager to enter the cryptocurrency market. In the corridors of a number of large Dutch banks, it is indicated that their private bankers will advise rich clients to invest 5–10% in cryptocurrency in 2020 and many managers of ‘family offices’ (management offices of very wealthy individuals/families) who I speak, are also working on this. Crypto-currency companies like Coinbase indicate that they receive hundreds of millions per week from institutional investors to save or trade in futures. The great thing about blockchain is that everything is transparent, so also the transactions and size of digital wallets. A recent analysis of all Bitcoin wallets here shows a very strong increase in wallets of large size.

Because only 21 million Bitcoins can be made and 4 million are lost, the number of scarcity is increasing and that is increasing, which of course is good for the price.

The big money is visible and invisible already busy entering the market, I am curious what effect this will have in 2020 on the prices of the various cryptocurrencies and of course further development of the whole.

4) Further development of projects

Shrew mice live on average only 1–1.5 years and are therefore the shortest living animals on earth. In that respect, they resemble blockchain projects, which also have an average lifespan of 1.12 years, Chinese research among all 80,000 projects revealed.

With Bitcoin’s insane price increase, which is $ 7,500 at the time of writing, many fortune seekers are looking for a cryptocurrency that also has the potential to “moon” (crypto language for a price increase of hundreds of percent). Because of the short lifespan of most projects, a few people have become very wealthy due to the right investment, but the large masses have simply lost a lot of money by selling or selling them too late. In the Netherlands alone, about half a million consumers invested nearly a billion euros in cryptocurrencies, and because most of them bought them at the top of the market, most people are still overdrawn with their investment.

Setup a Project

In my earlier blog I already wrote several tips when looking for the “new Apple” and indicated here that it is especially very important to thoroughly screen the projects on different points; “Do Your Own Research”. You are not just going to send money to a company where you are not even sure where they are located, whose team does not have the knowledge to set up such a project or where little information can be found on the internet? In the madness at the end of 2017, many people haphazardly put money into projects without sorting out these kinds of things, leaving many billions of euros in the pockets of fraudsters setting up fake projects or simply a handful of people who sold on time to a large group of people, who subsequently saw their investments fall in value rapidly.

Many greats in cryptocurrency continue to designate Bitcoin as sole ruler and expect all other cryptocurrencies to quickly take a seat on the “Crypto Graveyard.” I myself still believe in several other projects that have already moved away from large user groups, published several major updates and are still going through many great developments in 2020.

DAPPS

In addition to Bitcoin, Ethereum is often mentioned as the “Microsoft” of cryptocurrency but has received serious competition from, among others, EOS and TRON. If we look for example at the number of Decentralized Apps (DAPPS) on Dappradar, we see that of the top 50, only 3 on the Ethereum network and the rest on that of the two competitors. It is the project, which enjoys a lot of respect in the cryptocurrency and blockchain community because it brought a major step forward in the development of technology by not only facilitating payments but also introducing “smart contracts” and “dapps”.

In 2020, the major (2.0) update of its network is on the “Serenity” program, with which Ethereum makes a supercomputer by introducing a different and much more energy-efficient “consensus method” for validating the transactions; “Proof of Stake” and implemented various solutions to make the network scalable, such as Sharding, Plasma, and Raiden. With the rapidly increasing trend around DAPPS and possible approval of regulated futures, this can all be very positive for the exchange rate of the currency.

Other projects that are taking major steps are Ripple, which has already connected 200 banks to its network and which could replace SWIFT (the organization that now controls the global financial system), Vechain, BAT, EOS, IOTA and TRON.

5) Regulation

Governments worldwide work overtime to regulate the rapid emergence of cryptocurrencies and companies in the industry. As long as it does not (very much) hinder its innovation, I am very much in favor of it, since it not only reduces the chance that cryptocurrencies are used for criminal activities such as money laundering, but it also gives greater certainty to the large investors and therefore makes them faster let enter the market.

One of the core tasks of governments is to protect their citizens. After the many scandals surrounding cryptocurrencies in recent years, where consumers lost a lot of money by investing in ‘fake projects’ and / or entrusting them to trade fairs that went bankrupt for mysterious reasons, such as QuadrigaCX, the Dutch government also takes this task dead serious. It even wants to take the lead in the European field, with its laws and regulations. The AMLD5 legislation will come into effect immediately in January, in which crypto-currency exchanges and custodians (wallets) will be required to register with the Dutch National Bank, receive a review of the suitability of directors and shareholders and must demonstrate that their business processes are designed for money laundering ( AML) and counter-terrorism financing.

According to Minister Hoekstra of finance, the main objective is to combat money laundering.

All Dutch companies that I know that have to comply with this legislation are now proactively working on the implementation of the DNB and most of them are already compliant.

With the above-mentioned expectations for 2020 in the crypto-currency area, I am extremely curious as to what is going to happen; what all will actually happen and what effect it will have on the industry. According to many experts, Bitcoin is going to “go on or under”, I think it will mainly be a year of rapidly increasing maturity and further technological development of the industry.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

It was coming and in an Apple-like way; slowly more and more details were being published, leading to the big announcement last month. However, the launch of the “Libra” project, also called the Facebook “coin,” was very different in many ways from what most experts were expecting. Not only the legal structure but also the list of already confirmed partners and various applications surprised many people. And frightened them.

IMF-director Lagarde already predicted, that ‘big tech’ would have a disruptive effect on the financial sector in the upcoming years. With a player like Facebook, a ‘point of no return’ could be achieved, if a large part of its users will start using its product short-term. In comparison; 350 million people worldwide use the Dollar. If only 14% of the current amount of Facebook users will start using the Libra, this user basis is already larger as the Dollar. The coin is therefore seen as a potential competitor of Paypal, Western Union, and Adyen, but also world currencies such as the Euro and Dollar.

Facebook Coin

Many media, experts and governments stumbled over each other, to mention that this project really went a step too far. Where it is impossible for a highly decentralized project like Bitcoin to call in a responsible person or agency for hearings by legal authorities, it is, fortunately, possible for Libra to do and this has already been done by European and American regulators. In particular, the recent scandals that continue to haunt the initiating company of the currency on a daily basis, are an important reason why many organizations and governments shudder at the idea that it would now also gain access to the financial data of its users. Something that fits perfectly into Facebook’s strategy, just like the Chinese WeChat not to be an open platform, but really a “private messaging” tool, with payment functionalities linked to it.

It was hard for me to find really positive responses to the project by media and governments. Many Western media and governments are looking down on the project in every possible way, but from (mostly developing) countries where the currency is likely to have a major impact, people are already eager to start using it. With our outstanding financial infrastructures in the West, such as the Dutch online banking solutions Ideal (online payments) and Tikkie (peer-to-peer payments), we sometimes forget, that in many countries this is far from the most natural thing in the world.

