Blockchain influencer Thomas Power: 99% of tokens will fail
Of all around 5,000 tokens, 99% will fail. Facebook will pay users for every like, share and photo with ‘attention tokens’. Regulation, proper lawyers, and independent Board Members are critical to crypto startups, Thomas Power, the blockchain influencer claims.
We sat with Thomas for our ‘5 questions to‘ segment.
You have been popularizing the notion ‘tokenization of people’s attention’. What do you mean by this concept and why is it important?
Attention is the product, so people should get paid to surf. Companies, such as Brave, are paying people to surf with ‘attention tokens’ or BAT tokens in this particular case. FaceCoin from Facebook will follow suit. Tokens for every like, every share, every photo, every invite, every message. FaceCoin then will be redeemable at Facebook Marketplace to buy things and services.
All brands will also adopt attention tokens and reward their consumers for lowering their CO2 emissions. Climate Change Strategy is where crypto tokens will make their mark 2020–2030.
The most expensive painting ever sold was for the remarkable price of $450 million — Salvator Mundi, a 600-year-old piece by Leonardo da Vinci. Art, real estate, and expensive champagne might soon be tokenized too. What industries have the largest tokenization potential and why?
Tokens are derivatives and they will form the largest market in the world. Some people estimate it will be bigger than $1.2 quadrillion.
Security tokens may offer yields like equities, they can be traded on numerous exchanges. Investors can build their own basket of crypto assets and move in and out of them like stocks and shares.
If the future of tokenization is really bright, security, also a trustworthy custody solution, will be crucial. What are the key challenges that tokenization brings?
Trust and regulation are the biggest challenges.
It is a widely known fact that 80 percent of ICOs are considered to be fake or fraudulent. Therefore investors are already demanding regulation. A regulation requires scrutiny and scrutiny drives confidence. Startups seek capital, investors seek due diligence, thus regulation is critical.
Skeptics claim that the great conundrum of tokenization will be the low liquidity of tokens. How would you respond to them?
They are right. Liquidity is possible only in the Top 20 tokens. Of all around 5,000 tokens, 99% will fail and around only 50 will make it. Many of the survivors will merge, roll up, acquire one another for talent, clients and token capital.
One of the barriers to tokenization is legal uncertainty. Unfortunately, regulation remains country-specific or is absent altogether. It attracts bad actors that fair businesses have to compete with. How can the industry cope with this deficit of legal clarity?
The industry may promote the regulator and bring in proper lawyers. Regulation is critical along with proper lawyers and independent Board Members. Most crypto startups don’t understand all of this.
Thomas Power has spent 38 years in technology and sometimes calls himself ‘a digital historian’. Throughout his career, Thomas raised and sold £1.2 billion of capital and assets. Serving as a board director for 6 companies, Thomas is also a co-author of a book about ICOs, cryptocurrencies, and tokenomics, and is one of the most influential figures in the blockchain.
Opinions expressed by the Interviewees and Speakers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of HODL Finance in full extent and should respectfully be treated as their own.
HODL Finance is the European digital lending company. HODL Finance issues loans backed by cryptocurrency and other digital assets. Founded by the shareholders of the peer-to-peer lending platform, Savy, HODL Finance now serves clients around the world.
