aelf Interview with CGS Managing Partner, Jason King

On 15th November, 2018 the Managing Partner for Connect Global Strategies (CGS), Jason King was interview by aelf on his views of Blockchain technology within the Middle East and how the aelf/CGS partnership can further blockchain adoption.

One week prior, aelf and CGS announced a strategic partnership as aelf entered into the Middle East market.

Below is a short transcript of the interview:

[AELF] Hi everyone thanks for joining us my name is Josh and I’m part of aelf head of community and we’ve got Jason from connected global strategies and we’ve got dazzle from the international marketing team. Thanks guys for joining us today thank you.

Hi, so my name is dazzle and I’m part of the international marketing team and we have a very special guest today named is Jason.

[JASON] So my name is Jason King, managing partner of Connect Global Strategies. we’re an advisory group based in Dubai, helping high net worth individuals and corporations get connected and acquainted with blockchain technology. I’m also the co-creator of Flashcoin. It’s a crypto currency, that is a high speed, low transaction settlement blockchain, and I’ve also invested and advised a lot of projects in this space. I’ve been involved in crypto for the past eight years.

[AELF] Okay thank you. This brings me to elf, so obviously we’re here because we’re this partnership that’s been announced. Can you just give me a bit of an idea of how you first heard about elf?

[JASON] so I actually first heard about of when I was at the alphabet fund this was with Robertson and also Vincent from FBG was a first investor and supporter of aelf in the beginning so he mentioned to me about this project just early on. He said you know Ma Haobo is going to be coming to San Francisco which I was there at the time and we just met up, and within a day we were talking about aelf talking about blockchain and crypto. We just kind of really hung out and then that’s when I first heard about aelf.

[AELF] Right! So you’re one of the first investors or one of our early investors in the private sale. So was it Vincent that sold you on us or can you give us an idea of what were some of the key aspects for you?

[JASON] Yeah I mean, it was partially Vincent who made the introduction but further-more it was when I when I first met Haobo In San Francisco, we sat down and he talked about the concept of aelf, what it is that aelf is trying to achieve along.

[AELF] So as I mentioned the the key part about this is we’re starting a partnership between Connect global strategies and aelf that’s going to be focused in the Middle East. Can you explain to me and the community a bit more about what is Connect Global Strategies going to bring and how can you guys really benefit this partnership?

[JASON] Well first I’ll take a step back and look at the macro picture where, across the world, crypto stands with no different jurisdictions and regulations, with different government entities. I think you can begin to know, okay first of all we have China and Japan, Russia, the US, Canada, the European Union. So we have a lot of central powers that are in the process of researching or adapting regulation towards crypto currencies and launching technologies. Notably, we see places like Singapore and also Gibraltar, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Malta. There are a lot of these little places that people are now quickly moving there, establishing themselves in those places because of the favorable conditions whether it’s in terms of regulation or governments support.

But let’s jump back to Silicon Valley in California. In the early days, before the internet, Silicon Valley through this huge boom. It was a desert right, there was nothing there and the one thing, if you look at new emerging technologies and disruptive technologies, it will create a new a new ecosystem, a massive ecosystem. I think not just looking at a software side of things. You also have to look at the physical infrastructure. Does this place have the adaptability and the scalability to build this massive ecosystem that we’re looking in the next five to ten years? Where is the place that makes most sense and it’s actually the Middle East. You have Dubai and you have Abu Dabi and I think the amount of resources and amount of interest and the potential that’s still untapped in the region plus surrounding GCC countries. They are all very interested in the technology, but to be honest, it’s still a very new thing for everyone here.

That’s why CGS is here because we want bridge the gap in the understanding between the traditional industries, these people come from real estate, oil and gas, and trading. Trading is the one thing they understand, building businesses is one thing they understand so I think it’s just in the difference of this new technology, how do we bridge the gap between the new and old and I always think with crypto and with blockchain it’s always going to be complimentary. It’s always going to be a mix between conventional and unconventional methods. There are you know parts of the community where I believe in disruption and revolution but I think it’s more about how does this evolve into something that complements both and not necessarily one replacing the other.

In the end I think we need we need both. In centralized systems not everything can be decentralized and not everything should be decentralized. Some things were just not meant to be. In light of that, back to what we’re saying about what CGS can bring, I think number one, there’s a lot of opportunities and there’s a lot of projects. The key is really differentiating and giving the proper recommendation or the proper leads, the proper introductions to the right people. For me it’s very simple that you simply have to be at the right place at the right time for the right thing with the right people and that’s the key to success. I think aelf falls along the lines of that vision for the future of blockchain technology to be adapted by new businesses and corporations because not everyone’s going to go build their own blockchain, it’s just simply not feasible. It’s just so time consuming, so I think there’s a huge market niche where established corporations, companies, groups, investors, and even sovereign and government entities. They’re all going to need a potential solution for whatever business they have and I think for us, we want to give that proper guidance on how to establish and connect the different various technologies that can empower, to make the place better.

