When Jon West discovered bitcoin in 2010 due to the 2008 global financial crisis, he determined it would never work; however, after five years of monitoring the cryptocurrency and researching it, he changed his mind.
“I concluded that it had a good chance,” he said.
In 2017, West volunteered to figure out how blockchain and cryptocurrency might apply to Fortune 500 companies.
“Just like the early Internet, crypto is currently the Wild West but that's where innovation comes from," he told Lone Star Standard. "Admittedly, the good and bad seem more extreme but things are continuously moving faster and are bigger due to technology.”
West led the blockchain/crypto research and development arm at Thomson Reuters for two years and then became an independent consultant for Bitcoin and blockchain.
He was also a founding board member of the Texas Blockchain Council, (TBC) where he currently serves on the advisory board as a technology adviser.
“My work with the TBC is heavily influenced by my conclusions that bitcoin is, by far, the most important cryptocurrency and all others are scams or very very risky and unregistered securities,” West said in an interview. “I first and foremost want Texas to welcome and build on bitcoin.”
The Texas Blockchain Council is an industry association that works to promote the interests of its member companies by advocating for blockchain-centric public policy initiatives and educating members of government about the benefits of bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain technology.
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is focused on stability and sustainability within the cryptocurrency sector.
“They currently have a large role due to their large customer base, but it is still early and that will likely change so whatever role they currently have is most likely temporary,” said West, who is the principal of Vercey Consulting and serves as the Cryptocurrency/Blockchain consultant for clients.
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, says he values being fair and ethical, avoiding relationships with unethical people, taking responsibility for both successes and failures, learning constantly, and prioritizing user experience, according to a pinned post on the Binance blog that outlines his principles.
"Never cross ethical boundaries,” Zhao said. “It always comes back and bites you. In dealing with users, always do the right thing, not the easiest thing."
FTX, once valued at $32 billion, filed for bankruptcy in November as the crypto exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned amid accusations of financial misdeeds and fraud, according to Knowledge at Wharton.
“FTX was a small part of crypto that had a large impact due to how sensational it was,” West said. “The main points are quite simple: corruption, fraud, inexperience, and arrogance.”
The collapse of FTX has led to calls for greater regulation in the crypto sector to protect investors, but there is uncertainty over which entity should have jurisdiction over the sector.
“The horizon for crypto may not be what people think,” West added. “In theory, it is supposed to replace centralized entities with decentralized software. That is not a given. It might be unlikely.”
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has the authority to regulate investments that meet the definition of securities, digital assets do not fit neatly into laws governing securities.
“The SEC has been reluctant to be very explicit about what exactly makes a cryptocurrency token or digital asset a security,” Wharton professor Kevin Werbach said.
CZ recently expressed support for working with regulators. In a 2022 year-end blog post, he said that despite the turbulence the crypto-space faced in the last year, the industry made great progress in regulatory compliance, which is vital for both user security and encouraging mainstream adoption.
“I am proud to say that Binance has been and will remain at the forefront of this momentum,” CZ wrote.
He called for greater transparency, compliance, openness to regulation, and prioritization of user safety across the industry to overcome those challenges.
Cryptos are complex, according to West.
“There are hundreds of categories and regulatory nuances won't be easy,” he said. “They will take time and, besides, we don't want Congress or regulators making hasty decisions without information. The loud call for immediate regulation is likely not the answer.”
