A brand new blog opinion piece by a recognized expert in blockchain technology is making waves in the tech journalism space today for its thinking on the ledger technology’s place in modern societies.
Anastasios A. Antoniou is a member of the E.U. Blockchain Observatory and Forum and a commercial, competition and regulatory attorney at Antoniou McCollum & Co. in Cyprus. Writing October 3 in the Oxford Business Law blog, Antoniou suggests that recognizing the full potential of blockchain will mean taking a step back to look at the context of regulation and legal principles around blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
To really shine, he argues, block chain “should not attempt to evade or circumvent law, but rather find its place within a well-structured, relevant and versatile regulatory framework.”
Antoniou also suggests that having new regulation in place could change some of the realities of the marketplace.
In some key ways, blockchain markets are inherently tied to cryptocurrency markets – a win for one is often a win for both.
So Antoniou’s thought really relates to the context of both cryptocurrency stocks and equities in other parts of the fintech market – it also echoes calls by other analysts for a greater body of regulation around what is still such a new sector.
The idea spelled out by Antoniou is that if developers can network with legislators and regulators, the resulting work can stabilize markets and provide more confidence, or shorten the time-to-market of certain technologies that might otherwise be years away.
In that sense, these sorts of revelations really can have an effect on how cryptocurrency stocks fare day to day and week to week, as traders and others evaluate the place of new technologies in the financial market.
Antoniou’s thought on reinventing blockchain regulation also dovetails with the idea of “explainable AI” that’s so key in today’s debate over artificial intelligence applications.
On a very central level, technology needs rules to function. Inherent in Antoniou‘s argument is that humans should make sure to harness the power of these amazing new technologies carefully, both to bolster markets and to prevent all sorts of disturbing developments related to runaway technology or unintended consequences of applications.
In terms of long-term impact on markets, Motley Fool is looking at some blockchain-related stocks, including both blue chip firms and newcomers. For instance, a September 18 piece written by a group of analysts showcases two companies that have “steady and profitable core operations, with burgeoning blockchain projects on the side” – on the established side, IBM is a favorite.
Another company that may profit from long-term blockchain adoption is Seagate, which is currently down from one-month and six-month highs, but up year-over-year. Seagate has room to break out in the future, and firms like this leveraging blockchain-related technologies are becoming interesting to a wider class of investors.
