He has been actively involved in the blockchain community for over seven years. He co-founded the Crypto Assets Conference alongside the late Prof. Dr. Philipp Sandner. He served as a lecturer at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, worked as a technology consultant, as a product owner for a decentralized identity B2B wallet, and last but not least, he organized 400 speakers for one of Germany’s top blockchain conferences Blockchance. We are thrilled to announce that Eric Holst has joined the European Blockchain Association! Welcome, Eric!
The two sides of innovation: technology and communication
Currently, Eric holds the role of Senior Communications Advisor for Web3 at PIABO, a deep-tech communications agency. At the EBA, he will contribute his experience and knowledge to the ESG & Sustainability Working Group and the SSI working group as well as upcoming activities at the intersection between AI & Blockchain.
“A professional with Eric’s proficiency in blockchain, who has a deep understanding of the technical functionality and knows how to communicate technology effectively, proves to be an invaluable asset. We are fortunate to benefit from his shared expertise and experience within our membership and working groups. I look forward to the collaboration,” says Dr. Michael Gebert, Chairman of the EBA.
Three questions for Eric
We took the opportunity to speak with Eric about his expectations for the industry in 2024. Here are his insights:
Eric moderating a talk with Piers Ridyard, CEO of Rdx.Works, Fabian Vogelsteller, Chief Architect of LUKSO, Sarah Lopez, CEO of Kaleido und Bill Laboon, Head of Education at Web3 Foundation at Blockchance 23.
🎤 Eric, in your opinion, which main trends will define the blockchain ecosystem in the next 12 months?
I expect that decentralized physical infrastructures and corporate loyalty programs will receive a lot more attention, while we see a continuation of many parallel trends: CeFi will be adopting compliance-technology and hire more bankers, while traditional finance will dive into real-world asset tokenization. DeFi and especially DEX will continue to replace CeFi due to their higher resilience against corruption, and protocols are continuing to become more and more scalable and anti-fragile, by learning from their bugs and hacks.
🎤 In your opinion, what will be the next milestone for blockchain?
The best case scenario to me is when Blockchain won’t even be noticed and talked about anymore, because instead of focusing on the infrastructure behind the products, marketers will highlight the product benefits and how it impacts businesses and consumers’ lives.
I think that policy and regulation could give the ecosystem a great boost and the needed recognition once decision makers understand that Blockchain-tech is sustainable – it has the “electric vehicle engine”-effect, but for the traditional finance sector. It will replace lots of the engine parts in the back-office and IT-infrastructure. It’s often said that most banks employ 90% lawyers and 10% finance experts. It sounds scary for the compliance departments, but it would cut costs and save energy.
🎤 Blockchain and AI re said to be a good match. How do you think both technologies can profit from each other?
I use AI every day, thanks to the value created by creative individuals, researchers, and builders who train and build products on LLM solutions: And right now, no one was paid whose knowledge and content was used to train the AI’s. I believe we will see that data-pools offering token-incentives to data-providers will provide a much more sustainable business-model for every stakeholder, while AI-models will face some challenges in the process of product development.
🎤What role do associations like the EBA play in the current state of the blockchain industry?
Often Web3, Crypto and Blockchain are evangelized by tech nerds, libertarians and hard-core believers. I think that we’re missing out on facilitating a conversation on a “Web2.5” meeting-ground that is set between the current state and the more decentralized world. An association is the necessary neutral ambassador bringing both sides together. On this neutral meeting ground, we can work on addressing negative perceptions and translating the benefits of our worldview to decision-makers, winning over new supporters 🙂