What is Partisia Blockchain and how can it help solve issues of privacy and confidentiality?

Partisia Blockchain is a Web 3.0 public blockchain built for trust, transparency, privacy, and confidential interoperability. Partisia Blockchain leverages zero-knowledge computation and secure multiparty computation (MPC) technology to allow a distributed set of computers to compute directly on encrypted data without knowing anything about the data involved in the computations.

What this means is that a user can control their own data even though it is being used by a third party service. For example, a group of devices can compute on encrypted data such, gaining an insight about wider purchase trends, without any of the computers knowing anything about the data, such as the identity and purchase details of individual consumers.

In its ability to provide a solution for decentralized control and privacy on one side and central use of data across data sources on the other, this technology has the power to change the internet economy by offering a service provider that creates value by better use of data, rather than by controlling and holding big data.

Why do you believe a BTC ETF approval could be a risky move by the SEC?

Like Gold, Bitcoin has a fixed supply, meaning only a certain number of coins can ever be mined and brought into use. The issue with an ETF approval, is that it would lead to the creation of new derivatives markets. As a result, there could be far more Bitcoin trading on any given day than is actually available. This Bitcoin would not actually be purchased and moved across the market at this time, but would be gambled on with what is essentially debt-laden money, as is the case with leverage trading. This could open up an entirely new dynamic for Bitcoin and lead to the manipulation of its price, similar to what we've seen in the gold and silver markets, whereby traders have sought to control prices through creating a false perception of supply and demand.

What do you believe should be the key focus when considering mass adoptions of cryptocurrencies?

The overarching price increases of popular coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum in recent months, as well as the recent Coinbase listing, have drawn significant mainstream attention to cryptocurrencies, as well as increased scrutiny from regulators and consumers alike. This is an undeniably positive step for the advancement of the industry. However, if there are not urgent measures put in place to safeguard privacy considerations, investors could find themselves vulnerable to security breaches and malpractice. Privacy and security need to remain at the top of the list when we talk about widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies, especially in the realm of cryptocurrency where more market participants means that more data is at risk, including sensitive KYC information, credit card information, addresses and many other precious data sets.

With the expansion of online transactions, whether that's through crypto or fiat currencies, comes the potential for ‘digital footprints’ of consumer data to be collected about where, when and how people spend their money. While blockchain can protect individual data against breaches via the decentralization of sensitive information, alone, blockchain lacks the infrastructure required to ensure data remains private as information must be shared across multiple computers. Only through the effective integration of blockchain and MPC technology, can users ensure security and privacy going forward.