Global Blockchain Forum Launched to Establish 'International Industry Best Practices'

A new international digital currency and blockchain advocacy organization has been established called the Global Blockchain Forum to help public relations and foreign policy deal with concepts like cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology. The group is made up of members of the Washington D.C. based Chamber of Digital Commerce, the UK Digital Currency Association, ACCESS, and the Australian Digital Currency & Commerce Association.

Also read: Is Ghana Showing the Most Interest in Bitcoin Right Now?

4 Groups Unite to Form the Global Blockchain Forum

The Forum has similar goals like the Chamber of Digital Commerce founded in 2014 by Perianne Boring, a former legislative analyst. The newly formed group’s mission is to “develop industry best practices and help shape global regulatory interoperability.” Boring told Forbes that there were differences and similarities with regulation and standard practice across the globe. Just as digital currencies and decentralized protocols work together in an “interoperable” way, the organization would like public policy to work jointly in the same fashion. Boring tells the publication:

The Global Blockchain Forum is a platform for international collaboration. We’re bringing together the leading trade associations representing the digital assets/blockchain industry around the world. As we engage with these various governments, it’s important that the associations and stakeholders working with these public policymakers have some type of coordination to their efforts.

Rules and regulation can be different in each country of the world, and this can be difficult for businesses within the industry. Some regions have far stricter policies than others and companies have to comply with each set of rules while trying to operate a worldwide operation. Some startups have issues with compliance costs and it can get even worse if every region has contrasting ways to deal with virtual currency businesses. Even regulators from the same country have clashing policies such as the U.S. and its regulatory handling of Bitcoin. It all depends on which authority you ask as cryptocurrency can be either a commodity or currency.

Boring explained:

A worst-case scenario here would be if conflict-of-law issues arise where you literally could not be in compliance with all the laws. This is a huge impediment to innovation, investment, and to the growth of the industry in general.

There’s no roadmap to the group’s objectives yet, but it can be assumed they will have representatives attend events and discuss differing policy with country leaders worldwide. The Forum believes similar regulation and standard practices that work together in an interoperable way will pave the path to more growing adoption. There’s no doubt the technology is spreading like wildfire on the global level. Because of this, industry leaders will have to work together with the public to form a unified playing field across borders.

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Images courtesy of Pixbay, and the Chamber of Digital Commerce