Opinions

Policymakers and industry officials should join forces in creating regulations and standards for cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence and other innovations before they become more widespread.

Merchants and intermediaries who plan to accept crypto payments should ensure that they have compliance programs and policies in place to ensure that they can appropriately diligence the use of cryptos so that their involvement with these new products does not enhance their liability risks, write Evan Koster and Marc Gottridge, partners at Hogan Lovells.

A standard for protocol layers and interoperability between protocols are needed to lower the threshold for businesses looking to adopt blockchain technology, writes Byung Ik Ahn, CEO of Fantom Foundation.

Cash is unlikely to go anywhere, while application programming interfaces promise a wealth of new innovation, according to Devon Watson, CMO of Diebold Nixdorf.

Policymakers have called for streamlined disclosures for customers granting third parties access to their financial account data. They don’t have to look far for a potential solution.

Instead of focusing on testing grounds for fintech startups, regulators should develop initiatives to improve their own oversight and compliance technologies.

Legacy players cannot copy an upstart because legacy players have existing footprints and customers and are anchored by valuable business models, writes Ken Krupa, CTO of MarkLogic.

Europe has also taken active measures to support the innovation of platforms and applications, writes Donika Kreava, strategic communications manager at Dentacoin.

While B2B will never perfectly mimic the B2C space, there’s a lot businesses can learn from their consumer-facing counterparts, writes Mark Bartlett, marketing chief at FPX.

Several former policymakers have joined virtual currency firms as directors or advisers, but the trend carries risks for officials and consumers alike if these companies stumble.