Jacob Boersma is active in the areas of e-identity and electronic payments innovations. He has worked on European and Dutch e-authentication projects, the iDEAL payments protocol and Innopay’s annual Online Payments reports. He frequently advises both government agencies and businesses on questions of digital payments and online currencies such as Bitcoin.
Gijs has been active in the field of consulting & training for both government actors and private actors for several years. Currently involved with payments & transactions consulting, with specific attention for PSD2, AML and MIF regulations and expertise on cryptocurrency applications.
The Paypers discussed with Innopay’s consultants Jacob Boersma and Gijs Burgers, authors of the new Cryptocurrency report which uncovers some of the future business models we could see emerge as cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin gaining a permanent place in society. Eleven interviews with globally leading characters in the payments scene provide a glance of where we are going with the cryptocurrency phenomenon.
Let’s not beat around the bush: Is Innopay’s cryptocurrency report about how exciting Bitcoin is?
Jacob: That is not the main point of our report, although you will see some excitement in certain statements of our respondents. The report’s goal is not to judge any specific cryptocurrency or focus on cryptocurrency as a monolithic ‘thing’. Our goal is to trigger the reader to think beyond today. We hope that regulators, government officials, bankers, entrepreneurs and anyone else interested in cryptocurrency will think of what opportunities lie ahead. By asking questions to both critics and optimists we uncover the most significant threats but also the most important opportunities.
Can you share one of the conclusions of the report?
Gijs: An interesting conclusion is that organizations like banks and payment companies are here to stay. Even the biggest believers in cryptocurrency see that there is a need for banking services and payment products in the cryptocurrency sphere. In that sense you could say the traditional players of the financial industry have nothing to fear, but rather stand to benefit. The interesting part now is to discover in what ways banks and payment companies can transfer their success to the cryptocurrency world and the other way around.
We see a lot of discussion on how cryptocurrencies should be regulated. Does the cryptocurrency report also elaborate on that?
Jacob: We obviously need to reflect upon the regulatory discussion. None of our respondents seems to doubt that regulation is one of society’s prime tools to keep things running smoothly. But right now we are having the classical situation where a new technology pops-up and no one can predict what it will bring tomorrow, let alone regulate it perfectly the first time around.
Gijs: The entrepreneurial respondents warn about ‘pre-emptive regulating’ of cryptocurrency. Regulation should follow reality, not the other way around. At the same time, the respondents involved with governance in society emphasize caution and have a healthy amount of scepticism towards current implementations and uses of cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. So there is still enough to say in this discussion.
About Innopay
Innopay is an independent consulting firm, specialised in payments and related transaction services. Our mission is to improve the transaction services industry in close, open collaboration with stakeholders. We provide our clients with expert knowledge of online payment, e-invoicing, e-identity, mobile payment, cards and rules.
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