Breaking Down the Barriers to Blockchain
A chat with Filament Director of Government Affairs, Wendy Stolyarov, about her experience in the industry and the opportunities presented by blockchain technology
With not a single cubicle in sight, you can tell from the moment you step foot in their Reno NV headquarters, that Filament is not like other companies. Founded in 2012, Filament builds blockchain hardware, software, and firmware.The company’s mission is “To democratize value exchanges between trillions of connecting machines” in order to “equip machines with the human values of trust, autonomy, and efficiency, creating a new shared — equitable economy”.
A Bit about Blockchain
So what exactly is blockchain? As Wendy described it, blockchain is similar to a platform like Google Documents, where each participant in an interaction has a complete copy, or lightweight reference to data. Due to the fact that there is no one central database in blockchain interactions, the data is much more reliable. When most people think of blockchain they think of Bitcoin or Ethereum, but the potential for blockchain technology is much wider, with many enterprise blockchains that are private (or public) and focus not on cryptocurrency but other forms of information sharing. The products produced by Filament are blockchain agnostic, meaning they are not tied to any particular blockchain but can interact with a variety of pairings.
“The potential for blockchain goes beyond cryptocurrency”
Helping real people
With these hefty promises, I was curious about real life examples of blockchain use for information sharing. Wendy was quick to cite a current program in Estonia, which compiles records and citizen information for a streamlined citizen experience. (Casting a vote online — with no driving or poll lines — sounds pretty great to me)
Keeping blockchain unblocked
The legislative side of blockchain endeavors is critical as the reach of this technology expands. Wendy noted that states can sometimes use language in legislation that actually bans blockchain without realizing it. Thus, a great deal of Wendy’s job is meeting with legislators and educating officials on the basics of blockchain, helping to engineer policy solutions that ensure citizen protection and opportunities for the growth of the technology.
“[Government advocacy is…] essential because we are in unknown waters with regulatory environments”
Wendy described her own experience working as a lobbyist in Colorado during their 2017 legislative session, where Filament helped to shape the language regarding blockchain in SB86. This bill encouraged the state of Colorado to consider using blockchain for securing citizen data, and funded the University of Colorado’s education programs around blockchain technology.
Here in Nevada, Clift & Co. has been instrumental in educating lawmakers about the opportunities blockchain holds for our state. During the 2017 legislative session, Clift & Co. helped to pass SB 398, a bill recognizing blockchain as an electronic record and providing specific bans against harmful overregulation.
This sort of government advocacy can often be that X factor distinguishing a profitable company from a failing one. Wendy emphasized this point, talking about how smaller companies often don’t spend enough time tracking legislation relating to their industry. A company may put their head down, focusing on gathering clients, and then find that legislation has been passed that hindering their business abilities.
“You’re building the framework for everyone after you”
Working to shape and pass legislation is not just an individual effort. The results of the conversations we have, and the ideas we present now will affect every similar enterprise down the road.
