About Erhan: VeriLedger Co-Founder and CTO
The Fallout of the Financial Crisis
I first took notice of cryptocurrencies in general and Bitcoin specifically circa 2010 during the tail end of the financial crisis. At the time, I headed the Security Service Federal Credit Union software department. Already a top-10 US credit union, SSFCU acquired several institutions in Colorado and Utah pursuant to the NCUA’s guidance that credit unions with high levels of troubled assets find stable purchase before their imminent collapse. My role in such mergers and acquisitions was to assess their technologies and integrate their systems into our service-oriented architecture. I loved helping members of these credit unions, but like many, I recognized that centralizing trust presents intractable problems when that trust is abused.
Bitcoin from the Perspective of an Innovator
At the time, Bitcoin was making great waves. There were think pieces on how it would revolutionize the financial system, followed by calls for help because someone’s private keys were lost, essentially eliminating access to any funds associated with that. It was, and continues to be, an enigmatic process of innovation.
Even with these hiccups, blockchains, and the cryptocurrency instance, appealed to my software security background as a novel application of applied public key cryptography. Having presented at RSA the previous year for a decentralized cryptographic protocol that reduced trust in third-parties, I loved the audacity of solving a traditional middleman problem in such a grounded way. Unlike my project, though, Bitcoin and blockchain technology provided an innovative way to transact financially, and as a result created a new economy that grows to this day.
Since then, blockchains have ridden the hype cycle successfully to be a serious contender for a new decentralized network protocol. Blockchains in many ways reminds one of the early days of the Internet, pre-web. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was Usenet and email, both killer applications, but it wasn’t until the world-wide web, the September that never ended, and when everyone could have their own AOL or GeoCities site that the Internet entered the zeitgeist. Blockchain is following this cycle, with cryptocurrency the first of potentially many killer apps.

Blockchain, Banks and the Accountants In-between
With smart contracts alongside a cryptocurrency, any bank or credit union can be effectively obsolete in theory. In practice, financial institutions will rather evolve than die, and this is borne out in the number of banks investing in public or private blockchains, investigating how to work with cryptocurrencies, and working with fintechs to shore up their limited capabilities.
Though we may correctly recognize the skyrocketing prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2017 as speculation, we should look at it with appreciation rather than disdain. Speculation is simply one stage in a natural normalizing of a new technology. When your Facebook friends are asking you for cryptocurrency tips, you know it’s gaining traction.
Blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and smart contracts are relevant to everyone in all aspects in a similar way that the Internet is. From a financial perspective, where I can speak with some credibility, blockchain technology is robust and getting stronger all the time, the “user-friendliness” of its ancillary tools is nascent. It requires a fair amount of technical knowledge to holistically comprehend a portfolio. Innovators and even some early adopters have this skill set, but the landscape is quickly shifting to where an organization may invest in cryptocurrencies but its accounting analysts who are responsible for preparing for taxes or audits do not have the tools to do their jobs.
When Megan Knab and I started VeriLedger, it was with this customer-focused mindset. For cryptocurrency and blockchains to fulfill their missions, it behooves all of us in the industry to develop the necessary tools, education, and guidance to help the early and late majority feel comfortable and competent with wallets, exchanges, and public addresses.
Erhan Kartaltepe
VeriLedger Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer
https://www.veriledger.io
