The panel at PwC Herald Talks: Future of Money (from left) Fran O'Sullivan, Rachel Paris, Alex Sims, Zoe Wallis and Aaron McDonald. Photo/Shaun Ross
The panel at PwC Herald Talks: Future of Money (from left) Fran O'Sullivan, Rachel Paris, Alex Sims, Zoe Wallis and Aaron McDonald. Photo/Shaun Ross
The way in which we work and deal with money could look very different in the future according to blockchain and cryptocurrency experts.
This future was discussed at this morning's sold-out PwC Herald Talks event where Aaron McDonald, chief executive and founder of blockchain company Centrality, was the keynote speaker.
Centrality's success has seen it raise the equivalent of US$80 million ($110.5m) in virtual currency that could be used in an online marketplace.
The currency tokens called CENNZ sold out in just six minutes to investors. This was on top of a pre-sale last year which netted US$15m for the company.
McDonald was joined on the panel by University of Auckland associate professor Alex Sims, Kiwibank head of transactions and payments Zoe Wallis and Bell Gully partner and founder of The Blockchain Boutique Rachel Paris.
Although views on the future and use of blockchain were similar, the panel was divided over cryptocurrency with some arguing for a centralised currency tied to the bank and others arguing decentralised currency was more trustworthy.
"The underlying technology in terms of blockchain, is incredibly valuable but when you think about actual cryptocurrency, I don't think that's going to be the future state," Wallis said.
"I don't think we're all going to convert to using cryptocurrencies in the future. I think what we need to see is a central bank issued fiat digital cryptocurrency."
Sims, also a blockchain researcher at the University, agreed but said a mix of both was required, adding that this was not just a phase started by some "mad tech nutters".
"This is governments like the UK and Sweden, very highly developed countries, working on this because they can see how it will reduce costs and transform almost everything they do. And New Zealand is a bit behind but we're working on it."
Centrality founder and chief executive Aaron McDonald. Photo/Shaun Ross
According to McDonald, the most important part of blockchain, which underpinned a lot of the cryptocurrencies, was ownership of the data being individual rather than held by a third party.
He said increasingly this was becoming an issue worldwide, and users needed to be aware that information obligations and requirements of third party companies such as Facebook, could change over time.
"More and more we're starting to see the implications of trusting third parties and these things are already showing up in the political scene in other countries," McDonald said.
"With this you are in control of your data and it can't be used or accessed without you knowing."
