“Early this month, the US financial authorities allowed the traditional banking sector to handle stablecoins. When stablecoins are exchanged on an open blockchain, the elements that financial institutions will intervene will disappear. Nevertheless, the US authorities allowed it. What is the reason. This is because it seems obvious that the blockchain infrastructure will overturn the existing financial cartel ecosystem within a few years. Instead of keeping the vested interests until then, he thought it would be better to lay the plates first. On the other hand, in Korea, it is still putting the private blockchain ahead and avoiding cryptocurrencies. This is because we are overly concerned about the side effects of the paradigm shift.”
At the Youth TF Micro-Conversation Future Industry Conference held on January 7th in the Democratic Party’s Office, Hashed CEO Kim Seo-joon emphasized that the US regulators’ attitudes toward the cryptocurrency market are changing and that Korea needs such a change.
#“Need to switch from platform economy to protocol economy”
CEO Kim pointed out that the platform economy that has led the global market over the past decade has already grown excessively and has become power. Platform economy refers to economic activities in which suppliers and consumers of goods and services trade based on digital networks such as the Internet. Representative platform companies include Google and Amazon. However, it is pointed out as a limitation that the platform economy becomes polarized over time and results in a winner-take-all.
Accordingly, a protocol economy in which all participants create an agreed protocol and share outcomes accordingly is emerging as an alternative. If the existing platform economy distributed profits only to shareholders, the protocol economy returns not only to shareholders but also to platform contributors. “The platform economy is difficult to grow anymore due to several limitations,” Kim emphasized. “It is time to transition to a protocol economy.”
#Public blockchain emerges as a core technology in the protocol economy
Blockchain that eliminates intermediary intervention and runs with smart contracts is considered a core technology in the protocol economy. Among them, Kim explained that a public blockchain that anyone can freely participate in and experiment with is leading global blockchain innovation. The representative one is Bitcoin. He explained that Bitcoin was the first protocol-based network economic organization created by mankind. Because it is based on the protocol, it can be stored or exchanged directly without involvement of financial institutions or third parties, objective and fair compensation is achieved, and there are no boundaries for participation in the operating organization.
Overseas countries are also loosening the rein of regulations as they begin to focus on the utility value rather than the side effects of blockchain and cryptocurrency. In the US, the Monetary Authority (OCC) recently allowed the financial sector to handle stablecoins. Now, banks can also directly issue stablecoins on the public blockchain. It is analyzed that the intention of the U.S. authorities to lead the market by taking the lead rather than ignoring the changes of the times lies in such a radical measure.
#Domestic, cryptocurrency avoidance and belated regulation… Make you lose your competitiveness
On the other hand, domestic authorities are still skeptical about public blockchains and cryptocurrencies. CEO Kim pointed out that “the government sees the blockchain as a promising technology in the future, but still avoids cryptocurrencies and tokens.” In terms of regulation, he pointed out that it is a method of responding after looking at the actions of the United States and Japan. They are concerned that the more the government maintains such a passive and defensive attitude, the less competitive the industry may be.
Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun also agreed with this position and requested a prompt response from the authorities. “We need to prepare for how to deal with issues related to blockchain and cryptocurrency. Actually, it was a little late. Now is the time to move. As the US financial sector accepts stablecoins, the protocol economy is expected to spread rapidly, and domestic preparations should also be made.”
Reporter Kwon Indie Jo