In Conversation with Pavel, CEO at Bluzelle
As we edge closer to De/Centralize 2018, the excitement we all feel is palpable. We are looking forward to convening with our peers and discuss the latest trends and developments around digital assets and blockchain technology. The growing community that we are part of becomes increasingly interesting every day.
This week, we sit down with Pavel Bains, CEO at Bluzelle. Bluzelle combines the sharing economy with the token economy — renting individuals’ computer storage space to earn tokens while decentralised application developers use tokens to have their decentralised app’s data stored and managed.
Pavel is an entrepreneur, futurist, designer and investor in exponential technologies. He also provides advisory, M&A, and capital raising services for companies in digital media and technology.
A: Hi Pavel, and thank you for taking the time to sit down and speak with us. We’re pumped to meet and chat with you as we are a few weeks out from De/Centralize 2018, Singapore’s premier blockchain conference.
P: Greetings Adi, great to be here. I’m also very excited to be a part of De/Centralize 2018.
A: Let’s get to it then. What are you looking forward to most at De/Centralize 2018?
P: I’m most excited to meeting with new people in the community and building new relationships with them. These will be crucial with helping to further grow the knowledge of the rapidly growing digital asset and blockchain technology industry in Singapore.
A: Knowledge sharing is so important Pavel, especially in a place like Singapore. Rubbing shoulders with thought leaders like yourself can only be beneficial for the community here.
P: Just doing my bid to help Adi!
A: Could you briefly share with us what you will be speaking at De/Centralize?
P: My session will cover three central themes. Firstly, I’ll look to address why decentralization of the web is needed in today’s world. I will then segue into how decentralization can help solve the world’s data problems. Lastly, I’ll answer the burning question that everyone has these days: why digital currencies are a good asset class for emerging markets to invest in.
A: Well said Pavel. The benefits of decentralization are indeed intriguing. No single authority holds user trust. Byzantine fault tolerance & turing complete systems completely change the game.
P: Those are just the tip of the iceberg Adi, there’s so much more to that’s possible with decentralization!
A: What are your predictions for blockchain in the year ahead? Both around its technology aspect and also with regards to cryptocurrency prices?
P: [chuckles] I knew you’d ask me this. Alright, I’ll indulge you. I believe the prices of digital currencies will continue to climb this year. There will be pullbacks and corrections but as more people get up to speed on the benefits of digital currencies, more will invest in them. Also, we have yet to see the large hedge funds enter the space, so that’ll be interesting to watch.
We’ll also bear witness to the first wave of blockchain projects come to full production and start showing real value in the technology. These will be those that had their ICOs in 2017).
Lastly, I also see medium-sized companies with forward-thinking CEOs and existing networks to start tokening their businesses. They already have existing users and they will all begin to apply the use cases they read about. This is different from enterprises, who will still lag when putting something in production because of all the red tape.
A: Absolutely fascinating Pavel. We are actively monitoring developments in the asset class as well. Alright, next question. According to you, where does Singapore fit within the global blockchain ecosystem?
P: Singapore has the potential to be one of the global hubs of blockchain. Many deep technology companies are based here, and there are also many blockchain events in Singapore where the turnouts are huge. But most important is the community, and their willingness to learn more about the blockchain and the possibilities to be had. They will be key in cementing Singapore’s position within the ecosystem.
A: I share your sentiments Pavel. The community here has a friend in the Singapore government, with its forward-looking regulations of the blockchain. What would be your ideal application of blockchain technology to reshape existing business models, and could you perhaps give readers a little insight into the history and involvement with the scene in general?
P: Bluzelle was started in August 2014. We set off on our journey by working on some blockchain development projects. In February 2016, we uprooted and moved to Singapore to target its vibrant financial sector. For the best part of the next 15 months, we worked on several projects for banks, which included the likes of Maybank and HSBC. We also worked with insurance players like AIA and MSIG, and also financial software companies like Temenos. In the middle of last year, we began initial work on our decentralized database protocol after identifying a major gap in the blockchain ecosystem. We also just completed a $20M ICO in January, and are looking to continue our growth.
A: Congrats on the success Pavel, we all have our eyes on Bluzelle. Tell our readers what inspired you to get involved in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space?
P: I personally saw the technology as a way to improve many of the world’s problems related to finance and infrastructure. It combined everything I am interested in: distributed computing, finance, social impact, community building and deep tech.
A: Inspiring indeed Pavel. We are all eager to hear from you at De/Centralize 2018, and also work hand in hand with you to solving these problems. Thank you Pavel.
P: Thank you Adi, my pleasure.
The next interview in our speaker series is with Karthik Iyer of BlockchainMonk.
