Blockchain is certainly the biggest
innovation in information technology
since the invention of the internet 30
years ago. This gives us all all of us on
the global planet who have access to a
smartphone gives us access to this
network effect. Just as online learning
combines with classroom teaching to
create blended learning solutions these
tools may be at their best when combined
with human expertise and judgement.
Because if you do not experiment you
don't know what is happening in
Blockchain and you're missing out on all
the new opportunities as well so try it
out and experiment with Blockchain and
DLT because otherwise we will miss the
boat. For the accountancy profession
Distributed Ledger's might help with
tasks that require better management of
transactions in their recording and
tracking. Support these discussions
because we truly believe in cooperation
and collaboration between business and
regulation. We are at the very start of this
new technology this technical innovation
is going to take years before we see
widespread adoption and we should keep
it balanced and a pragmatic approach to
reaction to the technology allowing for
the realistic timeline. Blockchain is
going to be a catalyst for a paradigm
shift in how we all are going to do
business together, how we are all going
to do transactions together. The sector
needs time to innovate it needs support
from clients in terms of their openness
to experiment with us and regulators and
other policy makers need to work
with us on our journey so that because
we're going to a very different place
from potentially where we're at now and
we believe that the public interest will
be served in the future by that, that
stakeholders interests will be
served but we need their help to do
that.
So these technologies offer lots of
opportunities for business having said
that these need to be regulated, that
everybody agrees.
We have to start creating open platforms
of Blockchain to absorb the cost of the
servers, of the energy that is needed
this is the only cost that is out there,
the cost of the transactions as I
said is going to the minimum and we have
to guarantee the transactions if
something happens to the application
or your phone or your service you have
to make sure that cloud will help you
backup your transactions. We have to
strengthen the Blockchain infrastructure
for the success of the digital market
union. Well fortunately here in
Brussels in Europe the institution's
Parliament and the Commission have been
very pragmatic in their consideration so
they're not rushing to over-regulate or
indeed regulate very much at all apart
from anti money laundering the
technology is being allowed to flourish
and blossom and I think that's the right
approach giving it an opportunity to see
what benefits it can bring to society
and to citizens and to business. Our
starting point for the commissioners
perspective is that we want to ensure
that Europe is an open environment in
which technological solutions in the
area of Financial Services can be explored
and adopted. I think it's important that
all European institutions create more
room for experiment because in Europe if
we're talking about new technologies
like DLT we are not starting
from pole position we are starting
somewhere in the middle and just like my
fellow countryman Max Verstappen we
have the potential to become the world
champion but we have to have the right
environment, the right team, the right
mechanics so you have to have the
opportunity to test and to experiment.