The Ripple Team recently sat down with the author and Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Kevin Werbach to discuss, not only his new book, but also his teaching and research.
What’s in the Book?
The book explores how blockchain technology can become broadly accepted and trusted by consumers, governments and businesses all across the world.
According to the Ripple team, ‘Werbach shared Ripple’s thought on where he sees real world value in application of this new technology, what the future might look like for digital assets and blockchain and the importance of creating more legal and regulatory clarity to support innovation while also protecting consumers.’
Werbach sees blockchain as a new level of trust that aims at removing dependence on specific entities. He bluntly points out trust as the basic foundation for cryptocurrencies and blockchain to reach their potential.
He adds, “We need to examine more closely what kind of problems blockchain can address and the trust landscapes of those domains. And, counter-intuitively for some, law will largely be a force that helps the blockchain ecosystem.” He sees laws, regulations and governance as the mechanisms of trust.
Tractions in Today’s Industries
Professor Werbach sees three largely separate uses emerging in using digital assets and blockchain technology to solve real problems in today’s business. He points out that crypto coins will soon be the foundation for decentralized applications since right now; the market still has ‘inefficiencies moving money between silos and jurisdiction, as well as financial inclusion opportunities.’
The second use he mentions is distributed ledgers for tracking assets. Terming it as a ‘translucent collaboration’ he says it is very significant in financial services and supply chains. The two are specific areas with a whole lot of challenges since nobody has a unified view across the whole system.
“And finally, there is regulated crypto-asset trading, through security token offering and crypto-derivatives. The prospect of a secure, programmable, native, digital token that represents assets or intangibles is a Wall Street dream, which that community is racing to turn into reality.”
Regulations on crypto-assets protect and secure all crypto assets underlying them. This in return creates a high level of trust from investors in the industry.
To read the entire question and answer interview between Ripple Team and Professor Werbach visit ripple.com.