Remittance Payments

In 2019, one-third of the world’s population does not yet have access to banking services, such as a bank and/or savings account and insurance. In many countries in Asia, Africa, and South America, only 10–25% have this type of facility, simply because they are refused them by banks, as they are not an interesting type of client. A large part of the money being used in these countries ($ 500 billion), is being sent from other countries. Relatives send their families so-called “remittance payments” from the (often Western) country where they work. The costs for this type of transaction are so shockingly high (8–30%), especially for the people who can use each penny very well, that I understand why the reactions from the Western world are completely at odds with those from the rest.

Social Inclusion

With more than $ 6 trillion in cross-border transactions per day, there is also enough room for new models and systems. A currency like Libra can greatly contribute to the “social inclusion” of countries and thus economic growth and the achievement of the “Social Development Goals,” calculated the World Bank and McKinsey. With a digital wallet of their own, people who don’t get/have a bank account can finally save money digitally. You hardly read this argument anywhere else, while it is so incredibly important for the further development of many countries.

Yes, I’m still no enthusiastic about; not only the entire discussion about privacy and data, but also the fact that you don’t get interested in your Libra coins (only the facilitating partners, who according to calculations will earn a lot of money with it) and the absence of a concrete approach to prevent money laundering (AML) and to prevent financing of, for example, terrorism (KYC). It will take a while before the project will be made available; only next year the official launch is expected. On the one hand, I am curious about what is left of the project after the regulatory grill.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

With 350 ‘Tikkies’ (easy app to send payment requests via Whatsapp) and 1100 ‘Ideal’ (Dutch standard for internet payments) payment, being processed in The Netherlands, we’re belonging to one of the most cashless societies worldwide. When we look to countries like Congo (Africa), where government workers are still paid with stacks of cash from a truck and several South-American countries, where most people don’t have a bank account but have pigs in their backyard that act as savings account, the situation is totally different.

Globally, over 2 billion people don’t have a bank account, according to the World Bank. In some South East Asian countries, this amount is 25% of the inhabitants, whereas in some African countries it is only 10%. While cash is still king in some countries, in some countries alternative payment solutions like M-Pesa, where money transactions are being sent between mobile phones, are very popular. In Kenya, 50% of the GDP is being sent via M-Pesa and 95% of the inhabitants have access to it.

The denationalization of money

In 1976, Friedrich Hayek wrote in his book ‘the denationalization of money’ about setting up competing currencies, that would start a battle about the monopolies of central banks. It looks like, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg has read this book during the many sleepless nights he definitely has had in the past months, which have been devastating for his company. The scandals keep on being revealed and several governments are grilling the company legally. In The Netherlands, 600.000 users closed their account and the users that remained, are using the platform less intensive, impacting the financial results. Not even thinking about all the advertisers that walked away.

New Revenue Streams

New projects should give the company not only a more positive image but could also provide new revenue streams. The company knows all the details of our personal life and could, with all the data they have, run some very interesting and effective services. After the announcement that the company will focus on the dating market (a $10 billion market), project ‘Libra’, with which the company would like to create an own digital currency, has gained momentum at rapid speed. The ‘GlobalCoin’ will be a so-called ‘stablecoin’ (which I explained in a previous blog), linked to several currencies like the Dollar and Euro. It is the second try of the company making its own digital currency after it silently killed project ‘Facebook Credits’. Zuckerberg described the purpose of this coin as:

“it should be as easy to send money to someone as it is to send a photo”.

The project has been officially registered in Switzerland, the company currently has conversations with the American and British government about the necessary regulation and would like to launch the coin already this month (earlier reports told 2020) in 18 countries. The business case is of course very interesting, as one-third of the world populations logs into Facebook at least once a month and in countries like India, 80% of the SME’s are using Whatsapp to promote goods. Because of the European PSD-2 regulations, it is furthermore very easy to obtain financial details from consumers and for the 8.5 million websites and shops, using the Facebook Login, it should be very easy to accept payments with one click.

GlobalCoin

Users could furthermore be paid in the ‘GlobalCoin’, for watching ads on the platform, just like the Brave browser is facilitating already for all websites. Although the company is denying, it is almost completely inspired by already working solutions of the Asian companies AliPay and WechatPay, which are currently bigger and mightier then Chinese banks and credit cards.

When we zoom into developing countries, you see where the ‘GlobalCoin’ will have a siginificant effect. Several academic research reports have shown that financial inclusiveness (having an own digital savings account etc), can significantly contribute to both the country’s economic growth and accomplish the UN Social Development Goals. McKinsey found that this can even add $3.7 billion to the GDP of developing countries in the upcoming 10 years. Furthermore, over half a trillion Dollars of so-called ‘remittance payments’ (payments between for example workers abroad and their families at home) was sent in the past year, where transaction costs of these -often Western banks- are ranging from 8–12 and sometimes even 30%. Imagine how significantly lowering these costs (Facebook is thinking about a fee of 1%) would impact the receivers of these payments in developing countries.

Implementing Globalcoin

Directly implementing this ‘GlobalCoin’ globally, would most people say, based on the things mentioned above. But we almost forget the reason why all the latest scandals surrounding the company started. It is known as the largest ‘data slurper’ and because of the unconventional and irresponsible way of how it is sometimes using this data. Photos of the nice team outing are not that exciting, but research done by the Dutch Central Bank shows that Dutch citizens see their financial data as very privacy sensitive. Would you like to give all this data to a company, being known because is it using all possible ways to commercialize your data and often blames others for acting safely?

Globalcoin Useage

Cryptocurrency fanatics are very positive about the project, as they think it will kickstart the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. If only 2% of the 1,5 billion daily Facebook users will use the ‘GlobalCoin’, it would double the current global amount of cryptocurrency users. The project will face lots of hurdles; from regulations and demographic problems (the user base is getting old very fast). For me, it is another new, devastating step, in losing our privacy. The business model of Facebook has, notwithstanding all scandals, still huge conflicts of interest with its own interests and those of its users. Conflicts I see growing, with their new services, like the ‘GlobalCoin’.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

De uitgeefsector, goed voor 26 miljard dollar omzet in 2018, is druk bezig met zichzelf opnieuw uitvinden. Net zoals verschillende andere industrieën. Dit komt door de waanzinnige impact van de digitale- en internetrevolutie. De ouderwetse creatie-, distributie- en verdienmodellen werken niet meer. Blockchaintechnologie kan de uitgeefsector op verschillende manieren helpen bij het nemen van de volgende quantum leaps.

Verschillende grote bedrijven, zoals The New York Times, zijn al druk bezig met de implementatie van blockchain. Ook schieten de startups uit de grond. Recent sprak ik voor IAB Nederland, de Nederlandse branchevereniging voor digitale marketing, bij de Telegraaf Media Groep over de impact van blockchain. Daar haalde ik de volgende zaken aan.

Een eerlijke vergoeding voor de maker

Sommige schrijvers van boeken verdienen miljoenen euro’s met hun werk. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan de schrijfster van Harry Potter (55 miljoen dollar). Maar dit soort auteurs zijn in de minderheid. Een verkocht boek levert ze vaak tussen de vijftig cent en twee euro op. En gemiddeld verkopen ze 3000 exemplaren van één boek.

