Google Missed The Chance to Be on The ‘Bleeding Edge’ of Blockchain, Admits Co-Founder Sergey Brin
Last weekend, while speaking at the blockchain summit in Morocco, Google co-founder Sergey Brin made an honest admission stating that his company has missed the change to be at the forefront of the blockchain revolution.
“We probably already failed to be on the bleeding edge [of blockchain], I'll be honest,” said Brin. At the Richard Branson’s exclusive Blockchain Summit, Brin was accompanied with several leaders and researchers from the tech industry.
The Blockchain Summit was organized by co-founder of Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson and Bitfury crypto service company. Some of the popular attendees included: the former US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Annette Nazareth, Neha Narula, the director of the Digital Currency Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab, the former Guns n’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, as well as a previous chairperson of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Jim Newsome.
However, this should not be mistaken with thinking that Google has a little attention on the development of blockchain. ‘X’ - Google’s semi-secret division for innovation and development of new technologies. Brin said: "I see the future as taking these kind of research-y kind of out-there ideas and making them real — and Google X is kind of like that.”
Brin also stated that he doesn’t know a lot about virtual digital currencies, but admitted that this space really got him interested, more specifically the blockchain technology which he thinks to be “fascinating”.
He also revealed that he along with his 10-year old son have set up an amateur mining rig. “A year or two ago my son insisted that we needed to get a gaming PC,” said Brin. "I told him If we get a gaming PC we have to mine cryptocurrency. So we got an Ethereum miner on there and we’ve been making a few pennies and dollars since.”
The entire panel of leaders gathered at the Blockchain Summit discussed on a zero-knowledge proof concept, blockchain capabilities and regulatory policies for cryptocurrencies at a global level. Jim Newsome, the former CFTC chairman, backed the stand of the SEC and the CFTC saying that proper regulation of the crypto space will ensure an practical long-term solution.
Newsome said: “We are still in the early stages of this technology’s development. We’re in the first inning of a very long ball game. So we need to be careful not to rush regulators too much. Because typically when you rush regulators, they tend to get it wrong.”