#BW2024
Australia’s Blockchain Week 2024 opened last week with two important announcements from event organiser Blockchain Australia, the peak industry body representing Australian businesses and business professionals participating in the digital economy through blockchain technology. Firstly, the appointment of Amy-Rose Goodey as the new CEO, succeeding Simon Callaghan who stepped down after serving the past year advocating for the responsible adoption of blockchain technology by industry and governments across Australia. We look forward to supporting a new era of blockchain advancement under Amy-Rose’s formidable leadership.
The second announcement heralds a new chapter for Blockchain Australia, as the industry body rebrands to the Digital Economy Council of Australia (DECA). Under Amy-Rose’s leadership, DECA aims to redefine its focus, catering to a diverse membership that spans crypto and Web3 companies, governmental bodies, charities, and sectors involved in tokenisation, payments, and banking.
To mark Blockchain Australia’s rebrand to DECA, here’s my acrostic-style takeaways from Blockchain Week 2024 (because who doesn’t love an acronym in this industry?).
D is for diversity
Not just a nod to the complete (and much appreciated) absence of any manels at Blockchain Week, but an acknowledgement of the breadth of innovation showcased across a diverse range of the digital economy spanning sectors from fishing to trade finance. With such a broad range of passionate innovators focused on driving consumer outcomes through point solutions within their niches, and a focus on responsible innovation, we’re poised to capture the opportunity to add $60 billion per year to Australia’s GDP by 2030.
It was also encouraging to see the diversity of guests joining the Aussie conversation from countries all around the world including the UK, Japan, USA, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE.
E is for elevate
One thing that struck me this week was the increased sense of positivity, which I’m sure was partly driven by upward market momentum, was but elevated by the conversational focus on building and innovation.
Whilst many in the industry have been frustrated about slow steps towards regulatory clarity for digital assets in Australia, conversations this week didn’t get bogged down by that and felt much more like we were collectively moving forwards towards a target.
We look forward to establishing guardrails that will support safe and secure innovation, to elevate consumer protection and build trust, which will be crucial for mass adoption. Download our free Digital Asset Policy Playbook to see how standards are shaping up for a secure digital asset future in Australia.
C is for connectivity
Our CEO Julian Sawyer spoke on Day 2 about the importance of developing stronger interconnectivity between digital asset service providers, to create trusted networks that unlock increased functionality for digital assets stored in safe custody.
Zodia Custody services like Interchange and Gateway provide a pathway to achieve this vision, but we can only get there with solid collaboration with ecosystem players like trading venues, liquidity providers, market makers and staking services.
But connectivity will only be embraced if it can be trusted.
Connectivity standards will be key to establishing trust between partners, as will much clearer definitions and an industry-recognised designation, akin to the USA’s ‘Qualified Custodian’ label.
A is for adoption
It was inspiring to hear the community so optimistic about future mass adoption of blockchain technology. Many discussions focused on specific indicators that would signal when we’ve reached mass adoption, and the drivers needed to get there.
I was personally encouraged to hear so many speakers recognising the need to improve the UX of blockchain-based applications and take the time to design experiences that help users outside of the industry get on the journey, building their knowledge along the way.
Some other important drivers of adoption to help us get out of the “proof of concept death spiral” included a focus on customer outcomes and commercial impact, increasing access, making the language of blockchain much more accessible to those outside the industry, providing safer ways to connect identity with services, and improving the bridge between tradfi and digital assets.
How will we know when we get there? My favourite indicator of mass adoption is a future where the conversation shifts away from the architecture and implications of the underlying blockchain technology, to the experiences and outcomes it drives. Most people stopped debating TCP/IP a long time ago; it’s an established protocol that drives most online experiences today. We will know we’ve hit blockchain adoption when we stop talking about the technology itself, into a future where blockchain almost disappears from the experience.
