Matthew GriffinFounder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
G7 · G20governments advised
850+keynotes
102countries
17codexes
Finance and banking sessions forAfricaONEShawbrook BankStandard Chartered BankThe Institute of Internal AuditorsWolters KluwerUAE Financial Markets Association
Featured inBloombergThe Wall Street JournalThe Telegraph
Ria invited Matthew back to present to the Crown Prince of Dubai, Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, and the UAE's Crown Prince Court, this time to demystify blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs and the Metaverse. All four play an integral role in Web 3.0, which in time will transform every corner of global business, culture and society.
The session ran for an hour and a half and started with blockchain, the general purpose technology that underpins the rest and magnifies their potential many times over. Matthew explained the technology, then worked through a range of cross sector use cases.
"Blockchain is a general purpose technology that underpins them all and magnifies their potential many times over."Matthew Griffin, Abu Dhabi, June 2022
Next came cryptocurrencies: the differences between Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), private crypto and stablecoins, and the many, sometimes odd, ways these programmable monetary systems can monitor and stimulate global, local and "glocal" economies at a granular level. He also looked at new monetary behaviours they enable, such as users burning their crypto to change a currency's value.
He then turned to Non-Fungible Tokens and how they are already augmenting and re-inventing products, from NFT pets and the GameFi trend to NFT art, fashion and sneakers, and how, alongside other Web 3.0 technologies, they are helping create a whole new global economic system.
The session closed with the next twenty years of the Metaverse, its transformative power and its oddities.
311 Intelligence
What this means for your leadership team
Blockchain is the base layer.
The briefing treated blockchain as the technology the other three rest on. In 311 data it has been in products since 2009 and sits at readiness level 9, with wide use expected by 2032. Leaders should study it first, because every other Web 3.0 choice depends on it.
Money is becoming programmable.
Central bank currencies, private crypto and stablecoins can all be steered and watched at a fine level. 311 rates cryptocurrencies as Prepare, with wide use by 2029, and central bank digital currencies as Explore, with wide use by 2032. Treasury, payments and risk teams need a view on both.
Tokens and virtual worlds need patience.
NFTs have fallen from their 2021 boom and now look like a niche ownership tool. The Metaverse has faded from hype into a slower build, with wide use expected by 2035. The session looked twenty years ahead, which is the right horizon for these bets.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
Which of our products or records could sit on a shared ledger?
Who owns our view on digital currencies and stablecoins?
Where would tokens or virtual spaces fit in our twenty year plan?
The trends and technologies behind this session
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
It shows that blockchain, crypto, NFTs and the Metaverse are parts of one shift, Web 3.0, rather than four separate fads. Organisations should map where each touches their sector. They should then set different timelines for each, as the 311 data does.
How does blockchain relate to the other topics?
The session called blockchain the general purpose technology that underpins the rest and magnifies their potential. 311 lists it as Explore, with wide use expected by 2032. A team that understands it can judge the other three more clearly.
How do cryptocurrencies relate to central bank digital currencies?
Both are programmable money, but they are issued and governed differently. 311 rates cryptocurrencies as Prepare, with wide use by 2029, and central bank digital currencies as Explore, with wide use by 2032. Leaders should plan for both.
How can 311 brief our leadership team on this?
Through a private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector. Sessions are held in person first.
Bring this to your leadership teamA private executive briefing or leadership workshop, tailored to your sector. In person first, anywhere in the world.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s session and 311 data.
If Matthew gave this session today
Hundreds of emerging technologies, and their implications.
The Future of Exponential Technology Codex covers hundreds of emerging technologies and their implications for culture, industry and society. It puts blockchain, crypto, NFTs and the Metaverse in the wider context this briefing began.
