Mark Zuckerberg said that “Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones.” The same is true for crypto, and our DAA Manager Sven Van de Perre offers interesting insights about when the public will treat cryptocurrency as an everyday technology.

You are based in Belgium and are part of a tech start-up that’s building an AR advertising network running on crypto. Can you share the current atmosphere in your country?

For now, the company, which is called Platinium, is still under wraps. We’re in the final stretch of deciding which pre-ICO partner we want to work with. Most of the Platinium team is based in Brussels, but we also have some team members from Eastern Europe and Africa. The company itself is based in the Isle of Man.

This kind of answers your question: from a business perspective, countries in Western Europe are really slow at defining crypto legislation, which is a shame, as the general consensus among the public is very positive.

Awareness of cryptocurrency has reached mass levels. Everybody wants in, but the ways to start investing are still clumsy. That’s where I see my role: educating people on what cryptocurrency is and offering them an easy way to invest.

You have extensive experience in media, helping create Belgium’s first PC gaming magazine and working as Editor-in-Chief of the Official PlayStation magazine for nine years. Media is playing a huge role when it comes to presenting blockchain and cryptocurrencies as well as in market movements. What are your thoughts on media companies and the challenges they face when presenting crypto to the average reader?

Hm… My answer won’t make anyone happy, I guess. In my opinion, the state of today’s media is abysmal. Mainstream media is all about generating clicks and making profit. Editorial staff budgets are super low, and there’s no time left to do research. So journalists are as clueless as non-crypto citizens. And it shows. Every dip gets a lot of publicity, but healthy long-term growth is always qualified with “But it’s a VERY risky business.” The press won’t treat cryptocurrency in a normal manner as long as the public doesn’t, which is a bit of a catch-22 situation, as the press should be the ones to inform the public.

Then again, this means there’s all the more room for people like me to build a business based on informing people.

Recently we have seen a huge drop in BTC price and a lot of FUD in the market. What are your thoughts on recent events and market movements in general? How do you see the future development of cryptocurrencies as an asset class?

To an outsider, the events of recent weeks look like madness. But if you’ve been around since the adoption of the internet, you know that mass migration of any technology is never a steady path. And now, for the first time, it’s not a service like the internet but value itself that is in the process of being re-invented. I expect things to be rocky for a while before stability starts to form. The end point, however, is clear. We no longer have the need for a trusted third party when handling “value,” not between businesses nor between people. That will be a major shift in power. Companies that don’t adapt (like Amazon and Facebook, who are both in the process of replacing the old monetary system with cryptocurrency) will be left behind. And for the average citizen, well, those who help build this future will be rewarded. My advice, at this point, is not to put all your eggs in one basket and to have at least 15% to 35% of your assets in cryptocurrency.

When you consult about crypto, what is the most common thing you need to explain? Are people eager to learn something new, or are they just seeking the easiest way of being exposed to new opportunities?

Most people don’t really have requests, as they’re completely in the dark on cryptocurrency. I start my talks by telling them how the current monetary system works. You would be amazed how little people know about how the current money system operates. With a clear view on that and a good understanding of what blockchain offers as a solution, people catch on pretty quickly. Then again, we do face an uphill battle, as the exponential growth of technology means that as soon as people stop educating themselves, they fall behind again. My newest business, which is called The Exponential Age, talks about just that. The advancements technology will make in the next five years will be more than the advancements made in the last fifty. And in ten years time, the world will be so different that it’ll be hard to remember how today was. And blockchain is at the core of all that, as the need for trust between parties is what led to a small minority controlling a large majority. Once that leash snaps, humanity will take a big step up in what we can achieve as a species.

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