The blockchain/crypto week in quotes

“Blockchain technology. No joke. Super powerful stuff, and the first one to figure out how to hack it, manipulate it or bring it down wins.” Andrew Bustamante, a former CIA intelligence officer (possibly)

“The criticism of cryptocurrencies is fair in many cases, and the ICO explosion of last year is a great example where there was a lot of junk or ideas with non-viable business plans.” Bradley Zastrow, Global Head of Business Development, Dash Core

“Venezuelans are adopting and experimenting with Bitcoin to evade hyperinflation and strict financial controls. Speculation, fraud, and greed in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry have overshadowed the real, liberating potential of Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention. For people living under authoritarian governments, Bitcoin can be a valuable financial tool as a censorship-resistant medium of exchange.” Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation and Guest Lecturer at Singularity University

“Big banks can do whatever the **** they want in the United States. Regulatory enforcement is a goddamn joke. Wells Fargo is set to pay less than 10% of a single quarter’s earnings in fines for opening millions of fake customer accounts.” Mike Dudas

“The continued development of crypto-related regulations globally will mean that more traditional areas of business and financial institutions will adapt to expand their services to crypto. 2019 will also see the full implementation of the 5th AML directive in the EU – allowing the full spectrum of cryptocurrencies and possibly token offerings to operate within full compliance. 

This new trend will challenge traditional consultancies to think about adequate control measures to comply with applicable laws and regulations. All the usual integrity risk concerns and compliance burdens of a conventional financial institution will now apply to crypto businesses: money laundering, terrorist financing, tax avoidance/evasion, sanctions and cybercrime.

I expect a growing demand for crypto compliance expertise among these traditional consultancies, as well as from niche consultancies like Amazix, from basic compliance framework setup to more specialised services such as governance and remediation.” Jonas Karlberg, CEO, Amazix 

“I don’t expect significant benefits in 2019, primarily because (blockchain) technology itself is continuing to evolve and mature … it requires a lot of parties to come to the table to participate and evaluate the technology.” Juan Perez, Chief Engineering and Information Officer UPS

“Despite the interests of lots of people out there in the internet world who love the idea of frictionless commerce and frictionless money and avoiding fiat currencies, I don’t see it (a single global currency).” Scott Galit, CEO, Payoneer