Bring your challenge to blockchain: Day 1 Q&A at the London Blockchain Conference 2023

Should businesses turn to public or permissioned blockchains for their needs? How can companies leverage generative artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to generate revenue? Do digital assets change the game for wealth managers? These were some of the questions posed by audience members during Day 1’s Q&A session at the London Blockchain Conference.

The Q&A session allows attendees to have some of the industry’s thought leaders respond to their burning questions on blockchain technology. Bitcoin expert Joshua Henslee, Bain Norway senior partner Lars Jacob Boe, and presentation coach Neve Taylor took the stage during the inaugural session.

The first question was why businesses should build on a public blockchain and not a private ledger. Henslee noted that public networks like BSV blockchain are immutable, giving businesses the confidence that the data hasn’t been altered or manipulated.

With a public blockchain, “you have a single source of truth vs. several servers [with private ledgers] that are supposed to be the truth.”

AI has grabbed all the headlines recently, and how businesses can integrate generative AI and blockchain was among the questions posed. Boe noted that the two technologies are a perfect match as one, AI, depends on vast amounts of data while the other, blockchain, ensures the data can be trusted. On how to make money from this, “that book is being written as we speak,” he said.

AI models rely on data and continue to mine their users’ data in the very same way the big tech platforms like Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ: META) have been doing for years. With Bitcoin micropayments, users can pay the AI models a minimal amount of money per use rather than surrendering their data, Henslee added.

Micropayments will be pivotal to the digital future. Users can charge for using their data, while platforms can charge per use, scrapping the faulty subscription model. This future is already here with us, with platforms like Twetch allowing users to leverage micropayments in social media.

“That stuff is here, but nobody knows about it as they think Bitcoin isn’t capable,” Henslee said.

While the technology takes great leaps, investors have been slow to jump at the opportunities. Blockchain innovators have, in some cases, struggled to raise funding for revolutionary products; how do the founders navigate this environment?

According to Henslee, these investors will get sucked in soon. “You have to show them, not tell,” he told the audience.

“If it grows to be so big, they will just come in; they won’t have to be convinced,” he added, more questions centered on CBDCs and the use of blockchain in wealth management.

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