The Future of Blockchain Event — with Greg Meredith and Greg Heuss

The Future of Blockchain event in San Francisco was a meetup of influencers, developers, and pioneers in the crypto space to discuss the future of blockchain technology. The event was sponsored by Reflective Ventures, our partner fund and organized by Ian Utile, whose goal was to better understand leaders visions for how blockchain could have a positive impact on the world.

Although there was time for networking, this wasn’t an event for people to promote their companies or platforms. Speakers talked about blockchain as a tool to help solve real world problems, to help us become better learners and teachers, and to collaborate better.

Greg Meredith was the keynote speaker and spoke about blockchain as just one of many new coordination technologies we need in order to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

Greg Heuss from RChain partner Reflective Ventures was also interviewed briefly.

Greg Heuss, Managing Partner of Reflective Ventures investment firm and incubator

In his introduction on the runway before the event, Greg said that he loves being a mentor and a coach more than anything, helping others avoid mistakes he’s made and sharing his experience and insights.

1. If anything was possible, what could the blockchain industry become in the next 10 years?

A: Greg said that he would like to see a G8 country change their banking system and adopt cryptocurrency. “Change the way a country is banking… When that happens, the people will trust in something besides the government. The next step after that is that the people will take over and create their own ecosystem.”

2. What organization or person are you most inspired by that is driving us toward that vision?

A: He mentioned Vitalik Buterin, Joseph Lubin, and Roger Ver. But, he said, the person who inspires him most is Greg Meredith.

3. What do you think is achievable for the blockchain industry within the next year?

A: What he thinks is missing is making the space bigger, and said you accomplish that by storytelling, marketing, and messaging. This can only be accomplished by getting everyone involved. Currently not enough people have much knowledge in the crypto space, and he wants to expand on that. “It’s about the community, and we’ve got to get out of our own little 5% fiefdom.”

4. What can people here at this event do to make that vision a reality? What is your call to action?

A: Greg said, “I could be very self-promoting and say that people should check out RChain and become a member of the RChain co-op.” He encouraged people to join the community and become members of the co-op. He said, “The fact that you can put a blockchain on top of a cooperative… it’s something to watch.”

He and Ian discussed the radical transparency of live-streaming meetings and leaving them on YouTube, where everyone can see your experiments and mistakes. Ian commented, “It’s never been seen before.”

Greg Meredith, President of RChain Co-op and chief architect of the RChain platform

In his runway introduction, Greg told Ian that he’s trying to create a world that he can pass on to his kids. He also called math a communication event, and said, “if it’s just in your head, it’s not really math,” and compared it to playing music alone in your basement.

Greg Meredith gave the keynote talk (03:08:58)

He started by saying, “There are a lot of technologies that we have yet to tap into, technologies that have to do with organizing our attention. A lot of what we’re going to have to do in the next several years is to coordinate with each other at a pace and agility that we don’t normally work with.” He said that part of that requires each of us to occupy the instrument of our individual self the best we can, and that when we do that, we begin to be able to occupy our collective self in a better way.

He thinks about blockchain technology as a coordination technology. He said that what is so challenging, and so awesome, is that we have to solve financial, governance, and software problems all at once.

Most of his talk focused on what he sees as three of the most important coordination technologies. He said we need to see a reboot in these technologies.

1) Finance: The purpose of money and finance it to help us take care of each other.

We need to look at a lot of different models. When capital is stuck in the hands of the few, it limits the number of models.

2) Governance: Governance is inextricably linked with finance. You have to solve finance and governance at the same time. RChain chose the co-op model to have the best beginning possible. One member, one vote is a good beginning for governance.

We are facing the consequences of how we’ve been living on the earth for the past 150 years. With all of the things going on in the world, we will have to learn how to coordinate with each other. Blockchain is the solution to coordinating right when we need it the most. It helps us reboot the financial industry by changing the model of how we take care each other.

3) Social media: We need a decentralized solution, for a healthier and more responsive solution.

We need to tap into collective intelligence. Because of the situation that we’re up against, “we need groups that can think with an expansiveness greater than Einstein or Schroedinger. We need groups that have the compassion of the Buddha.”

Greg said he was most inspired by people in their 20s like Vlad Zamfir and Vitalik Buterin “who are thinking about finance as a tool to craft coordination strategies” in a way that he had never seen. He mentioned twenty-somethings and teenagers who can recognize that “if we don’t step up, then no one will.”

Greg said, “That’s the group that I’m most inspired by, and that’s the group that I’m working for. We are handing the situation over to them, and it’s important for us to support them in this moment of crisis, transition, and transformation.”

He expressed wonder that new technologies are coming in right when we need them the most.

Greg stressed the importance of the fundamental principles that are “baked into RChain” as necessary for effective collaboration. They are radical inclusion and radical transparency.

He ended with a call-to-action for others to join the RChain Cooperative and participate. But more importantly, he said, just connect with others to create the space we need in order to face what’s coming.

To learn more about social coordination, see Games and Governance, where Greg demonstrates techniques that can be used to measure and improve group coherence and responsiveness to collective intelligence.

If you would like to watch the whole event. Click here: Future of Blockchain event