Crypto ‘full of ideas’ generated at universities — UK blockchain exec

An executive at the Centre for Blockchain Technologies (CBT) in the United Kingdom believes that engagement between academics, regulators and Web3 builders is very important for the growth of the Web3 space. 

At the Peer-to-Peer Financial Systems (P2PFISY) Workshop 2024 held in Dubai, Francesco Pierangeli, the deputy director of the UK CBT, spoke with Cointelegraph about the importance of engagement and collaboration in crypto and how crypto ideas are generated in universities. 

Pierangeli, who also works as an assistant professor at the University of Birmingham, said technologies generated and developed in academic settings have been vital in the crypto space. He explained: 

“The entire crypto world is full of ideas that have been generated at universities. Even Bitcoin itself is basically assembling pieces of technologies that have been that have been developed at the university.” 

He explained that this is highlighted by the references seen in the Bitcoin white paper.

Regulators, academics and builders operated in “silos” 

Pierangeli also added that it’s important for regulators to break the silos that they previously operated in by engaging with other parties within the community. Pierangeli explained: 

“We operated in silos in, we are just talking to each other, as in academics with academics, regulators with regulators, practitioners trying to build stuff and complaining about the regulatory framework, but with little engagement.” 

The executive stressed that academics should meet regulators and discuss and explain what could eventually form a basic understanding of the industry’s needs. 

He also highlighted that bringing in the latest academic research gives regulators an idea of what has been done within universities. “It’s a way to also make the regulators and practitioners think about what things are going to be like in the future,” Pierangeli added. 

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Crypto is “here to stay” 

When asked about the future of the crypto space, Pierangeli expressed optimism and confidence that the space has already established itself and is here to stay. He said: 

“I’m personally very positive and optimistic because we travel a lot. We see a lot of very smart people building on this technology, certainly blockchain. I’m very confident, particularly now with the institutional adoption.”

Pierangeli added that while it’s difficult to predict where crypto will be in the next five or six years, he believes the trend will continue to push upward. “I don’t see why these positive trends will not continue in the future,” he said. 

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