“#Fearless” as an anthem to innovation.
“#Fearless” has always been his hashtag, which identifies the desire to innovate without ever stopping and without ever being afraid. Do you think that blockchain can be considered your latest “innovation bet” in the present/future?
I have been working on the internet and blockchain for over 20 years since Satoshi’s paper came out, and I have been following everything related to the computer revolution since the 90s. The beauty of this world is that it is a continuous evolution. You don’t have time to learn before it has already changed, and you have to start over.
The most recent element related to the world of innovation is the blockchain and all the consequences related to the affirmation of this new technology that brings decentralization to the highest levels by involving the financial element.
While with the internet, we were limited to transferring information and e-commerce. Blockchain, as it is understood today, is an element that will even change the way we use money, in fact, it is already changing it. It has another very important function, which is to stop the big over-the-tops, i.e., companies that have instrumentalized the internet that is no longer a democratic, social, and shared domain but a fiefdom and conquest ground for companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, Amazon, which basically command, so much so that we talk about a new “digital fascism.”
Today, instead, the blockchain allows us to bypass these companies entirely and make it possible to become more democratic and more decentralized starting from money. Therefore, this technology has led, thanks to the first application that was bitcoin, to have a first currency, bitcoin, that does not depend on banks and that allows real financial freedom.
From here, we then go on to decentralize a whole series of other uses, such as property management. Thanks to the blockchain, I can register contracts, transfer the ownership of objects, documents, notarized assets in the blockchain: this is another very important element, and it is what is leading to the great revolution in the NFT world also for the issue related to the transparency of data.
Unfortunately, ignorant detractors say that the blockchain is the realm of criminals, scammers, and hackers, while they do not know (or forget) that instead, it is the most transparent and traceable thing that exists: all transactions that take place through this technology are absolutely recorded, publicly visible, not making it absolutely hackable or modifiable by anyone. Everything that is notarized on the blockchain will remain there forever.
I am referring, of course, to blockchains that can be defined as “true,” which have in themselves all the peculiar and founding characteristics that do not allow classic “4 friends at the bar” to create a “similar blockchain” system in which the data can then be modified.
It is a revolution that will leave its mark; it has begun to be liked and spread. Millions of people have given the computing power to the blockchain, allowing their machines to connect to the network, giving life to the shared protocol: this has allowed everyone to enjoy the services and potential offered by this protocol; today it is even possible to choose your own personal internet domain and use it for your cryptocurrency wallet, and this is an incredible revolution for me because someday when a person wants to send me money for a service, they will not even need to know my IBAN or my data but simply enter my domain in their wallet and send me money or information, a certificate of ownership or a painting.
This is a wonderful thing in my opinion, as we are heading towards simplification and democratization, and I will no longer have to ask anyone for permission to do anything, in the spirit of maximum freedom and responsibility. And obviously, if I commit any illegal acts, I will be held personally responsible.
Today, if we want to do e-commerce, we have to “ask for permission” from Amazon; if we want to publish a video, we have to “ask for permission” from YouTube; if we want to publish news, we have to “ask for permission” from Twitter. But why? This is a resource (the internet) that was meant to be democratic. I want to be free to not ask for permission from anyone, knowing that the entire blockchain system is traceable and that if I do something illegal, I will be caught in no time.
That being said, I believe that the blockchain has undoubtedly been the biggest phenomenon since the advent of the internet. It is not a technological revolution, but a “cultural” one that aims to get people out of the laziness, cowardice, and “it’s good enough” mentality caused by the lack of choice forced upon them by the over-the-top networks, such as social media, which have lobotomized people.
Today, in the mass-evolved social networks, people are losing the concept of taking responsibility for what they make public, what they post. In a blockchain-based sharing context, which is based on payment to obtain sought-after information, people tend to regain their freedom of information and independence.
An example is the application of this technology to social networks: paying even a small amount to see and/or follow and/or comment on news or posts (as is the case with the social network CENT) allows people to take on a decidedly different level of responsibility.
The field with the most future for the blockchain.
What field do you believe the blockchain has the most future in, or at least shows more potential in the short or medium term?
In the blockchain world, it’s not about what I think or what you think, but about reasoned data analysis, and today the data tells us that the new direction of the blockchain, except for the cryptocurrency sector, is moving towards this new trend of the NFT world.
What is the NFT world? They are unique tokens, which do not have a standard value like bitcoin, where all values are the same (net of market fluctuations).
In the case of NFT tokens, each of them has a different value that we decide when we create them, and it is exactly worth the property that the token carries, because when we sell it (for example, on an exchange), it always has that value and transfers a property that can relate to a physical or virtual object.
