Looking back, looking ahead: 2018 and 2019 in five questions
As we wrap up 2018, we’ve reached out to hear from our advisors and major players in this space on how 2018 went down and what to expect in 2019. We’ve asked Anthony Di Iorio of Decentral, Trevor Koverko of Polymath, Joseph Weinberg of Paycase, Shyft and Special Advisor at the OECD, and Bruce Silcoff of Shyft the same five questions:
- What was the biggest story of 2018, in your opinion?
- What was your personal highlight in 2018?
- What was your company’s highlight in 2018?
- If you could describe the 2018 crypto industry in one sentence and/or one emoji, what would it be?
- What do you think will be the main trend in 2019 in the cryptosphere?
Here are their answers:
Trevor Koverko — Co-founder and CEO of Polymath
What was the biggest story of 2018 in your opinion?
The correction that happened — we knew it was coming, but it was more severe than I thought. The adoption from Wall Street surprised me in a positive way. Having big massive institutions like NASDAQ and NY stock exchange enter the space was great, and the feedback and progress from the regulators was fantastic to see — light touch and getting rid of bad actors, that was a good sign and what the space needs.
What was your personal highlight in 2018?
Going to Necker Island to meet Richard Branson was a highlight for me, personally.
What was Polymath’s highlight in 2018?
Professionally, the launch of Polymath 2.0 that happened recently was a big milestone and everyone worked hard to had to make it happen, so that was a major product moment.
If you could describe the 2018 crypto industry in one sentence and/or one emoji, what would it be?
Is there a rollercoaster emoji? Rocketship [🚀] is a good metaphor for starting a new journey and launching new products and generally taking off, that’d be my choice of emoji.
What do you think will be the main trend in 2019 in the cryptosphere?
Main trends: the emergence of security tokens and how that’ll go mainstream. This trend of security tokens appreciating and launching will continue, and we’ll see more of that now that a lot of infrastructures has been built and deployed. 2019 will definitely be a big year for security tokens.
Anthony Di Iorio — CEO & Founder of Decentral and Jaxx
What was the biggest story of 2018 in your opinion?
A single story is hard. As a whole, I think, the market increase earlier this year and then the decrease is probably the biggest story, along with other things like regulations. As we’ve seen year after year, this is just the market going up and down, but what’s important is that the infrastructure is being built, and the markets tend to shake out people looking to make a quick buck.
I’m focused on building, and that’s my biggest priority. Just keep building infrastructure; that progress we’re all making can’t be stopped. Even though the markets go down, it’s exciting to see the growth of the entire ecosystem, the new technology and the problems that are getting solved.
What was your personal highlight in 2018?
If I think of a personal highlight, for me I think it’s recognition that came from releasing our new Jaxx Liberty platform. This is something we’ve been working on for the last couple of years. And winning the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award was nice!
What was Decentral’s highlight in 2018?
For Decentral, the launch of Jaxx Liberty was a major milestone. Now we can start scaling and growing, and that’s a big win for everybody.
If you could describe the 2018 crypto industry in one sentence and/or one emoji, what would it be?
I don’t know. It’s hard to condense it down; there is a wide variety of things that happen in one year. Just because the calendar ends on December 31 .. to me it’s more of a marketing thing. Let’s just keep working. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, doesn’t matter what year it is, or whether the market is going up or down. I’m pretty confident that the stuff that we’re involved in building is going to be massively disruptive, and I’ll keep doing it no matter when things are going to break through. I’ll keep on working.
What do you think will be the main trend in 2019 in the cryptosphere?
I have no idea. I’m busy doing my things.
Joseph Weinberg — CEO and Founder of Paycase, Chairman at Shyft and Advisor at the OECD
What was the biggest story of 2018 in your opinion?
That’s a big question. The G20 developing formal standards, and most regulators taking a light-touch approach, focusing on KYC/AML as well as taxation — meaning they’ve studied the ecosystem, they’re not making fast judgements, and therefore not collapsing a still-nascent industry.
What was your personal highlight in 2018?
Engaging with governments and security commissions to bring blockchains to more governments and countries.
What was your company’s highlight in 2019?
Announcing the first ID project with Bermuda, and helping draft the first set of regulations in Bermuda that have since passed and become law.
If you could describe the 2018 crypto industry in one sentence and/or one emoji, what would it be?
Rocketship [🚀] , because yes, the market is down, but this is not about the market. The amount of integration at a broad scale and widespread adoption, with more regulators and governments making firm stances we are seeing more clarity, and so more institutions are moving into the space. We’re starting to get things done, and that’s a rocketship for sure.
What do you think will be the main trend in 2019 in the cryptosphere?
Security tokens and video gaming will the trend for 2019, and regulatory frameworks will be more established, which means deeper integration and bridging, perfect timing for Shyft to launch. We will see — and do our part to bring about more formal standards on how all types of digital ecosystems align around identity, privacy and ethical use of data. And Bitcoin goes to 50k.
Bruce Silcoff — CEO of Shyft Network International
What was the biggest story of 2018 in your opinion?
While most people might be consumed by the $13K+ drop in the price of the crypto benchmark currency BTC; I look at the data breach epidemic upon us, and the billions of data records being compromised, as the biggest threat and story of 2018, given my view on data being today’s most valuable asset class.
What was your personal highlight in 2018?
Personal highlight was my participation in ID2020 at the United Nations and being part of this notable group of inspirational leaders trying to bring an end to the social injustice of 1.1 billion people in this world being without legal ID and without access to essential social services like health care and schooling.
What was your company’s highlight in 2018?
Launching the Shyft testnet, demonstrating the vision of our white-paper becoming a reality.
If you could describe the 2018 crypto industry in one sentence and/or one emoji, what would it be?
From revolution to evolution — The rollercoaster [🎢], the path of a social movement to legitimacy.
What do you think will be the main trend in 2019 in the cryptosphere?
Collaboration — the meeting of minds that will enable visions of change to become reality.
Anything else you’d like to add?
We now find ourselves in an exciting time where blockchain will enable the incubation of thousands of disruptive ideas that will touch all aspects of life. I am thrilled to be an active participant, passionate about the positive social impact potential and the legacy we will leave behind.
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