i3 - March/April 2020 - 29

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"Acceptance
of blockchain
is light years
ahead from
where it was
in 2018 or
even 2019."

as banks. Moreover, as an immutable and decentralized way of
managing information, blockchain will become the foundation
of more reliable and trustworthy information systems."
Gouran says the credibility of "blockchain fell with the popularity of crypto, when Bitcoin and other cryptos took a nosedive
in late 2018." Citing how the market "matured" after that experience, he points out that "blockchain technology has continued
to evolve as what will ultimately become a major advancement
in computing."
"Acceptance of blockchain is light years ahead from where it
was in 2018 or even 2019," Gouran adds. He expects blockchain
technology "to evolve with the cooperation and insights of business leaders around the world leading to a system that will be
more powerful, more dynamic and more widely-integrated."
Dante Disparte, vice chairman and Head of Policy and
Communications for the Libra Association (an organization
focused on blockchain payments), declared that cryptopayments are part of the new digital landscape.
"You might not like the messenger, but you better listen to the
message that centralized payments are here to stay," he said.
Disparte pointed out that Facebook-backed Libra is already
endorsed by some of the world's largest fiat currencies, which
adds to its credibility and viability for secure global value
exchanges. He and others on Digital Money Forum panels at
CES emphasized that mainstream adoption is "the name of the
game" and is making traction.
C TA . t e c h / i 3

i3_0320_Feature_Blockchain.indd 29

GETTING POLITICAL

Lisa Song Sutton, a Las
Vegas technology entrepreneur and Republican
Congressional candidate,
brought a political message to CES, saying that
she spoke "on behalf of a
new generation of financial literates."
"We must elect public
officials who understand
modern business, modern technology and will
be advocates for blockchain," she said. "Ideal
blockchain regulation is one that is supported by
regulators and lawmakers embracing a modern and
pro-business mindset. The resulting regulation
should be balanced: it protects the consumer, while
also allowing innovation to flourish and will not create a barrier to entrepreneurship," Sutton said.
Combiz Abdolrahimi, a security lawyer who leads
the Emerging Technology & Innovation group at
Deloitte Consulting, stressed that the blockchain
movement needs a "Center of Excellence (CoE)
approach to accelerate greater adoption and integration of blockchain and advanced technologies
like AI and 5G across government and industry."
"Ensuring American leadership in blockchain, AI,
and emerging technologies is imperative for not only
achieving economic growth and inclusion, but also
for our national security," Abdolrahimi said.
Nitin Gaur, director of IBM's worldwide Digital
Asset Labs, put the CES 2020 examination of blockchain into a longer-term perspective. "If blockchain is to move
beyond the technological fringe
into the mainstream and support
a more trusting and transparent
Values as
world, we must remain commitBlockchain
ted to a set of practical ideals that
Evolves
guide our actions and how we put
1. Open is better
our technology to use."
2. Permissioned doesn't
Amy James of Alexandria Labs
mean private
summarized blockchain's role in a
3. Governance is a
team sport
succinct evaluation. "What I like
4. Common standards
about blockchain at CES is the
are common sense
diversity of people who are there
5. Privacy is paramount
and how they are thinking about it
from different perspectives,"
James said. "Blockchain is much
more than financial technology."
MARCH/APRIL 2020

3/13/20 11:38 AM

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i3 - March/April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - March/April 2020