In this case, a series of elements caused by the pandemic, such as the closure of economic activities, has led artists to decide that the era of physical works (drawn on walls or canvas, or sculpted, etc.) is over, to bring them back into a new virtual dimension, which is that of the digital world, therefore works that become jpg files, videos, etc., and ensure that these works are sold and transferred by including them in tokens that travel on the blockchain, which have a predefined value and are not all the same.
So art has been the driver of development for this new NFT concept, where today we can collect, buy and resell a whole series of works of art, but also collectible objects, things that exist exclusively in a digital environment, and create new collections, new economies, and new fields.
The revolution has been so strong and rapid worldwide that this market has reached impressive values close to a billion dollars in the last three months, with incredible continuous growth. It is already said that the biggest development area for blockchain will go in the direction of the NFT token market. This is a sudden but tangible revolution that many people who previously invested in cryptocurrencies are now shifting some of their investments to NFT tokens linked to artworks, properties, virtual works, virtual lands, metaverse, and many other applications.
The scenario of the virtual metaphysical world, accentuated by the difficulties of contacts due to the pandemic, has accelerated this process and made all product trade shift inside the metaverse, which could become even more important than the real world. The things that cannot be done in the real world will be done in the virtual world. Also, in countries where wars are ongoing, a new world will be born where thanks to the blockchain, all the games will be reset.
So it is not certain that the big digital companies will be the masters of this new world; on the contrary, they will have to adapt because they will be the master of the real world but not the virtual one. We are heading in a direction where the blockchain will influence the real world and not vice versa, revolutionizing our lives as it will be the basis of these metaverse, which are already important today.
NFT: limits and advantages.
What do you think are the limitations and advantages of NFTs?
I see limitations in NFTs because nothing is perfect and everything is hackable, and they have their weaknesses that some people may try to exploit improperly. So, there can certainly be excessive economic speculation at this moment, where we are dealing with artists selling works for tens of thousands of euros, even to the point of suspecting money laundering. Since this world allows for control but does not yet talk about rules on personal data, certainly at this moment the most negative element of NFTs is excessive speculation, something that, like all fads, will diminish and leave space for honest operators, market rules, and the traditional world.
Then there is the whole issue related to the energy theme, which is very important in general, and not because the blockchain consumes as much as many want to believe – it consumes much less than the banking system – but we always have to ask ourselves based on what. The new protocols that are being implemented provide for less energy use, we are going in a direction of less energy-intensive blockchain but also more convenient in terms of costs, faster and more easily manageable so that anyone, by making their PC available, can become a node of the same.
NFT applications.
Can NFTs be applied or are they already being applied in other ecosystems, perhaps maximizing their positive effects for the user, or do you think that art is the highest or best expression of NFTs?
Art is certainly the highest expression of NFTs, and today we can already see the tokenization of any possible and imaginable asset, such as the tokenization of a company’s social capital. Today, if you want to finance a company, you have to carry out a very complicated procedure of crowdfunding where there is still an intermediary who manages it and takes a generous commission, thus profiting without added value on the capital raised, and is helped also by the Italian law that provides for heavy taxation, and many times people invest in a start-up not because they believe in it, but only for a tax discount.
In Switzerland, however, this law does not exist, there is the defiscalization of start-ups, but you invest in it only if you believe in it, not only for speculation; you can decide, for example, if the company’s social capital can be tokenized at the birth of the same company without having to resort to the figure of the notary. These tokens are then proportionally allocated to the shareholders and the company, and the latter can easily resell their shares simply by transferring the token.
Clearly, in Switzerland there is also a law that provides for the identification of shareholders, so in the shareholder register (made in blockchain), the passage of the token itself will be written, which thus exits the previous heritage to enter another one; so, at this point, there is no need even for a notary.
With one click, I can sell the shares to a citizen residing anywhere in the world and with one click, I collect the money; thus, I extend the possibility of making the shares of my company liquid indefinitely, both in the case of crowdfunding and in the case of normal transfer of shares between shareholders, eliminating the platform fees and the need to pay a notary: all with incredible execution speed.
At this point, the concept of tokenization of an asset can be applied to anything, it could even be a person’s time, for example, a professional – like a doctor or a lawyer – who makes their consulting hours available for sale without any time limit. Today, on the other hand, you bill your time when you use it, it is not feasible to do it when you think you need it or at a later time.
Here the factor of accountability also emerges, in this case I am always incentivized to do my best so that the people who bought my time are satisfied and can even monetize that thing with pleasure, so this is the counterpoint in the blockchain: at the moment I sold my token, I am accountable to ensure that it does not decrease in value. If we could then arrive at a valuation of individuals as well as companies, it would be a fantastic scenario because beyond those who are clever, for those who instead do things well, all of this will represent an epochal revolution.
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