Bekende DJ’s als Armin van Buuren daargelaten, waar je vroeger als artiest binnenliep met de verkoop van albums, betaalt Spotify-artiesten tussen de 0.006 en 0.0084 dollar per stream. Voor een modaal inkomen moeten mensen jouw nummer zes miljoen keer beluisteren op jaarbasis.

Hoewel platformen als Amazon KDP en Spotify de sector een boost gaven qua opbrengst, blijft het grootste gedeelte van de opbrengst achter bij de vele tussenpersonen in de keten. Zo komt er maar een klein deel terecht bij de oorspronkelijke maker.

Blockchain-startups

Er zijn verschillende blockchain-startups die dit willen aanpakken. Zij willen contentmakers enerzijds een eerlijkere beloning geven voor hun werk. Anderzijds willen ze het makkelijker maken om contentgebruikers in contact te brengen met de makers.

Een mooi voorbeeld hiervan is Publica. Dit bedrijf stelt schrijvers in staat om boeken te crowdfunden. Consumenten krijgen tokens in ruil voor de investering. Daarmee kunnen ze een kopie van het boek krijgen. Het Chinese WeiFund doet dit voor alle soorten media en faciliteerde de campagne voor de film BRAID al succesvol. Steemit, de tegenhanger van het populaire blogmedium Medium, doet dit voor blogschrijvers.

De academische wereld

Academici zijn eigenlijk één van de weinige contentmakers die dit niet voor een financiële beloning doen. Dat is best raar, want in hun werk zit ontzettend veel tijd en moeite. Het systeem zit dan ook vreemd in elkaar. Als je niet in een bekende database als JSTOR of Wiley staat, hoor je er niet bij en kunt je een mooie academische carrière vergeten. En dat terwijl deze platformen geen enkele euro van de honderden miljoenen die ze verdienen, uitkeren aan de makers.

Oud CERN- en NASA-medewerkers zetten hiervoor de startup Orvium op. Dit zet enerzijds het peerreview-proces overzichtelijk op de blockchain, en anderzijds betaalt het academici voor hun werk. Startup Pluto focust zich enkel op de vergoeding.

Gaat blockchain alle tussenschakels verwijderen? Nee. Er zitten altijd nog partijen zoals marketing tussen, maar makers krijgen een eerlijkere vergoeding.

Wie is de maker eigenlijk?

Er is waanzinnig veel gratis content beschikbaar. En elke minuut komt er weer ontzettend veel content bij. Daardoor is het vrijwel onmogelijk om te zien aan wie voor welke content betaald moet worden. De veel bediscussieerde nieuwe Europese Artikel 13-wet is een eerste stap in de goede richting van een betere licensering van content en het voorkomen van misbruik ervan. Dit is dus ook een stap richting een betere betaling van content. Technologisch gezien zitten er nog veel haken en ogen aan.

Transparanter en efficiënter

Blockchain kan dit geheel een stuk transparanter, eerlijker, duurzamer en efficiënter maken. De organisatie Editions at Play zette als voorbeeld voor dit proces het boek A Universe Explodes op de blockchain. Ze willen daarmee laten zien hoe het werkt. Daarnaast zijn er verschillende startups die al werkende oplossingen aanbieden. Mediachain heeft bijvoorbeeld een oplossing die de metadata van muziek veilig opslaat en aanbiedt.

Recentelijk kocht Spotify dit. De dienst kwam onder vuur te liggen door niet betaalde royalties, wat volgens onderzoek komt doordat 25% van de gestreamde muziek geen licentie heeft. Grammy-winnend artiest Imogen Heap zette ook zo’n soort oplossing op de markt, genaamd Mycelia.

Databases voor teksten, films, series & kunstwerken

Met Civil kunnen lezers journalisten direct betalen. Op die manier zijn journalisten niet meer afhankelijk van grote mediakanalen. Ook voor amateurschrijvers zijn er verschillende oplossingen beschikbaar, zoals het populaire Po.et. Dit bedrijf heeft een decentrale database waar auteurs hun content in op kunnen slaan. Je kunt er ook inzichtelijk maken wie jouw content gebruikt, al is het maar één zin.

Po.et biedt een WordPress-plugin aan. Daarmee kun je een gepubliceerd blog direct in de database van de startup zetten. Het Nederlandse bedrijf Fintage House heeft net zo’n oplossing voor films en series. Artlery doet dit voor kunstwerken.

Het einde van fake news?

Dagelijks komt het voorbij: fake news. Op alle mogelijke kanalen en in de meest ingenieuze vormen die het heel echt doen lijken. MIT kwam in onderzoek tot de ontdekking dat we fake news 70% sneller op Twitter delen dan echte artikelen.

Een groeiend probleem

We kunnen blockchain inzetten om het gebruik van wisdom of the crowd tegen te gaan. Er zijn dan ook verschillende startups die tokens geven in ruil voor het maken van echte content. Gebruikers valideren deze content.

Startups Trive en DIRT bouwden bijvoorbeeld een systeem dat fact-checkers beloont. PUBLIQ werkt met de echtheid-score van lezers, net als Civil. Maar niet alleen startups zijn druk bezig met het vinden van oplossingen voor dit alsmaar groeiende probleem. De Europese Commissie maakte het inmiddels ook één van haar speerpunten.

Clickfraud

Fraude met digitale advertenties (clickfraud) kost bedrijven wereldwijd bijna zeven miljard dollar per jaar. Dit groeit momenteel met 50% per jaar. Eén van elke drie aan advertenties uitgegeven dollar is frauduleus. En de World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) verwacht dat de totale kosten in 2025 groeien tot vijftig miljard dollar.

Bedrijven zetten bots op de de meest vernuftige manieren in om het aantal clicks en views omhoog te krijgen. Dit is inmiddels goed voor 48% van het websitebezoek. Het gaat zelfs zo ver dat bots bijvoorbeeld online configuratoren van auto’s als BMW (waarvoor je euro’s per configuratie betaalt) nep invullen.

Ad-fraude tegengaan

Dit is een ontzettend groot probleem voor adverteerders en uitgevers. Momenteel werken bedrijven er op verschillende manieren met behulp van blockchain aan om dit tegen te gaan. Deze bedrijven zijn vooral bezig met het bouwen van platformen die de authenticiteit van de impressies verifiëren, maar ook relaties in kaart brengen tussen adverteerders, uitgevers en consumenten.

IBM is op dit moment samen met Salon bezig met het project AdLedger. Dit is een pilot om een gedeelde ledger aan te bieden voor het transparant en inzichtelijk maken van clicks voor zowel adverteerders als uitgevers. Ook Amino Payments biedt een dergelijke oplossing, die daarnaast helpt met het optimaler inzetten van advertenties. AdEx gaat nog een stap verder met ‘advertentie-veilingen’ op de blockchain.

Samen makkelijker content maken

Blockchain inzetten is niet alleen op commercieel vlak interessant. Het kan ook samenwerkingen met betrekking tot contentcreatie een stuk efficiënter maken. Als je een goed product wil maken, zijn er vaak verschillende experts nodig om de content te maken, bewerken, designen en om het op de markt te brengen. Dergelijke processen zijn vanwege de kosten eigenlijk alleen mogelijk voor grote bedrijven.

