But that people should be ‘thoughtful’ in their use of blockchain technology
If you’ve been hearing or reading a lot about
blockchain but you still aren’t entirely certain how to define it,
you’re not alone. It’s something that Jack Dorsey, the chief executive
officer and chairman of Square (and CEO of Twitter), describes as the
“next big unlock,” something that, he notes, is normally applied to
accounting terms but has the potential to “be applied to so much more.”
In an interview earlier this week at the Computer History
Museum in Mountain View, California, I had the chance to ask Dorsey
about Square’s business, the future of banking, cryptocurrencies,
blockchain, and more.
Blockchain is often defined as a distributed ledger that
enables secure, encrypted transactions. Some financial and technical
experts have described it as analogous to the early days of the
internet. It’s a framework or backbone for transactions, while the
various use cases for it are analogous to apps on the internet as we
know them today.
But Dorsey also went beyond that interpretation of it,
adding that the ability to “distribute and decentralize the ledger
enables proof of work, and proof of one entity, in an untrusted
network.” Even if there’s a hostile entity or a mistrust in the network,
Dorsey said, “we can still account for value creation and the transfer
of values as well.”
“There are so many problems we can help solve [with
blockchain] that are not just related to finance, but finance is an
obvious one,” he added.
However, the availability of blockchain technology
doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should jump on the blockchain
bandwagon. “I think there are going to be a bunch of people who say, ‘Blockchain,
let’s go apply it everywhere’ and ‘Let’s try to solve every single
problem with it,’” Dorsey said, “in the same way that we try to solve
every problem with machine learning and data science and deep learning
and artificial intelligence. And I think we need to be more thoughtful.
What are people struggling with? How does the technology help them
progress or does it distract them?”
Dorsey also spoke about bitcoin, which Square has
accepted as a form of payment since the fall of 2014. Dorsey also
admitted he has personally invested in Bitcoin, though he didn’t share
how many bitcoins he holds.
He
said one of the most surprising things he’s experienced recently is
when friends and family, who aren’t as close to the technology industry,
have been asking about bitcoin — specifically, how to invest in the
cryptocurrency.
“I’m from St. Louis, Missouri, and I have a lot of
friends and family who are not into technology,” Dorsey said. “Over the
holidays, one of the things I kept getting asked by people I know is,
‘You work in technology, you work in finance, how do I buy bitcoin?’ I
asked, ‘Why do you want to buy bitcoin?’ And they said, ‘Well I heard
it’s a fast easy way to make money... someone said it’s like digital
gold.”’
Dorsey went on to discuss the benefits — and potential
problems — of investing in a digital asset that is decentralized,
deflationary, and in general, unlike any other traditional stock market
securities. The full video
is below. It’s a long discussion, but it’s a rare in-depth conversation
with an entrepreneur who has established himself as a disruptor in more
than one industry.
Comments
Post a Comment