The GiD Report#137 — Video and Groups rule the roost post-COVID

Published in

GlobaliD

6 min readDec 1, 2020

Welcome to The GiD Report, a weekly newsletter that covers GlobaliD team and partner news, market perspectives, and industry analysis. You can check out last week’s report here.

Hope everyone in the U.S. had a nice Thanksgiving!

What we have this week:

Understanding rumors of crypto wallet regulation + identity
COVID creds take center stage once again
Video and Groups are the 2 most important features in a post-COVID world
Stuff happens

1. The big news right before the holiday was a series of tweets by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on rumors of impending legislation from the Trump administration regarding crypto wallets and identity.

Check out the tweetstorm:

Last week we heard rumors that the U.S. Treasury and Secretary Mnuchin were planning to rush out some new regulation regarding self-hosted crypto wallets before the end of his term. I’m concerned that this would have unintended side effects, and wanted to share those concerns.
For those who don’t know — self-hosted crypto wallets (also known as non-custodial wallets or self-custody wallets) are a type of software that lets individuals store and use their own cryptocurrency, instead of needing to rely on a third party financial institution.
Self-hosted crypto wallets are important, because they allow anyone to use this new technology to access basic financial services — just like anyone can use a computer or smartphone to access the open internet.
The open nature of cryptocurrency is what makes it a powerful tool for innovation, and it is what levels the playing field globally. It is what is fueling innovation, such as in Defi. It has the potential to bring down the cost of financial services, and improve accessibility.
This proposed regulation would, we think, require financial institutions like Coinbase to verify the recipient/owner of the self-hosted wallet, collecting identifying information on that party, before a withdrawal could be sent to that self-hosted wallet.

Armstrong goes on to offer a bunch of arguments as to why these rumored regulations would be damaging to the industry — outlining issues everywhere from merchant processing to defi.

From the regulator’s perspective, you can understand their intention. KYC and identity parameters are instrumental in the fight against issues like money laundering and terrorist financing. The concern is that these rules are being rushed through. As always, there is always the risk that well-intentioned regulations can have the unintended consequence of stymieing a virant, innovative and open system.

The big picture, however, is that such concerns will eventually need to be addressed in a smart way — one that effectively deals with malicious activity while preserving innovation and openness.

Relevant:

2. With multiple vaccines on the way, the issue of COVID credentials is again taking centerstage.

The latest news is that anyone flying Qantas Airlines will need to be vaccinated, according to chief Alan Joyce.

It’s another topic that’s become heated in recent times for similar reasons to the one we addressed above. Ultimately, this is about finding smart approaches so that we can preserve individual rights to privacy and sovereignty while ensuring health and safety.

What’s super cool is that we have the means and the technology to achieve that now and there will be a big opportunity in 2021 to start flipping that narrative with new approaches (as many of the current critiques are based on the status quo).

It’s maybe no surprise that China is again taking the lead in this regard (like they are with central bank digital currencies). The Chinese Communist Party is uniquely positioned given the power they have over their populace and also differing value systems.

For other governments to follow, it also becomes a case of implementing new digital approaches without “becoming China.”

Here’s the latest, via Vadim — a required app for travel within China:

Whilst COVID-19 is not longer a BIG risk in China, you still often need a city’s specific health code if you plan to travel in China. Here’s the health code guide for you to go to these locations in China:If your health code is Ok, traveling to these cities shouldn’t be a problem for you to visit. However, we do recommend you to check with your hotel in advance, as some restrict foreigners, and others (especially in smaller cities) require a recent COVID test.

…

The Health Kit (Jiankang Bao) mini-program is now online! Foreign nationals may find the mini-program by typing in “Health Kit” in the WeChat or Alipay search bar and check your registered health status. The Health Kit serves as a reference for assessing your fitness for going back to work, entering/exiting public places, and other situations concerning COVID-19 prevention and control.

Relevant:

3. The potential acquisition of Slack shows the importance of video and Groups post-COVID.

Slack went public not too long ago but now might be getting swallowed up by Salesforce. The main reason? No video.

Here’s the WSJ:

Microsoft has become a greater-than-anticipated threat to Slack, said Rishi Jaluria, an analyst for investment research firm D.A. Davidson & Co. Slack, he said, “may be a little more vulnerable than we’d have expected since the pandemic.”
It didn’t have to be that way. Slack worked to add video features to its chat-based collaboration tool for years, acquiring Screenhero, a startup with a screen-sharing app, in 2015.
Adding video features to Slack’s app proved difficult, said Jahanzeb Sherwani, Screenhero’s former chief executive, who left Slack in 2018. It took more than a year for the small team to launch the voice and video chat feature, much longer than the original estimate, he said.
Slack launched video calling toward the end of 2016, and screen sharing became available in mid-2017, features that made up “Slack calls.” Video chat in Slack remains more basic than what rival Zoom has offered, limited to calls within an organization instead of letting a wider network of users jump on a virtual meeting.
“It’s not controversial to say that Slack calls wasn’t a top priority,” said Mr. Sherwani, who now has a new collaboration-tech startup, Screen Inc.

Of course, one community app that’s shone despite the lack of video is Discord. The difference? Discord’s voice + groups feature makes it truly unique especially in a time when creating that more casual sense of hanging out comes at a premium with everyone locked down.

All of which gives you the sense that video and Groups are the two most important features in a post-COVID world.

Which brings us to the age old question.

Why not both?

BONUS:

Relevant:

The GiD Report#137 — Video and Groups rule the roost post-COVID

1. The big news right before the holiday was a series of tweets by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong on rumors of impending legislation from the Trump administration regarding crypto wallets and identity.

2. With multiple vaccines on the way, the issue of COVID credentials is again taking centerstage.

3. The potential acquisition of Slack shows the importance of video and Groups post-COVID.

4. Stuff happens:

Written by GlobaliD