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With vast amounts of data available to us today, the question of privacy and responsible handling of this data becomes increasingly critical. Not only is data privacy required by law in some cases, e.g., for medical or financial data. Additionally, the desire of customers and clients for discretion and privacy is growing and has become a topic of public focus.

Today, we want to introduce the idea of decentralised data marketplaces and why we believe they are foundational to unlocking new economic value.

The transportation and logistics industries are having an existential crisis. Electric vehicles and lithium battery costs are falling quickly; autonomy software is improving at a rapid pace and ride-sharing platforms are leading customers to question the need to own cars.

Every new technology brings with it new and disruptive business models. And for blockchain technology, these are tokenised ecosystems. Blockchains represent a shift in how value will be created and distributed. For this shift to occur the underlying fundamentals of new emerging business models need to be explored. Tokens are the atomic elements of these new business models, and a powerful mechanism, that when designed correctly, can help drive economic alignment across a network.

Stability is perhaps the one word that defines the last few months. Between regulators seeking to create less hostile environments for startups, a barrage of stability-oriented tokens and enterprises seeking to use blockchains to improve operations, it has become evident that the ecosystem is growing beyond the wild swings of the past year. The price of Bitcoin mostly stayed around $6500 and while concerns around exchanges and Tether have been matters of active discussion, the volatility of tokens for the most have come to a standstill. In fact, towards the end of last month, as legacy financial markets went for a tumble, tokens stayed relatively stable with Bitcoin holding price over $6000.

Hopefully by now, you are familiar with Outlier Ventures and our investments. As a venture platform with finite resources to fulfill intensive advisory work, we have so far chosen to focus on areas we believe to be most impactful and profitable: the intersections of deep technologies like AI, IoT and the Next Gen Data, enabled by tokenized and open source distributed ledger technologies. You will probably know we term this The Convergence Ecosystem. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious to us that so much more is needed to accelerate and strengthen this vision beyond protocols to mainstream and widespread adoption.

Today we launch our new report on the concept and practice of developing effective tokenized crypto-assets. This is driven by our strong belief in the potential power of decentralised systems to provide a new and important evolution in how our economy and society can be organised, but in order to achieve this, effective ecosystems must be created that align the incentives of all the participants in a new model economy.

If you think investing in crypto is hard - investing in our Convergence Thesis, how DLT combines and converges with IoT, Big Data and AI is even harder. The technical complexity of keeping pace with multiple deep technologies and their interactions is hugely demanding and requires a dedicated team of technical analysts who can only really learn by doing. This means they must be active developers, administrators and participants of networks.

This post provides a high-level view of our findings and explains why the convergence framework is a valuable tool to understand the disruption taking place in the transport sector today.   

As we start Q4 of 2018 we review the mixed emotions, torn regulators, excited enterprises and emerging usecases

All You Need To Know About The Impact of the Internet of Things, Blockchains and Artificial Intelligence on the Transportation and Logistics Industries

Women in tech, developing nations, privacy, how governments can tax crypto and more insights from the Paris OECD blockchain forum.

Despite the token bear market, VC, M&A and corporate blockchain projects are thriving

Communications around any form of token sale can be a legal minefield.  Projects need to think about what the token looks like, who they wish to engage with and where they are located before they can figure out what requirements on publicity they need to comply with.

Decentralisation is often cited as the core metric by which all blockchain projects are measured. But what exactly is decentralisation? Is it a starting point or destination? Is it quantifiable or even desirable in every instance? This has become increasingly pressing now the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) has explicitly communicated ‘decentralisation’ as a determining factor in whether it categorises a crypto-asset (aka token) as a security.

This is an idea I’ve been kicking around Outlier Slack whilst on the road and at various panels the last few weeks that I just wanted to get up even in a rough and very crude draft form to kick-off the debate online. Over the coming months the intention is it will be formalised into something more substantial and nuanced by the wonderful folk at Outlier from across both: Token Design + Market Research Departments.

