Al Burgio, Founder of DigitalBits.io & Fusechain & Console, sits down with John Furrier and Dave Vellante for Global Cloud & Blockchain Summit 2018 from The Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Ontario. #GBCS2018 #theCUBE https://siliconangle.com/2018/08/20/blockchain-driving-web-3-0-new-era-capital-formation-says-crypto-entrepreneur-al-burgio-blockchainweek/ Blockchain drives Web 3.0 in a new era of capital formation, says crypto entrepreneur Al Burgio By today’s highly interactive standards, the earliest web pages were a pretty dull affair. In the 1990s world of Web 1.0, pages were static without much in the way of video, sound or transformative graphics. The era of Web 2.0 ushered in user-generated content and an explosion of social platforms, coupled with vastly improved technology that made interoperability dramatically better and the world infinitely smaller. It opened the gates to a new period of collaboration and sharing. Many believe that the new world of Web 3.0 is upon us, a time when middlemen are removed from transactions and regulatory bodies take a back seat to community-based, self-governing rule. It’s increasingly being viewed as a time when the blockchain’s method for encrypting transactional ledgers is beginning to change the modern financial system. “Many refer to blockchain technology as Web. 3.0, and I’m a big believer in that,” said Al Burgio (pictured), founder of the DigitalBits Project, Fusechain Inc. and Console Connect Inc. “This is the next evolution of the internet.” Burgio spoke with John Furrier and Dave Vellante, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the recent Global Cloud and Blockchain Summit in Toronto. They discussed uses of the blockchain in enterprises and beyond, the role of events like the summit to further that understanding, continued growth of private and public blockchains, new opportunities for capital formation, the hot cryptocurrency market in Asia Pacific and a possible move toward self-regulation of the financial technology industry. This week, theCUBE features Burgio as its Guest of the Week. Familiar pattern of adoption The waves of technology innovation have followed a familiar pattern for the blockchain, according to Burgio, who sees the categories of supporters in three distinct classifications. “It’s first movers, willing followers and the unwilling,” Burgio said. Another way to view the pattern is in terms of those who “get it” and those who don’t. Before branching into blockchain, Burgio was the founder and chief executive officer of Console Connect Inc., an interconnection platform for cloud and the enterprise that was sold to PCCW Global Ltd. in 2017. During the time with his previous company, Burgio got to know a lot of enterprise stakeholders, and when it came to blockchain, he found a split level of understanding. “What I found was two different extremes,” Burgio recalled. “You had CEOs and CTOs with a high ‘get it’ factor. And then there were multibillion-dollar organizations where the leadership team was still trying to figure it out.” To fill that knowledge gap, Burgio felt strongly that there had to be a better way to raise the “get it” factor. So he sponsored an invitation-only event to bring key stakeholders together. “Ultimately, there needed to be a forum, not just here in North America, but in every corner of the world, the Global Cloud and Blockchain Summit, providing an opportunity for convergence,” Burgio said. “There’s amazing things being spoken on stage as we are sitting here.” Public and private blockchains Among the topics discussed at the gathering was the current use of private and public blockchains. A need for privacy or control has led to the creation of numerous private blockchains for enterprise uses, including supply chain monitoring among a trusted circle of participants. However, the growth of the public blockchain has become a technology phenomenon. That’s because it is the engine that drives initial coin offerings, a token economy that has experienced remarkable growth and heart-stopping volatility. “Public chain is a phenomenal phenomenon,” Burgio said. “It’s given birth to the ICO, this new way of capital formation that is unbelievably awesome. The world has never seen anything like this.” The effect of ICOs on capital formation has captured much attention over the past year. In the traditional startup funding model, entrepreneurs without a previous money-making successful venture would raise money from friends and family to get started and then progress to raising capital from angel investors or the venture capital community. Independent token sales are now bypassing traditional funding all together. ... Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Global Cloud and Blockchain Summit: