Exploring the Future of Blockchain: Insights from the Cardano Foundation CEO

The White House is still hammering out the details on the US strategic crypto reserve.

We know that Bitcoin, E, Salon Ripple, and Cardano are included.

Now Cardano is a third gen proof of state blockchain platform known for its focus on scalability, interoperability, as well as sustainability.

Its market cap currently nearing $23 billion.

Now looking ahead Cardano Foundation is holding a summit in Berlin next month, bringing together leaders to examine blockchain's role in business systems.

Well, joining me this morning is Frederick Gerard, who's the CEO of the Cardano Foundation.

Frederick, thank you so much for joining us.

So for our viewers out there, tell us about the Cardano Foundation and also the role that it actually plays as a nonprofit in advancing Cardano.

Yeah, Carrano is basically the world's largest Dow, managing $1.2 billion with full voting capability and full voting mandate.

That means that we have about 7 million inhabitants with digital identity who basically goes to the ballots and decides over this treasury, but also lifts and builds businesses on the public permissioners blockchain.

And the Carrano Foundation is basically a contributor to this, focusing on three things.

So how do we basically measure and enable adoption?

Uh, for the betterment of the world, how do we ensure that this public infrastructure, uh, continues to be there for the decades to come?

And how do we work with policymakers and regulators to ensure that you can continue using blockchain for the, yeah, for the rest of our lives basically in the intersection of AI.

Yeah, and Frederick, I understand the countdown is on to the Cardano summit, which is taking place in Berlin next month in November.

So give us an idea of who will be there and what should we be watching out for.

Yeah, so what's truly unique about the Carrano summit is that you're going to have a mix of very deep tech people in the intersection of AI, quantum security, and blockchain, and they're basically meeting up with Volvo, Orange, Novo Nordisk, Johnson Johnson, Crypto.com, United Nations, um, Boston Consulting Groups, uh, Team Draper, for instance, will be there as well.

So you basically have this intersection of what blockchain actually can be in the future when it goes beyond cryptocurrencies.

So Frederick, while we have you here, we have been seeing a pause in the crypto bull cycle.

So tell us your take when it comes to institutional capital actually entering the market.

Yeah, I think what we're seeing right now is we're actually seeing that there's been some overleveraged positions in the market, and when they are unwinding specifically from retailing changes, we, we do see some market movement.

But in general we see a very positive take specifically around Kadaa from institutional investors, and we work very closely both to ETP and ETF providers, and the general narrative is extremely positive.

We also see that some are restricted in terms of direct investment.

Uh, into this asset class and they worked through then also digital asset treasuries and, and other vehicles, uh, to get that exposure.

Yeah, and uh Frederick here in the US, the Genius Act passed in July, which was a big one for stablecoin supporters.

So what are your thoughts when it comes to the regulatory landscape here in the US?

I think what really happens in in the US was that you took like a 10 year leap ahead, which is extremely positive.

So in Europe we worked very hard to get the MICA Act over over the fence line, right, which was good policy work, but it didn't really create the security and the incentive structure which the European Union was looking for.

But what you actually did in the US now is you created clarity for what you can do and what you can't do.

And that basically means that you're going to see a lot more innovation staying in the US and you're going to see specifically around stablecoins.

You're going to see more innovation happening there.

It is still a little bit restrictive in terms of, uh, let's say, um, new features to stablecoins, but in general this is very good for GDP and job creation.

Yeah, now that we've covered the US, I do want to shift our focus on what's happening outside of the country.

So how's the Cardano Foundation working on keeping Cardano resilient across different jurisdictions?

So as I just alluded to, we work closely with the European Parliament and we work closely with the supervisors, regulators, and policymakers around the world to ensure that people understand that blockchain is not just financial innovation, but it's industrial innovation across multiple different verticals.

So from, you know, farmers and tracking their goods under ESO certificates and labor certificates all the way to to space shuttles and cancer medicine.

Uh, you know, planting trees, um, blockchain is really there as a back end infrastructure who secures that people can work together without necessarily 100% trusting each other, and that makes things better, faster, cheaper, but it does require a solid digital identity, um, in plural, and that's what we really provide from the Kirana Foundation.

OK, Frederick, we'll be keeping our eyes out for that Cardano summit taking place in November, but we are fast approaching the opening bell here, so we'll have to leave it there for today.

Thank you so much for joining us.