Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq interview with Matt Bird at the Blockchain for Europe (EU Parliament)
HIGHLIGHTS
- Co-founder of Bloq was one of the original Bitcoin developers
- Bloq assists in building infrastructure to make blockchain adoption simpler
- Libra can be used as a great jumping off point to adopt digital asset tokens
FULL COVERAGE
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS: Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq and Matt Bird, Host of ESG News
Matt Bird – Host, ESG News: 00:00
Welcome back to the Traders Network Show. As we conclude our coverage of the 2020 Blockchain for Europe summit. I’m Matt Bird broadcasting worldwide from Brussels, Belgium here at the EU Parliament. My next guess is the Chairman of Bloq with a “Q”. Matt. Welcome to the show. So, you’re just coming off the last panel, as we wrap all this stuff up, I had Eva here, who was the moderator here for the MEP, for Greece from the European parliament. You had some amazing things to say, not just on that panel, but on the previous panel, I believe as well I saw you on. Do us all a favor and recap it from your vantage point, what we learned on the panel?
Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq: 00:40
Well, it was a great I mean, getting policy makers, regulators innovators in the same room is a big deal. And I think a lot of these congregations are happening all over the world. Being here in the European parliament is amazing. This building you know, all the the hoopla was on the panel on central bank, digital currencies, which is fascinating that now after the last 12 months look at the digital R&B, Libra and all these other things are, are vibrating through the holes of DC, of Brussels, of Beijing and elsewhere, and people are paying attention to it. I think what was interesting on the panel is that the central banker from the Bundis bank was there, who I thought actually was very fair, engaged, and balanced on his commentary.
Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq: 01:30
But I think what’s really happening with a lot of these central banks. Is that and describe this on the panel that it’s like a duck kind of swimming in a pond where on the top of the water, it’s all smooth and cordial and kind of matter of fact, but underneath they are peddling like crazy to try and catch up on the attack the regulatory dynamics and the overall go to market. I think it’s changing the dimension of money.
Matt Bird – Host, ESG News: 01:56
Bloq is on the infrastructure side. And, you know, I heard a lot up there about Libra and stuff, but I want to bounce this off you because from my vantage point, looking at Libra, I see a Trojan horse. I see a conflict platform that it really doesn’t matter if it gets digital currency status, or if it becomes a redemption status for use of privacy, right? They win either way. And even if they get the latter of the two where the regulars think that they’re winning for whatever reason, they actually win either way at the end of the day, it solves their privacy issue for compensation. They win one way or another, am I missing something here?
Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq: 02:32
I think you’ve got it right. I think the notion of Libra, which the tech is not that novel. I mean, you’re putting Fiat currencies into a bank account and tokenizing that I think the real Trojan horse is Libra the wallet. And I think the people around that project are incredibly smart. And I think about it beyond just being a wallet for Libra, it’s identity money. And then pretty soon, if you squint your eyes enough, this looks like a bank, can you borrow, can you lend, can you invest? And those are buttons and software that’s now disrupting more than just banks.
Matt Bird – Host, ESG News: 03:09
You know, I remember when Facebook went public, and they were at a hundred times PE and every who wanted Facebook had already had it by the time it, when IPO and JP had to hold that thing up, you know, I mean, with both shoulders. And the question was, you know, 70% of their user base was Un-monetizable. And I think we have seen the future monetization value of Facebook. It’s actually limitless if they succeed on the wallet side and they succeed on that virtual foundation it’s limitless where they could go.
Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq: 03:42
Yeah. And, I also think there’s like Daisy chains that you kinda wrap together to show a curve. Right? And the early Daisy chain was, we’re gonna provide all these services. You could share, you could collaborate, but you take that kind of cover off and the model for Facebook and Google and others is not that inspired, you know, it’s advertising dollars. And so, in a way it’s like, you would think the internet would have other monetization strategies and dynamics, but it’s a cash juggernaut of ads. I think where it goes moving forward, I think it’s a lot more equitable where Facebook pays you for the attention that they capture. I think that’s a really big idea for them beyond just the Calibra Libra project.
Matt Bird – Host, ESG News: 04:28
And that is the second Trojan horse because they got you using it because they’re using your data in the rev sharing with you. If anything, they’ve gotta force an adoption strategy.
Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq: 04:37
Yeah. I think it’s hard to turn the corner on just splitting the ad dollar with you and me, and then whatever they keep. I think that’s gonna be the biggest acrobatic that they will have to do as a company or there’s other ones out there. I mean, you look at Bloq one’s voice.com project and others that are saying, Hey, we could build something similar and make it more equitable. What the adoption’s gonna be, what the go to market’s gonna be will be interesting to watch.
Matt Bird – Host, ESG News: 05:02
All right. So we talked about a few of the other blockchain. Let’s talk about yours. Let’s talk about Bloq with the “Q”. Tell us where you’re at. What’s going on? What could we expect next from you?
Matthew Roszak, Chairman of Bloq: 05:11
So my co-founder and I, Jeff Garza was one of the original Bitcoin core developers. So literally went from Satoshi to Gavin, to Jeff in the earliest days of Bitcoin. So my co-founder is an amazing tech, amazing vision near space. But we’re also very pragmatic on where we are in blockchain and crypto. And we build plumbing and infrastructure to make these blockchain networks come to life a lot easier. Developers still have to do a lot of DIY type stuff. And there’s no APIs to really get going fast. So we build wallets and nodes and next data, and a lot of the core infrastructure that makes these networks run better, faster, and enables better adoption with developers.
Matt Bird – Host, ESG News: 05:50
I love it. You know, Matt, listen, I know we’re running towards the end. I got a buddy of mine I’d like to introduce you to, Jason Kelley from IBM. And, he’s gonna be in that lounge. And I think you guys have an interesting chat, but listen, thanks so much for coming on. I appreciate all the commentary and your feedback. I love for us to circle back around in states. All right, everybody. Listen, we’re a wrap here for the summit. I’m Matt Bird. You’re watching ESG News and the Traders Network Show broadcasting worldwide from the EU parliament. We’re done. Special thanks to our affiliate partners, ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS. We’ll be back next time. Next year, same place for the 2021 coverage. Until then stay tuned for our next event. Thanks so much. Have a good night.