Chain CEO Adam talks about the future of digital assets led by blockchain

In the coming decades, Bitcoin blockchain technology will change the way we handle money. For example, the US dollar will be digitized. In addition, many other financial assets, such as points, gift card points, call time, energy credits, etc., will be digitized. This is also what Chain, a blockchain startup headquartered in San Francisco, is doing, providing large institutions and other digital currency startups with technical tools to use the Bitcoin protocol (or other protocols that Chain considers usable). Although Chain is a newly started blockchain company, it successfully raised $30 million in funding in September this year. The investors are some of the big names in the financial field, such as纳斯达克, Vis公司,花旗集团venture capital, French telecom giant Orange , etc.

Chain CEO  亚当•卢德威recently spoke to Forbes about his views on the future of digital assets.

What does asset digitization mean?

In the past, we had to go to the store to buy records. Since the Internet came, we started to buy what we wanted online. This is a big change - the Internet revolution. However, the real revolution is the digitization of music, first Streaming, then Pandora (the most popular website providing online music services in the United States), then iTunes, iPod, and finally the iPhone, which is a new concept completely out of the framework of the traditional record industry.

The same is true for financial services. In the past, we had to go to a bank or branch in person to deposit or withdraw money and fill out checks. Now we can use online virtual banks to transfer funds without leaving home. But just as we mentioned above that the digitization of music is the real revolution, in the financial services field, the real revolution of Bitcoin blockchain technology is the digitization of assets, which will truly change the way financial services operate.

What does all this mean for financial services as we know them today?

I am not saying that the current financial services companies no longer have a role to play, or that they will not be needed in the future. Money as a concept always needs to be in a relationship and requires trust, even if it is digitized.

What I want to convey to the executives in the financial industry is that blockchain is not what you think it is, just a new tool that can be directly applied to your financial system. Blockchain is about digitizing assets and how these digitized assets are traded, processed and circulated throughout the economic environment. So the question that financial executives should think about is not how to use blockchain to improve the current level of financial services, but what role will current financial institutions play in the future digital asset economy? When economic activities, commerce, payments and banks all serve digital assets, what role will you play?

In my opinion, the way financial institutions see themselves is really defined by the activities they are doing today: first they need to figure out whether they are in the business of transferring money or helping people move value. If they are in the business of transferring money, then they are the first industry to be impacted by the blockchain revolution. If they think of themselves as a branded institution that users can trust with their assets, whether physical or digital, then they will continue to play a role in the future economy.

If financial institutions issue digital assets in the future, such as digital dollars, what position do you think Bitcoin will be in?

Bitcoin will continue to be the only asset that is truly issued by the network without institutional permission, while all other assets are issued by institutions, such as points, currencies, dollars, etc. These assets are issued by someone or an institution, which means that at the end of the day, you can return these asset tokens to the issuing institution, and the institution will return the value you deserve.

Bitcoin will be like gold: there is a fixed amount of it on earth, its value is based on market demand, everyone knows exactly how it works, it is like a reserve currency or commodity, no one has the power to issue more Bitcoin, because the rules of the network are known and cannot be changed. I think the position of Bitcoin in the future is like gold now, and other asset classes will be similar to current asset classes, that is, the issuance of all these assets requires institutions to issue them according to contracts.

What Bitcoin and digital assets have in common is that they flow in the same way. They flow directly between the two parties, the transaction settlement is fast, the transaction is signed in an encrypted way, and there is a clear ledger record or control chain to maintain the transparency of the transaction. In this way, costs will be reduced, risks will be reduced, and fraud will be prevented. In this way, Bitcoin and all other asset classes bring the same benefits, but I think they will play different roles in the future.

Original article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2015/10/21/qa-chain-com-ceo-adam-ludwin-on-how-money-will-become-digital/
By Laura Shin
Translator: printemps
Editor: printemps
Source (translation): Babbitt Information