Door het decentrale karakter van de blockchaintechnologie is dit nu ook mogelijk voor kleinere partijen. Eén van de eigenschappen van blockchain is dat niemand de opgeslagen data kan aanpassen. Dit voorkomt fraude. Blockchain maakt bijvoorbeeld de geschiedenis van een document op het gebied van wijzigingen (wat en door wie) volledig transparant.

Blockchain maakt de geschiedenis van documenten volledig transparant.

Eindeloos veel mogelijkheden

Zoals ik in een eerder artikel schreef: de blockchaintechnologie is nog redelijk nieuw en bevindt zich op allerlei vlakken. Nu zit het voornamelijk nog in de experimentele fase. Hoewel veel startups werkende producten al succesvol inzetten, is de impact nog klein. Maar de mogelijkheden zijn eindeloos en ik geloof er dan ook echt in dat de uitgeefsector in de komende vijf jaren geweldig kan profiteren van deze nieuwe technologie.

Heb jij ervaring met de blockchaintechnologie in de uitgeefsector? Hoe gaat dat je af? Deel het met me in een reactie hieronder!

Like several other industries, the publishing industry (accounting for $26 billion of revenue in 2018), is busy reinventing itself, due to the huge impact of the digital revolution. The old-fashioned creation, distribution and revenue models do no longer work and blockchain technology can help the sector to take the next “quantum leaps” in various ways.

Several large companies active in the sector, such as the New York Times, are already busy with the implementation of the technology and new startups working on new solutions emerge on a weekly basis. Recently, I was invited to speak at the Telegraaf Media Group (one of the largest Dutch media companies) about the impact of blockchain on the sector, where I mentioned these four points of interest:

A Fair Compensation For The Producer Of Content

Some bookwriters earn millions of euros from their work, like Harry Potters’ JK Rowling ($ 55 million). However, they are in the minority; a sold book yields the writer between 50 cents and 2 euros and on average, only 3000 copies of a book are usually sold. The same holds for music makers. Spotify pays an artist between $ 0.006 to $ 0.0084 per stream. If you want to earn a modal income as an artist, you need at least 6 million streams of your song on an annual basis. Although platforms like Amazon KDP (self-publishing books) and Spotify have given the sector a boost in terms of revenu and reach, the majority of revenue is earned by all the intermediaries at the supply chain and only a small portion ends up at the original maker of the content.

There are various blockchain startups, that want to tackle this. Give content creators a more fair share for their work and make it easier to put the user of content in more direct contact with the creator of it. Good examples are Publica, which enables book writers to crowdfund a book. In exchange for the investment, the consumer receives tokens, with which he can retreive a copy of the book. The Chinese startup Weifund does this for all types of media and has already successfully facilitated the crowdfunding campaign for the movie ‘Braids’. The counterpart of the popular blog medium Medium, Steem, does this for blog writers.

Content Creators

Academics are one of the few creators of content, who are actually not producing this content for a financial reward. Looking at the huge time investment, this is of course strange. It is the current system, causing this. If you are not in a well-known research database such as JSTOR or Wiley, you’re not ‘on the map’ and can basically forget a nice career as a researcher. But these platforms are not paying anything (while they earn hundreds of millions of Dollars) to the creator. Former CERN and NASA-employees have set up the Orvium startup for this, with which on the one hand the peer-review process is clearly facilitated on the blockchain and on the other hand, academics are paid for their work. The Pluto startup focuses solely on reimbursement.

Is blockchain going to remove all intermediaries? No, there will certainly be parties like marketing agencies still be involved, but makers of the content will finally receive a fairer compensation fort heir work

Who Is The Creator Of The Content Anyway?

There is such an incredible amount of free content available on the web and every minute, there is so much content added, that it is virtually impossible to see which content should actually be paid for to whom. The much-discussed new European “Article 13” law is a first step in the direction of better licensing (and therefore payment) of content and prevents abuse of it. Technologically there are still a lot of hurdles to take, but blockchain can make this work a lot more transparent, fairer, more sustainable and more efficient.

As an example of this process, the organization Editions at Play has placed the book “A Universe Explodes” on the blockchain to show how this works. In addition, there are various startups that already offer working solutions to facilitate this. Mediachain offers a solution that securely stores and makes the metadata of music availible for everyone and was recently purchased by Spotify. The music streaming service was being sued because of unpaid royalties, which is, according to research because 25% of streaming music is not licensed. The Grammy-winning artist Imogen Heap has launched a similar solution on the market; Mycelia.

Through Civil, journalists can be paid directly by readers of their content and are no longer dependent on large media channels. There are also several solutions available for amateur writers, like the popular PO.ET, which offers authors a decentralized database to store content, but also shows who is uctually using your content (even if it is just a sentence). The startup offers a WordPress plug-in, making it very easy to direcly publishing the blog and put it ‘on the blockchain’. Moreover, The Dutch company Fintage House is offering the same solution for movies and series, Artlery does this for art.

The End Of “Fake News”?

Every day I’m faced with fake news. On all online and offline channels and in the most ingenious ways, that make it look very real. In their research, MIT discovered that “fake news” is shared 70% faster on Twitter than real articles.

Blockchain can be used here in an interesting way, especially by using “wisdom of the crowd”, to prevent this from happening. There are therefore several startups that reward tokens, in exchange for creating real content, which is validated by users. For example, the startup Trive and Dirt have built a system that rewards fact checkers fort his. Publiq works with the authenticity score of readers, just like Civil. Not only startups are busy with solutions to this ever-growing problem, but the European Commission has also now made it one of its spearheads.

Ad Fraud Prevention

Digital advertising fraud (also known as click fraud) costs companies worldwide almost $7 billion a year. This number is furthermore increasing by 50% per year. Over $1 of every $3 spent on ads is fraudulent and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) expects the total cost of advertisement fraud to increase to $50 billion in 2025. In the most ingenious ways, bots (now accounting for 48% of all global website visits) are used to artificially increase the number of clicks and views. Even online configurators of cars, such as BMW (for which euros are paid per configuration), are being manipulated.

It is a huge problem for advertisers and publishers and several solutions are build or building, with the help of blockchain. Several startups are busy with building platforms, that verify the authenticity of the ad impressions but also map relationships between advertisers, publishers, and consumers. IBM is currently working with Salon on their AdLedger project; a pilot to offer a shared “ledger” for making clicks transparent and transparent for both advertisers and publishers. AminoPay also offers such a solution, which furthermore helps with the optimal use of advertisements. AdEx goes one step further and offers “ad auctions” on the blockchain.

Making Content Easier Together

The use of blockchain technology can not only be interesting from a commercial point of view, but also in the area of ​​collaboration when creating content, major efficiency gains can be achieved. To make a great piece of content, often different experts are needed to create, edit, design, and market it. Currently, due to the costs, these type processes are only possible to setup and execute, for large companies.