[AELF] So you’ll be providing that guidance, not only to the blockchain industry and to aelf, but you’ll also bring that to the other side too?

[JASON] Absolutely! Besides that, right now you see a lot of people do not fully understand how the UAE works, it is a very small country, it is a kingdom. The good thing is there are very few people call the shots and it’s a power pyramid right now. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I think it’s the same in China as well, there are places in the world where relationships that is the key. So here we’re building the relationships with the right people and giving them the right recommendations and guidance in decision because there is a need for that.

[AELF] Ok, so speaking of the UAE, what is the current feel or overall view on blockchain technology?

[JASON] So the difference between the UAE is there are a lot of families here and most of it is family based wealth. They are coming from generations of accumulated wealth but as far as structure, if you’re looking at in the West you know we have family offices. Families will set up Investment Office which is specifically targeting investments and managing their wealth, but here it’s still very traditional where there’s a guy who writes a cheque. so it’s not as structured yet but a lot of the interest especially for the Gen 2 to Gen 3.The younger generation of these families, they are all in some way aging with blockchain technology or cryptocurrency. They are calling to say “hey father, you need to take a look at this!”. It’s beginning to create that awareness, but it’s still very lacking.

But in terms of the government here, the rulers are all very positive about the technology. Dubai is looking at adopting fully into blockchain technology by the year 2020. So they’re definitely integrating blockchain technology, I mean they have already done so much without it. You have emirate ID which is connected to basically everything. I was just coming out of the Dubai Airport and I give them my ID, and leaving the airport and everything is automated. It’s super easy you. The ID is just like a resident card that basically has your fingerprint, your eye scan, it has all your biometric data, all your phone information. Everything that you do in the UAE is connected to it. You just use it for everything so it’s kind of like a card that’s not yet on the blockchain, but once you put it onto the blockchain it’s going to be very futuristic.

I really like support the government there. I mean it is a kingdom so obviously it’s a monarchy but they take care of their people. They invest a lot of you know resources back into society. They’re trying to keep everyone happy. There is even an happiness officer, a chief of happiness. So they do a lot of things to really proactively engage and make people happy. I think that an adapting technology can make things a bit more efficient and that’s what people are beginning to see here and especially I will say in the middle east, but particularly in the UAE, they’re being very progressive on it. There is a lot of things that are happening right now but it feels like Bitcoin or crypto back in the valley when it was 2013. People know about it but not much yet but just like the rest of the world is going to slowly catch up, particularly China, South Korea and the US already have an established market. But there are a lot of emerging markets, and not just emerging markets, but even world powers that have a lot of potential.

The UAE is a very powerful country, one thing in terms of the next 5–10 years, even in 20–30 years, I think it’s going to be one of the most important financial hubs, particularly in blockchain. I think people have to come here and see for themselves. I think a lot of strategic investors are already beginning to move. It’s a matter of time before the evolution begins. they don’t write this stuff in the papers or on the internet so how can people know about this. The locals really have a loyalty or an ‘home bias’. They invest in local companies and to be honest if you look at Silicon Valley Sand Hill Road, most of the investments that’s happening there, if you trace the money back where it comes from. It comes from the UAE, it comes from Abu Dabi. The big 3 investment firms, these guys have tons, if you dig deep behind every investment venture deal that’s going on now in the valley, most likely you’ll find the money that’s coming from the Saudis or the UAE. That’s just the reality, that’s where the real money is.

[AELF] All right, thank you very much! It’s been very informative and we’ve learnt not only about CGS but also about the UAE and the Middle East.

[JASON] For elf it’s a great time to enter a market because people are looking at solutions and I think you know aelf is well-positioned to do that. It has the technical capability it has a great team, a great vision and and great influence and is already established. I think it’s a wonderful time.

[AELF] Thank you, just before we do finish was there anything that you would like to say?

[JASON] Thank you, because I love aelf. And everyone who doesn’t have some aelf already, should look into getting some now. I’m not here trying to sell aelf, but it is a great blockchain and it’s a great ecosystem, and most importantly, it has a great team and community. I mean, honestly, that is why I’m here in the first place. But thank you.

Find the full interview here.

— Join the Community:

· Get on our Telegram Discord Slack and Kakao channel

· Follow us on Twitter Reddit and Facebook

· Read weekly articles on the aelf blog

· Catch up with the develop progress on Github

· Telegram community in 한국 ,日本語 ,русский ,العربية ,Deutsch ,ItalianoandTiếng Việt,

· Instagram: aelfblockchain

· YouTube Channel: aelf

For more information, visit aelf.io