Crypto Embraces Emerging Markets: We're Not a Bank, We're Your Financial Friend - Ep.9
Release Date: 07/10/2018
Security Tokens Garner Serious Investor Interest; Legal Precedence Still a Ways Out - Ep.14
Blockchain Bridge
Emma Channing, CEO and general counsel at , brings her legal experience and token space expertise to Blockchain Bridge to delve into what it will take for the capital raise and security token market to take off. Emma, who worked on security token offering (a seminal moment in the space), discusses what's changed in the market since then. She talks about the emergence of Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) for security tokens -- i.e. ; and -- and why there's change in how the market views these offerings, who uses them, and ultimately how they'll operate (risk management, smarter contract...
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Crypto Business Leadership, a 24/7/365 Job (with a Smile) - Ep.13
Blockchain Bridge
New York Times best selling author and CEO of , , joins Jay on the podcast to talk about best practices for executive management and leadership in "Coinworld" (aka blockchain and crypto businesses). Tim explains why he believes executives with high emotional intelligence (EQ) produce more positive experiences for their business partners and investors. With the inherent volatility of funding in the crypto space, which impacts the "mood state" of these businesses and success, Tim believes that the best executives are those focused on emotional talent development, improving...
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Crowdfunding Success: It's Not Who You Are, It's What You Do! - Ep.12
Blockchain Bridge
, Managing Director of joins Ben and Jay to discuss equity crowdfunding and working to keep funding and token sales democratized. Kiani believes anyone should be allowed to invest in Republic's projects, and that issuers should aways stay on the right side of the SEC and FINRA. In this podcast, she delves into why Republic's legal-heavy team works tirelessly to reshape agreements that redefine how issuers navigate regulations and offer digital ownership. Always be sure to wear your "regulatory helmet"! Kiani offers listeners a deep-dive into Republic's due diligence to...
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It Takes a Village to Achieve the Vision for Alternative Assets - Ep.11
Blockchain Bridge
Juan Hernandez, CEO & Founder of (OFN), a leading trading platform for the $7.7 trillion alternative asset market, joins Ben and Jay to talk about the state of the digital asset ecosystem and OFN's collaboration with market leaders such as , , , , and , to bring more compliance and regulatory oversight to the issuance pipeline. Juan touches on , and what it's like to be at the forefront of improving digital securities to bring more listings and liquidity to the market. He provides an overview of the "alphabet soup" of...
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CryptoKitties Ensures Ethereum Purrs - Ep.10
Blockchain Bridge
, co-founder of and product manager at , joins Ben and Jay to talk about how CryptoKitties took the world by storm at the hackathon, ushering in the biggest moment in crypto since Bitcoin. Benny recalls the excitement that fueled CryptoKitties, as the company blew every expectation out of the water, flipping the crypto space on its head and for the first time making writing lines of code, shipping product and being profitable (in three weeks) cooler than slinging white papers and ideas for changing the world. Benny talks about the changing digital asset...
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Crypto Embraces Emerging Markets: We're Not a Bank, We're Your Financial Friend - Ep.9
Blockchain Bridge
, Founder and CEO of and the Director of the , joins Ben and Jay from Cape Town, South Africa to talk about why she's building a mobile crypto financial services platform for emerging markets. Tricia talks about her work in Africa to reduce banking fees and to increase financial services participation using Wala and the Dala token. She talks about the current state of banking in Africa, which is slow-moving and burdened with fees that have only served to foster mistrust with consumers. Tricia believes banks want to partner with crypto and blockchain companies in Africa. However it's difficult...
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Blockchain: Custom Built for Social Good - Ep.8
Blockchain Bridge
In this episode, Ben and Jay connect with , who serves as Executive Director at with a strong focus on the , to explore initiatives and trends in blockchain and data management that are shaping the future of social good. She highlights four key sectors for social good that are most impacted by blockchain and recounts trends that emerged at the . Vanessa sheds light on what it takes to empower people who have been displaced or disenfranchised by governments; the value of cutting out middlemen; and the work of Robert Opp, Director, Office of Innovation and Change Management, . Jay calls out...
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To Decentralize or Not to Decentralize, That is the Database Question - Ep.7
Blockchain Bridge
In this episode, Ben and Jay meet up with Neeraj Murarka, CTO and co-founder of , a high-security decentralized and scalable database, to explore trends and what's happening in the data management space. Neeraj delves into the meaning of Bluzelle's motto, "You are the Database," and details the advantages and differences between a traditional "centralized" database versus a decentralized database. Neeraj breaks down the value of a "key value pair" database, and goes into detail on the impact of immutability with respect to blockchains and how a decentralized database differs, as well as why a...
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Security Tokens: Keep Calm and Carry On - Ep.6
Blockchain Bridge
In this episode, Ben and Jay delve into the many facets of tokenization with a leading voice in the space, Anthony "Pomp" Pompliano, Founder and Partner at . From the value of fractional digital share ownership to the global ramifications of security tokens, we take a closer look at this rapid-moving, often over-hyped but clearly substantive cousin of the utility token. Pomp details why security tokens are evolutionary versus revolutionary, with respect to the use of technology. He goes on to break down the process of tokenizing the equity of , an Inc 500 company that provides large scale IT...
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GDPR Me ASAP: Consumer Managed Data Goes Mainstream - Ep.5
Blockchain Bridge
In this episode, Ben and Jay dive into consumer managed data with the CEO and Founder of , , who delves into why consumers should take back their data and why he believes (GDPR) will reshape individual's relationship with data. Mat touches on the role Internet platforms such as and play in the world of data; why consumers have become comfortable with exchanging their data for services from these companies and how he expects these companies to respond when consumers start taking back control of their data. He calls out the "data brokers" and middlemen who sell sensitive consumer data,...
info_outlineTricia Martinez, Founder and CEO of Wala and the Director of the Dala Foundation, joins Ben and Jay from Cape Town, South Africa to talk about why she's building a mobile crypto financial services platform for emerging markets.
Tricia talks about her work in Africa to reduce banking fees and to increase financial services participation using Wala and the Dala token. She talks about the current state of banking in Africa, which is slow-moving and burdened with fees that have only served to foster mistrust with consumers.
Tricia believes banks want to partner with crypto and blockchain companies in Africa. However it's difficult for them to work inside-out to fight bureaucracy and actually drive innovation and solutions. Currently, consumers in Africa are working outside of the banking system because of the fees (94% of transactions on the continent are in cash).
Tricia discusses how Wala enables consumers to use their Dala cryptocurrency wallet to access a marketplace to purchase data, mobile airtime and electricity; pay their TV bills and school fees; make cross-border payments with no fees and much more. She talks about how Africans are using Wala and Dala to create unique business models including "microjobs" services, where people who are often unbanked can access quick tasks and easily get paid, and local utilities business platforms where agents use Wala to sell airtime and electricity. Wala is building out more than 100,000 merchant locations around Africa where consumers can use their mobile phone and a QR code to transact with Dala.
Tricia reminds us of the importance of actually being on the ground in Africa to create change, and shares personal stories about disrupting financial services for people who would rather store their money in a lockbox than a bank -- due to fees. Whether its her local Uber driver in South Africa who wants to avoid the punitive fees of a Western Union (which can charge upwards of 10%-20% just to move money across borders), or Africans taking massive risks by giving bags of money to bus drivers to save an additional 3% when moving money across borders, it's clear that Tricia's personal connection with Africa is a driver for her work in the country.