One of the properties of blockchain is that the stored data cannot be modified, which prevents fraud and makes the history of a document with respect to ​​changes (made by whom, for example) completely transparent.

As I wrote in an earlier blog; blockchain technology is still relatively new and in many areas, still in its experimental phase. Although many startups have already successfully launched working products, their impact is still small. The possibilities are endless and I truly believe that the publishing industry can take great advantage of this new technology in the upcoming 5 years.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Although many eyes are still focused on the financial sector, the impact of blockchain technology on various other sectors is just as interesting. There are several major challenges in healthcare that are currently being addressed with technology. According to a survey by IBM, 15% of healthcare executives claim that they will implement the technology this year, and 50% say the same of next year. Dutch minister de Jonge recently responded to parliamentary questions from D66: “Blockchain has the potential to organize cooperation, data exchange, and mutual trust differently. This can, among other things, lead to a reduction in the administrative burden.” Research Deloitte conducted among care executives confirms the following: 70% of these executives indicate that the significant improvement in collaboration between the various parties within and outside the sector is the main reason for considering implementation.

Many healthcare organizations are already busy implementing the technology and, during the various keynotes and training sessions about blockchains I was allowed to give in the past few months, the participating healthcare professionals also asked a specific question: In what area can we get started? Here are my top 4 focus areas:

1) The Decentralized Patient Register

One of the biggest issues in healthcare is access to an exchange of information about the patient. In many ways, this causes a lot of inefficiency, errors and unfortunately also many other nasty consequences. According to Frost research, nearly 40% of patient data contain errors. Research shows that miscommunication between medical professionals costs the industry $11 billion per year. This is partially caused by inefficiency, but according to the start-up Labchain from Heerlen, the Netherlands, this is also due to the fact that healthcare institutions in the Netherlands still exchange patient data by mail, which is re-entered manually. Unfortunately, this increases the chance of incorrect entries, not to mention the errors made on the basis of erroneous data.

Data Breaches

The safe storage of patient data also unfortunately often goes wrong. According to IBM, some 2,181 data breaches within the healthcare industry were reported between 2009 and 2017, with 176 million patient records stolen. This is interesting data for hackers because a patient’s file yields more than credit card details.

How nice would it be for you to always have access to your file, no matter where you are in the world? That you can track the status of medical treatment and share data with parties you trust? The GDPR legislation, which dictates that consumers should be able to access their data themselves, is a great first step. Unfortunately, that is technically impossible for almost all healthcare organizations despite blockchain being able to play a great role in this. The Personally Allocated Budget (PGB), whereby different organizations work together to provide consumers with the right care and that I discussed in an earlier post, is a perfect example. But the sharing of vital data with researchers, to allow them to use it anonymously for their research into diseases and medicines, is another example. Intel has recently launched a ready-made solution for the latter.

Solutions to the Challenges

Many dozens of companies are already building or even successfully implementing solutions to the challenges mentioned above. Together with SNS Bank and Deloitte, Radboudumc built “Prescrypt” to easily arrange repeat prescriptions. The patient can determine him or herself with whom the information is shared (doctor, pharmacist, etc.), in order to conclude a prescription request. In its Blockchain Lab, Philips is working on solutions for sharing data between the various healthcare providers and connecting researchers and patients who monitor themselves.

There are many companies that focus on improving the safety of patient databases. It has led the well-known MIT Media Lab to establish MedRec for this purpose and internet giant Google, with its AI department Deepmind, has already made it possible for hospitals in England to put patient records on the blockchain. Guardtime has already successfully implemented the same solution for the governments of Estonia and the United Arab Emirates, and BurstIQ, Factor, Medicalchain, SimplyVitalHealth, Patientory, Nebula and Medicalchain also offer working solutions for this issue.

There are also various cool companies that use blockchain technology in an even more radical way. Coralhealth uses the technology to make personalized medicines possible and recently successfully tested this. EncrypGen has launched a platform that allows people to sell their DNO in exchange for cryptocurrency. Lancor has used a combination of AI and blockchain to develop a tool to increase the reliability of cancer screenings from 60% (by people) to 90%.

2) Get Rid Of The Deadly Fake Medicines

People in the Netherlands are used to obtaining medicines from a pharmacy and they can assume that they are also “real”, i.e. directly supplied by the pharmaceutical company. However, according to HRFO, 15% of the medicines sold in developing countries are fake, something the World Health Organization claims causes 1,000,000 deaths per annum! This market for fake drugs is now larger than that of illegal drugs and it costs pharmaceuticals an estimated (HFRO) $200 billion per annum.

Several industries are already successfully using blockchain technology to make their supply chain transparent for consumers, be it for orange juice or diamonds. American legislation already obliges manufacturers and suppliers of medicines to track medicines from production to sale, to combat fake medicines. Dutch hospitals and pharmacists will have to comply by 2020. Easy “tracking & tracing” is, however, a technical challenge, and some pharmacists consider blockchain the big “game changing” solution. Chronicled recently won the Newsweek Blockchain Impact Award with their “MediLedger” solution which was used by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and Genetech to place their supply chain in a decentralized manner on the blockchain. The French startup Blockpharma also offers a ready-made solution.

3) Preventing Fraud & Mistakes

Research shows that 5–10% of healthcare costs are fraudulent in nature. On a global scale, this is a very large amount. In addition to fraud, too many errors are still being made in the administration, and the increase of this, in addition to the many intermediaries that further amplify it, causes an unnecessary amount of costs, says Deloitte. It involves a massive amount of money that, obviously, could and should have been spent on providing real care.
 One of the advantages blockchain is being praised for is the removal of the “middleman”. By putting data on the blockchain in a decentralized way, many administrative processes can be automated and thus operate much more efficiently and fraud is prevented. Estonia has already taken a major step in this direction by having 95% of all healthcare data validated automatically and their operations made transparently. In the Netherlands, insurance company VGZ has successfully piloted an app that allows the entire maternity care to be placed on the blockchain. Parents can see on the app how many hours they have been receiving care and how many hours of care they are still entitled to. A maternity nurse can indicate how many hours they have actually worked. The insurance company can use this data to pay the maternity caregiver directly and to prevent fraud with the number of hours claimed.

4) Personalized Care

Personalized care is one of the biggest trends in healthcare. Gone are standard solutions for the masses: a customized pill or treatment based on, for example, big data from a patient, is the new norm. This is not only better for the patient, who therefore receives better care, but also for the sector itself. As an example, the industry calculated that $300 billion is spent on ineffective drugs per annum. Blockchain ensures the secure transfer of data between different parties, who can use this for the aforementioned research, but also personalized medicines. The company Robomed, which combines blockchain, artificial intelligence and the “Internet of Things” is a good example. Through chatbots and wearables, they collect and analyze a unique flow of information and translate this into practical advice for the patient.

