The first cinematographic NFT project “The Future Is Now Film” shows what blockchain leaders think of future governance systems: will there be even tighter centralization, a symbiosis of traditional and new methods of control or do we need a totally new governance system to replace the old one?
Answers to these questions can be found in the two latest episodes, “Transforming The Future” and “Aligning The Future”, which were filmed at the AIBC Summit UAE 2021 in Dubai and Blockchance EU conference in Hamburg. Let’s dive deeper and see what futurists think.
Blockchain Is Getting Closer to Traditional Institutions
Several years ago, it would have been a bombshell to see government officials at a blockchain conference. Now, in both the AIBC Summit in Dubai and Blockchance EU conference in Hamburg, government officials are among honorable guests for two reasons. First of all, the scale of the change made them notice the inevitable. Secondly, some of the “decentralized futurists” have joined the ranks of centralized organizations in hopes of making a difference.
For example, H.E. Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, recently became an ambassador to the World Trade Organization on behalf of Grenada, a country in the Caribbean. In his view, cryptocurrency projects today are “way more efficient than the financial infrastructure that we have today” and now he plans to pave the way for mass adoption.
According to Fabian Friedrich, the founder of Blockchance Group, one of the reasons for the Blockchance EU conference to exist is the need to bring together different market players especially the decision-makers who currently govern traditional systems “to take the fear away and show them how positive this movement is, how many chances are in the movement for a better future”.
Some have already achieved tangible progress in establishing the dialogue. Fabian Vogelsteller, co-founder of ERC20 Protocol, shared that negotiations with regulators despite the “back and forth” nature of the process, have already brought positive results because “everybody sees the benefits of this technology” while of course the “old has always had the interest to survive”.
Will Governments Have a Saying?
According to His Excellency Justin Sun, decentralized currencies are more advanced not only on the technological side but also on the philosophical side as they drive the inclusion of smaller countries. That is why it will be only natural for countries to “start to diversify the countries’ reserves” also by building the central bank digital currencies but “the philosophy behind CBDC’s will determine their results”: they could either join a competitive system or “undermine the reputation and the influence in the market in the first place” if they are made to be an appealing asset to use next to cryptocurrencies, for example by simply functioning as a financial tracking tool.
Justin Sun believes that when the barriers of the traditional financial system go down, everyone benefits. But according to Brock Pierce, the 2020 US Presidential candidate from the Bitcoin Foundation, there will be beneficiaries and losers. In his view, Dubai, for example, will be the beneficiary of change because it “is doing a good job recognizing the change and adapting to it” but those who resist the change will suffer:
“Look at Florida and Miami, they are doing a good job… They are the beneficiary of the change. That is what happens when you embrace the future. You get to be part of it. Resist it and it runs you over. The future is coming”
Prominent venture capitalist Tim Draper whose Dad fought in the Korean War has shared a vision of what resistance to change could look like by giving a historical example of North and South Korea as a full government control system versus a “free and open society with democracy” 70 years later:
“Average South Korean now makes 430 times what the average North Korean makes in a year, and that is when you adjust for purchasing power. And the average South Korean is 4 inches taller than an average North Korean. It is pretty clear to me which system works better”
Dubai: Safe Harbor for Innovations
One of the biggest gatherings in the blockchain community held by Eman Pulis & SIGMA Group AIBC Summit UAE 2021 has been held in Dubai a few months prior to Blockchance EU.
Dubai is among the first cities that are “taking a tangible stand into abundance and allowing decentralization to flourish” as it is stated by Miguel Francis-Santiago, the Founder of The Future is Now DAO and the mastermind behind #TheFutureisNowFilm, with initiatives like the UAE Crypto Map. Dubai is “on its way to becoming self-sustainable” by leveraging the power of innovative-based ecosystems….
Read More: The Future Is Now Film Shows What Blockchain Leaders Think About Governance