So you’ve been involved in the Australian Web3 space for a number of years, how has it evolved since you started out?
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When I started, our membership base was primarily crypto and blockchain-focused start-up businesses. There weren’t any other verticals or industries getting involved. And then we saw that undercurrent of curiosity from the big four banks and other traditional financial firms who were investing in blockchain research. Some of those projects fell over; they may have been a bit ahead of their time, but they were still looking at it.
About 18 months ago is when I really started to become shocked every time we’d get a new membership inquiry. These days we’ve got music, we’ve got supply chains, energy and carbon and water businesses, big universities developing their own courses, insurance and recruitment, accounting, IoT, and robotics and gaming. All of these verticals coming in together.
I believe each of these industries is on a 10-year innovation timeline, and at the end of it, they’re all going to be profoundly different to what they are now because blockchain is the new internet.
Now, I say blockchain, but I should probably correct myself and say distributed ledger technology (DLT) instead. Contrary to the industry’s perception, I have a different view on how long blockchain will be important. I think there will be other DLTs that surpass it.
Why do you think that?
This might get me in trouble with all the religious blockchain believers out there. Industries might decide that they don’t necessarily need a decentralised ledger, they just need a distributed ledger. It doesn’t have to be open and free.
Cryptocurrencies and decentralised blockchains may not be the future of the web.Credit:Bloomberg
What they do need, though, is speed, data transfer, and security. So that’s where I think DLTs such as directed acyclic graphs may surpass the blockchain because it just has the capabilities that blockchain doesn’t at this time.
I think it’s very naive to think that one technology will just be here forever. We do need to be ready to innovate, be ready to accept that change is coming and embrace it. Otherwise, we’ll just get stuck in our own little way.
Considering there are now so many industries interested and building in Web3, does that increase the stakes for industry groups such as Blockchain Australia?
Yes, it is now more important than ever to truly represent the technology because we have all these different industries currently playing in the sandpit. But the organisation’s name itself, just sticking to “Blockchain”, I think we’re going to need a broader term that encompasses what it is that we’re doing and the wide range of verticals we represent. So I think next year, things will change a bit.
Do you think some of this innovation will come with less of a reliance on cryptocurrencies and the financial incentive structures we see built around Web3 at the moment?
Definitely, we’re already moving away from that. When I first got into it, it was all about crypto, but now there’s a clear difference. And I know that because when I speak to my parents and my in-laws, who are 70 years’ old and have just gotten into crypto themselves, they know the difference now.
And that’s such a good thing. Back in 2016, to the rest of my family I was a bit of a shady character because back then there were a lot of scams. It was really hard to go to those Christmas dinners and be that bitcoin person or that blockchain person.
How do you think Blockchain Australia performs as a lobby group? Do you think you’ve been successful in getting your points across when speaking to government and regulators?
For the past 12 months, we’ve been heavily focused on representing the sentiment of our members. As you can imagine, with so many different industries represented, it can be hard to do that at times. We’ve had to create different working groups to focus on particular regulatory points.
Previously, there was a view that the industry was fragmented. I think our role at Blockchain Australia isn’t just about lobbying, it’s about bringing people together and expressing their views as a cohort. And until recently, it has been hard to do that, but the way that we’re moving now has forced everyone into the room to have a conversation.
I’m excited about the following years for Web3 in Australia. There’s a lot more noise around the space because of all the different industries that are talking about it. All of these things happening in unison is going to make for a pretty exciting next 12 months.