Panacea for Healthcare

Blockchain is not directly the panacea for healthcare that will immediately help the entire sector with its greatest challenges. However, Frost & Sullivan claim that successfully applying the technology can save the sector many billions of dollars, mistakes, and human lives. The first thing it then really has to do is to make an effort in stopping the forming of data silos that currently are hardly shared and that, according to many experts, is already causing major problems. Just like in many other sectors, the time has come to fully experiment with and invest in technology, to ensure that healthcare is still affordable and effective in the coming years.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

I still remember this amazing moment. When I was 6 years old (in 1993), my father got his first computer from work. A device that took half the desk, but soon won my heart because of the 3D racing game “Stunts”. Four years later, I was introduced to the Worldwide Web by a friend, who had the Veronica website open and at the age of 14, I started managing the first community pages of one of the first websites in the Netherlands; Startpagina.nl. I can hardly imagine how much effort I had to make at that time, to connect to the internet and surf on it. The sounds of clicking floppies and creaking 56k dial-up modems are still well engraved on my memory.

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Thomas Watson, president of IBM, 1943

Dependent On Blockchain As On The Internet

How different it is today, where we are constantly connected to the internet with our mobile phones and where I already hear people sigh if they happen to have a 3G instead of 4G connection. Although technological developments are going very fast at the moment, the run-up to the development of the internet has taken quite a long time. The precursor, ARPAnet, was developed already in the 1960s by the US-military as a means to allow computers from a few researchers to communicate with each other and to exchange documents. The development of technology took a long time; only in 1991 did the first website come online and in 1994 the first web store. Although Amsterdam was the first European junction to be connected in 1982, Dutch users could only surf the Internet publicly from 1991 onwards.

What started as a mere exchange of information between a handful of research institutes has now become an integral part of our lives. Who could have realized at the time that we became so dependent on the internet? From communicating, banking and listening to music to shopping. It is very funny to hear all skeptics talk about things like encyclopedias, CDs and route maps that the internet could never replace. Wikipedia, Spotify and Google Maps have proven the opposite, not to mention the many other everyday items.

By 2005 or so, it will become clear that the Internet’s impact on the economy has no greater than the fax machines. ”
 — Paul Krugman

Rise of Blockchain Technology

The current rise of blockchain technology is often compared to that of the internet. Not only its long duration but also the first anxious and rejecting attitude of consumers, companies, and governments, the cracked “bubble” and predictions about the insane impact on our society in the long term. According to the Gartner Hypecyle, blockchain technology is currently in the “trough of disillusionment”; experiments fail and companies see investments being burned. Developers within the industry exit rapidly and the press eagerly writes about the negative experiences. Why would we do so much effort for a Bitcoin payment within an online store, if it is also easy and safe with Paypal? Why would we spend so much time sending a tip via the Lightning network, if this can also be done quickly via a Tikkie (Dutch Whatsapp payment solution)? Convincing the crowd for adoption is clearly not successful yet.

Cryptocurrency Hype

Bubbles are, in my opinion, great for separating the wheat from the chaff, removing the hype from something and focusing on real problems that technology can tackle. Last year I was, at the height of the cryptocurrency hype, in New York at a large congress, where a startup came to talk about how they would reward housewives with their own cryptocurrency for creating content. For me, this sheer start-up was the confirmation that we were in a bubble and that it had to burst really fast, to take the press out of the sails and to get serious investors interested.

The internet had the same bubble development, in which many silly internet companies with millions of investments were set up between 1995–2000, resulting in the big ‘dot-com crash’ of 2000. The American Nasdaq fell 83%, shares of companies such as Apple and Amazon even 90% and the entire internet industry was put away as a big ‘Ponzi-scheme’.

Technology Development

What happened afterward in different areas has laid the foundation for the internet as we know it today. The technology developed rapidly, problems with scalability, speed, and security were tackled rapidly and the “mainstream” use followed quickly and grew exponentially for a long time. Blockchain technology is currently going through the same phase, where hard work is being done on a number of dilemmas raised by the use of first versions; safety, speed, and scalability. In addition, issues such as conflicting regulations and standardization.

Where, according to various founders of the internet, governments are late with certain laws and regulations concerning the internet, people are already very pro-active about blockchain technology. Consortia, such as R3 (financial institutions), B3i (Insurers) and Hyperledger (under the leadership of the Linux Foundation) are working on much-needed standards and issues such as certificates and education for the industry. There are hundreds of cool applications, but many are made in their own scripting language, working with one of the no less than 55 available consensus protocols, which makes working together complex.

Underlying Technology

Where ARPAnet introduced the underlying technology (TCP / IP), Bitcoin now does this with the underlying blockchain technology. In the beginning, ARPAnet was intended purely for communication, Bitcoin purely for transactions. ARPAnet provided freedom of information, Bitcoin freedom of value and transactions. Both also cross borders. With both technology emergencies, you saw the existing and endangered industries struggle against in the beginning and governments tried to curb the emergence with laws and regulations. As with any technology, the use of criminals was initially regarded as the reason why it should be banned, and both were initially a technology, not an entire industry.

As I wrote in a previous blog, we now have to wait for the big “Killer App”, which will make blockchain known, familiar and usable for the general public. Just like Netscape did with its browser for the internet. The development of technology under the internet; TCP / IP lasted no less than 30 years before it became known, loved and used worldwide. In the years that followed, it ensured that our society was completely transformed, billions of people came online and that new things were still being built every day that could not exist before. Where would Instagram be without the iPhone? Amazon without the internet? All technology that is further developed on previous technology.

Blockchain Training

Often when I give keynotes or training about blockchain, I can’t answer “where we are going” with this technology. It is impossible to predict because I do not know what developments we can expect after the developments that are currently taking place. It is certain that in the coming years we will soon see products and services that will be simplified and accelerated by blockchain technology. Not only in the financial sector, but in many sectors worldwide. As long as companies focus on solving problems, possibly with blockchain, instead of looking for problems that they can solve with blockchain, support will be broader and investments will be more effective. Just like with great interest I followed all developments in the field of the development of computers and the internet, I will also do this in the field of blockchain in the coming years. we have only just begun!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

That was not was the intention!

The fact that Satoshi published the white paper just a few weeks after the major financial crash was related to his initial idea of using the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin blockchain to remove power from financial intermediaries such as banks and return it to the citizens. That fact that one of the companies that can be very much blamed for the financial crisis, the JP Morgan bank, recently introduced its own “coin” is a development that can best be described as “special” — especially as this is used for a closed, so-called “permissioned” blockchain that can only be accessed by JP Morgen and selected customers. This is something that completely goes against the open and transparent ideology that has been used for designing blockchain technology.

The same applies to the Facebook “coin”. Experts refer to it as “regaining control over your own data” (or “killer app”, which I discussed in a previous post) which is one of the biggest advantages of the blockchain technology. The fact that Facebook, the company that has been so controversial in recent times due to its disproportionate slurping and abusing of data, is developing its own “coin” has led to many experts ringing the alarm bells; will the decentralized character of blockchain not be lost again, because of a few large companies who will run away with the technology? It is not a thought that scares everybody immediately; when a small percentage of Facebook users use the “coin”, the number of worldwide crypto users would double immediately. That sounds positive for the adoption and further development of the ecosystem.

