Bain’s Lars-Jacob Boe: Blockchain is more than digital assets

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For many, blockchain is still synonymous with digital assets, speculative trading, and pump-and-dump scams. This narrow view of the technology has kept many at bay, especially strictly regulated financial institutions. Bain & Company’s Lars-Jacob Boe believes it’s time they woke up to the immense potential of blockchain technology.

“Blockchain is much more than just digital assets,” he told CoinGeek Backstage host Jon Southurst.

“Blockchain gives you the opportunity to make processes much more efficient by automating processes and reducing capital through the elimination of intermediation…there’s movement in this area, and more banks are getting into it.”

At the London Blockchain Conference, Boe delivered a keynote address on the impact Web3 and blockchain will have on the financial sector. As he told CoinGeek Backstage, banks are warming up to the technology, with some like JPMorgan (NASDAQ: JPM) and the National Australian Bank and ANZ (NASDAQ: ANZBY) issuing stablecoins.

Beyond stablecoins, more major banks are experimenting with digital asset custody and other related services. While most of these services are still in pilot stages, it signifies a shift in approach from the industry, noted the senior partner at ‘Big Four’ consulting firm Bain & Company. Prior to Bain, he was a partner at McKinsey & Company for 14 years.

In his keynote, Boe emphasized the need for peer-to-peer transactions.

“Peer-to-peer will make it easier to exchange value between individuals—you don’t need a broker. It will settle the trade immediately, and you won’t need to hold cash or capital to guarantee the trade. It will be more efficient,” he told CoinGeek.

The biggest challenge with P2P transactions is that regulators haven’t caught up. In some countries like Belarus, authorities plan to halt all P2P transactions under the belief that they promote crime.

“Once we regulate the space, the most efficient solution will win.”

At Bain, Boe revealed he has been working with several clients on blockchain integration. A big factor in blockchain adoption for enterprise clients is integration with artificial intelligence (AI), he noted.

Boe said with AI relying on data, these institutions are exploring the best solutions to store and verify data, and blockchain is emerging as the winner.

How to educate people about blockchain? Demonstrate the tech