When Balaji Srinivasan talks, people listen. As a co-founder of 21 Inc ., the company that has raised more money in the cryptocurrency space than any, Srinivasan naturally gains attention when he talks about cryptocurrency’s future. He recently set off a volley of engaging comments when he tweeted about one of the most contentious cryptocurrency topics – private blockchain consortiums.
Srinivasan tweeted that consortiums could be the limiting blockchain adoption since one of their primary purposes is to bring normally distrusting actors together. Private Blockchain Challenges
Private blockchains make more sense among parties that are less trusting of each other, he tweeted, but this makes gaining buy-in more time consuming. He compared it to passing an international treaty.
While 21 Inc.’s focus is in supporting bitcoin development, the company has some stake in the growth of private blockchains, which is where much of the current institutional investment is flowing.
Srinivasan said he thought everyone would share his enthusiasm for different business applications. He has realized getting buy-in for a private blockchain from different businesses takes time since they have to recognize the concept’s value, and they have to agree to use the same software. He believes the market will eventually support the concept.
Srinivasan said selling a private blockchain requires surviving a long sales cycle, which can be difficult. He said it will be easier for consortiums to agree on an open source private blockchain than a for-profit option. He referred to pure open source blockchains as “demilitarized zones.” Twitter Dialogue Commences
One respondent noted that banking consortiums played a key role in DTCC, MasterCard, VISA and Swift.
Another noted that systems integration will prove to be a limiting factor.Still another person pointed out that government could play an important role in private blockchain development.The main reason that financial institution consortiums have proven […]