Further Developments

The most recent research from the European Union seems to confirm this. The study shows that it is precisely the private (often corporate) platforms that drive the adoption, rather than the open ones, such as Bitcoin. This is mainly because the developers of the closed platforms have much more freedom over the further development in the field of safety and speed, where open platform developers discuss and decide these kinds of further developments in a decentralized manner, which often requires a lot of time.

According to the definition, decentralization includes the distribution of various functionalities, power, people and all sorts of things from a central point. This ideology was initially witnessed at various large technology companies such as Spotify, who took away the distribution of music from the major distributors and placed it back with the musicians themselves. Uber did the same as it took away the power from large taxi companies and placed it with the drivers, and Paypal did so too by transferring bank transactions from the banks to the owners of the money. Unfortunately, we see many of this kind of company centralizing power in all kinds of ways themselves by, for example, buying up innovative startups, increasing entry barriers for competitors to a sector, or simply increasing their often almost monopolistic market share.

Blockchain Technology

The same is currently happening with blockchain technology, especially in the area of maintenance (“mining”) of the blockchain networks and ownership of the most important cryptocurrency. The top 6 largest maintainers of the Bitcoin blockchain, the so-called “miners”, control 75% of the global network because of their computer power. Some 75% of all this global mining capacity hails from China. What about the ownership of the coveted Bitcoins? The top 1,000 addresses own 40% of the total number of circulating Bitcoins.

Whereas the so-called “Initial Coin Offerings” (the blockchain alternative of the IPO of a company) contained many beautiful, decentralized properties, the so-called “Security Token Offering” (which I referred to in my previous post as the most-hyped cryptocurrency of 2019) has again had a lot of dealings with central authorities. Stablecoins too (which I previously described as a very important development in the field of cryptocurrency) remove the important, decentralized properties such as executing transactions without an intermediary while it is exactly these properties that made cryptocurrency so popular and practical.

Dutch Central Bank

Someone from the Dutch Central Bank recently asked me about the impact of blockchain during my keynote and “whether you want to decentralize everything”, whether it is good to remove authority where possible and place the power back with the citizen. Various platforms that aimed to do this with via the Internet in the past few years suddenly faced their social limits in many ways, after which everyone turned to the central governments for measures. It’s nice that they are still around, isn’t it?

Personally, I do not believe that every part of society is better off decentralized. However, I do already see many groundbreaking applications of the blockchain technology that, by means of decentralization, can have a tremendous impact on our society, and that would not have emerged if they were governed centrally. And this is despite the fact that we have only just begun development….

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

Housewives generating content, Geert Wilders, bananas and managing your own grave. These are just some bizarre examples of focus areas of the many thousands of so-called “Initial Coin Offerings” (ICOs) that took place in 2017 and 2018. Although many blockchain experts initially saw ICOs as a way of setting up a community around an organization, most organizations mainly used their ICO to quickly and easily raise money from investors. Therefore it has become a form of crowdfunding for blockchain projects, where investors can participate for small amounts and receive “coins” or “tokens” in return. According to research from PWC, ICOs raised $10 billion in 2017 and $11 billion in 2018, which amounts to an average of $25 million per ICO. The largest ICO, EOS, raised no less than $4.2 billion.

The combination of the ease with which organizations collected money, the poor due diligence from (mostly new and inexperienced) investors, and the lack of regulation from governments lead to an enormous amount of fraud. Of the many thousands of projects, 81% ultimately turned out to be scams and always almost left the investors empty-handed. Many large investors are calling for measures to prevent scams and to restore confidence in the cryptocurrency market. Many studies confirm this and indicate that regulating the market will also result in a significant increase in investment. This would not only be from current investors, but also from the large established financial service providers that currently wait for this to take place.

The Next Step In Cryptocurrency: STOs

One of the most frequently-cited trends in cryptocurrency for 2019 is the Security Token Offerings (STO), which is also referred to as the solution to the above-mentioned problems and which is expected to facilitate $10 trillion in transactions in 2020. The concept was introduced by PolyMatch and there are now around 150 STOs active worldwide.

When talking about obtaining crypto or token in exchange for financial investment, Security Token offerings are very similar to the well-known ICOs. However, where an ICO does not have any voting rights, has no underlying value and is mainly used for access to an application or speculation on future growth, an STO makes you the owner of a real investment product, which is linked to an underlying asset, such as a share.

Performing an STO is a lot more complex since you have to comply with a lot of regulations and have to go through all sorts of complex procedures in order to comply with these regulations. This is also the main reason why most startups convert their plans for an ICO into an STO. It also prevents a lot of scams as the many background checks almost make it impossible for a scam to survive such procedures.

Why Not A Regular IPO?

Many traditional financial experts wonder aloud why STOs are needed instead of simply continuing to work with regular IPOs that have been used successfully for decades. I personally consider ICOs a great step towards more financial inclusiveness. Where regular IPOs, such as those of Adyen, can only be entered into by large institutional investors, most ICOs can already be supported with just a couple of tens. In addition, it makes it a lot easier for startups to raise money and grow a community, without having to search long for the right Venture Capitalist or bank.

There are a number of differences between IPOs and STOs, which make the latter very interesting. STOs can be traded 24/7 and are settled almost immediately, whereas IPOs can only be traded only during opening hours of the stock exchanges and, as a result, it sometimes takes days before the transaction is settled. By using so-called “smart contracts”, it is possible to pay out dividends and acquire treasury shares automatically. In addition, smart contracts remove many intermediaries and their work, which in turn saves a lot of time and money.

But Why Don’t We Immediately Switch Completely To STOs?

During the training sessions on blockchain and cryptocurrency that I am allowed to give, financial experts often ask me why STOs are not already more well-known and why they are not being used more often. I find Security Token offerings a very interesting tool for protecting the sector from scammers, making it a lot healthier and more trusted. However, it completely contradicts the decentralization for which blockchain was originally conceived. As STOs are under the strict supervision of the financial authorities, such as the AFM in the Netherlands and SEC in the United States, Security Token offerings are a no-go for many blockchain enthusiasts. One of the best-known cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance, has announced that they will not support STOs.

Other big names in the industry, such as Coinbase, state that they will start doing so from the end of this year. Some countries, such as China, have prohibited STOs because they see them as “illegal financial activity”: “I want to warn those who are promoting STO fundraising in Beijing. Don’t do it in Beijing. You will be kicked out if you do it. You can only engage in such activities with the approval of the government” (Huo Xuewen — Hoofd Financial Bureau Beijing)

What Are The Next Steps?

The first Dutch STOs have already been announced, such as van Ockel and Blockport (update: the last one was aborted). Various sites show in easy step-by-step plans how you can establish an STO, such as that of the “inventor” of STOs, Polymath. There are also several nice overviews of STO projects worldwide. Ultimately the investor is the smiling third; they can invest in companies easier, faster, safer and cheaper.

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.

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The quest for the new Apple

The rapid rise of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency has also resulted in the growing popularity of “Initial Coin Offerings”. Over the past two years, several startups have managed to raise tens of millions of euros in a few seconds, making many of their investors very wealthy despite only being active for a few hours. This is something that is impossible in the regular financial market. According to research from PWC, $10 billion was raised in 2017 and $11 billion in 2018, which amounts to an average of $25 million per ICO. The largest ICO, EOS, raised no less than $4.2 billion.

However, several national and international authorities, rightfully, point to the dangers of investing in these ICOs.

ICOs?

ICOs are a sort of crowdfunding, usually for projects on the blockchain. In exchange for an investment, the lender receives coins or tokens. Whereas startups such as Adyen raise money with a normal IPO, only large, institutional investors can participate. ICOs also allow investors with a small budget to invest. However, ICOs often do not have a working product or service yet, and since there is no central authority controlling their activities, there is nobody you can approach when something goes wrong. Therefore, it can be considered risky; research by PWC showed that no less than 81% of ICOs turned out to be scams.

Since money is being raised for the development of an idea in particular, rather than the further development of a product, the prices of the coins made and issued at an ICO are often very low. However, if the product becomes successful, the return will be insane. That is why many people are looking for the “new Bitcoin” or the “new Apple”, whose shares have grown in value by 29,000% since the first time they were issued.

Here are my top 8 tips for finding a good ICO to prevent you from becoming the owner of a bag of coins that are worthless.

1) Team

Despite having a good idea or great product, if someone is surrounded by the wrong team, it will be likely that the startup will still fail. That is why it is important to seriously research the individual founders, team members, partners, and advisors. For example, do they have the relevant experience in crypto and/or blockchain technology and in the market in which they want to be active? Obviously, you want to have people who have years of experience in the industry in which they want to operate and who have actually achieved something in this regard. ICOs have an important extra point that requires attention: does the team exist? There are many cases where the team members and advisers did not exist or were not involved in the project at all, which was often a precursor to a scam (fraud).

Therefore, carefully check the Linkedin/Twitter profiles of those involved too. Are they active? How long have they been active? Is it clearly stated that they also work for the ICO? Some ICOs drop the names of important people as being their advisors (such as former Prime Minister Balkenende) while, in fact, those people have had absolutely nothing to do with the ICO.

2) Why?

“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” — Sherrilyn Kenyon

Unfortunately, many ICOs have fallen into the “me too” trap; they made a cheaper, faster version of something that already exists instead of developing something really insanely disruptive that perfectly responds to the blockchain. As an investor you, obviously, want the product or service to be really sought after. That is why it is very important to look at the “why” of the ICO. Will the concept possibly replace the competition? Will it be the answer to visible or predictable market demand? Have clear, specific goals been defined? Is it for long term use? Is it market individuals, organizations, companies?

Will large, existing companies were not able to develop this much easier, faster and better themselves? The clarity with which this has been described will also have an impact on the team. In the most ideal situation, the team will be able to already show a prototype or proof of concept.

3) White Paper

Thorough deliberation of the “white paper”, a hip term for “business plan”, will be key in judging an ICO. The website can be beautiful and a lot of marketing can be done, but if the concept lacks a strong white paper that explains the concept then you will have to ask yourself whether you want to invest. Apart from the concept, issues such as the background, goals, and strategy of the ICO also deserve attention. It is certainly worth investigating the implementation and development “roadmap”: the “why” described above, the way success and goals will be measured and what potential obstacles have been identified. Furthermore, the legal relationships between investors and the ICO, the issuance of the coins/tokens (how and when this happens) and the financial models are important to validate credibility and reasonableness.

4) Community

A good ICO has or is working on, a large, strong community that is fed updates regularly. That is why it will be good to investigate whether the ICO and the individual team members are active on social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Many good ICOs also have a good, open support community on Slack and Telegram.
 
 But … is the ICO not active on the largest forum in this field, BitcoinTalk? That will justify the immediate discounting of it as a possible investment. Check this forum too to see how the team responds to questions and comments and whether the people who respond are not brand new members of the forum. A good ICO has no so-called “bounty posts” (paid messages that spread good news). Make sure you are aware of this.

5) Website

Way too many ICOs still use a standard WordPress or WIX template for their website, unfortunately. A website is really an important part of the success of the ICO because this should attract investors and customers. That is why it is important to review the website very carefully. Bad design is often because a team does not want to invest enough time and money in smart marketing. This will be a death blow to the project. Have a good look at the design. Does it look professional? What kind of images has been used? How is the concept explained? Is it easy to understand? Many ICOs try to impress potential investors by using all sorts of weird terms that they often cannot even explain to their own friends. The same applies to the reason why blockchain should be used: this is often farfetched.

“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” — Einstein

6) Code

Obviously, an ICO wants to be as open and transparent as possible at the start. The code of the project is an important part of this and which is almost always published on Github. Github is the world’s most popular online tool for collaborating on (mostly open-source) software. The management of it and was recently acquired by Microsoft.
 
You can analyze the code and determine the quality of the ICO in various ways. One way is to look at the number of “commits” (adjustments). Another is to review the “Insights” tab for the general summary of all developments. The consistency and length of the code (functions with more than 50 lines of code must be immediately rejected) and the processed comments are good parameters for quality too. If the ICO does not disclose the “smart contract node”, it is either unstable or the code has probably been copied from another ICO. These are both certainly good reasons to stop considering investing.

7) Token Sale Distribution

When reviewing the distribution of the tokens, you obviously want an ICO that would rather issue few tokens at a low price. When you are looking for an investment that will experience a large increase in the long term, then it must, of course, have the lowest possible valuation and price (review the increase of coins on Coinmarketcap that have a supply of less than 100 million). If the opposite case is you, you would often see that a price drop occurs quickly after the launch of the ICO. This stabilizes the net asset value. You can, therefore, ask yourself whether an ICO that wants to raise 50 million to build a product that will yield 1 million per year is worth the investment.

Also, consider the distribution of the tokens; how many are sold, distributed to advisers or ultimately end up with the team? Some teams take it too far by paying themselves more than 50% of the tokens as a reward for rendered (but yet to be proven) services.

The correct distribution of tokens is linked to the roadmap since every step in the development needs some financing. This folder also always indicates correctly when the tokens are being issued. Will this be immediately after the ICO or only when the beta version of the product has been launched?

8) Seat Of The Company

Many ICOs that later turned out to be scams were hiding behind a “shell company” on a tropical paradise. It is worth establishing when the ICO is seated. Is there a clear contact address and is the Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) really located here? Although the world lacks laws at ICO level, in most countries it is legally possible to tackle fraudulent companies and individuals.

This post does not provide financial advice and should not be viewed as such. It is my own framework and should only be viewed from an informative perspective. Make sure you do your own research before you invest in an ICO!

Jan Scheele is active in the web3 (blockchain, crypto, NFTs, DeFi) industry since 2013. Besides (former) CEO of a web3 scaleup and founder of an advisory boutique (working for governments, family offices and several multinationals), he is Digital Leader at the World Economic Forum and Board Member at the Blockchain Netherlands Foundation (BCNL). He is writing, consulting, speaking and training regularly about everything web3, all over the world. Furthermore, he is currently finalizing his book about the rise and global impact of blockchain technology.