What does artificial intelligence have to do with blockchains? Well it’s actually helpful to remove the buzzwords and talk about a new decentralised data value ecosystem in which data is produced, distributed and consumed. Using that framing, the Internet of Things produces data, blockchains and other authentication technologies distribute it, and then the data needs to be processed, analysed and automated. This is where so-called smart contracts, decentralised compute and decentralised machine learning can be used on data in decentralised databases, document stores and blockchains.

Pillars for a new era of banking for the poor through identity, governance, data protection and open-data. Many early proponents of the Bitcoin network believed Bitcoin would disrupt the financial system in emerging economies. Censorship resistance, low entry barriers, minuscule fees and round the clock access meant a new world of opportunities.

We are well into half the year and the markets seem to have shown none of the excitement that was there in 2017. The second quarter of the year however has had a large amount of interest coming in from more traditional players. Notable players from legacy financial markets such as Fidelity Investments have begun positioning themselves for the next uptick in interest in the token economy. There have also been a high number of product deployments from banks and peaking interest from government regulators. Interestingly enough much of the key happenings in the month has come from players in the financial industry. Exchanges becoming venture capitalists, centralised exchanges acquiring decentralised ones, banks turning their operation to blockchains and some even launching one. We look at these and more in our monthly brief.

Marketplaces are critical elements of the entire Convergence ecosystem; the element that incentivises data to be collected, shared and utilised. We now have the ability to open up the machine economy and need to think of ‘trading’ beyond the scope of human interaction. The sorts of marketplaces that are being developed in the crypto community are decentralised, automated and tokenized. These marketplaces are made possible because of the distributed ledgers, consensus mechanisms and interoperability protocols at the lower levels.

Recently it seems like everyone from C-suite corporate bankers to the local barber has been an expert on Ripple, Status, and regular old Bitcoin. But so far, distributed ledger technologies have not affected most people’s lives in any meaningful way. We believe one of the missing ingredients is augmented reality.

The aim of this submission is to address why we, as a prominent UK based venture capital firm and advisor to the global blockchain industry, believe it is critical to developing a responsible, balanced and proactive approach to innovations in ‘crypto-assets’, in order to unlock their potential to serve the UK economy and its overall long-term competitiveness.

Clickbait headline aside, if we aren’t careful we are going to end up replicating data silos we hoped blockchains and decentralised technologies would remove. This is why the transport layer of our investment thesis: the Convergence Ecosystem, is so important. For us the transport layer includes but not limited to four components: data interoperability like say Haja Networks; value interoperability like Polkadot, AION, Cosmos and atomic swaps; transport and messaging protocols like telehash and whisper, and state communication protocols like Lightning Network for Bitcoin, Raiden Network for Ethereum and IOTA’s Flash Channels.  

Retail investor sentiment over the month was driven by the possibility of the SEC issuing a ruling over Ethereum and Ripple being securities. The markets may have remained suppressed over a number of weeks due to concerns around the same. However, governments have been rather proactive in issuing grants, research publications, guidance and partnering with startups over the course of the month. Speaking of startups — the month saw a number of them launching early prototypes and raising funds over the month. May also witnessed an increasing number of enterprises entering the ecosystem. They are no longer claiming “interest” in the space, but launching full-fledged teams focused on blockchains.

Today, I want to talk about a use case that only blockchain technology can deliver. They are few and far between and usually revolve around applications that demand censorship-resistance. Indeed, a public data commons demands just that.  

The first quarter of the year has been largely symbolic of what we can expect over the next 2 years as the ecosystem matures - volatile, fast paced and unexpected. While token prices saw an incredible dip (upto 80% in some cases), both mergers and acquisitions for growth stage startups and funding in equity for market leaders have seen no dearth.

To create a stronger bridge between the token economy, and the rest of the global economy, it will be important that the frictions listed in the previous section are addressed. This might be done through the introduction of new infrastructure, better targeting of resources, or even through a hybridisation of centralised and decentralised innovations. We discuss these solutions below.

The new data value ecosystem sees data captured by the Internet of Things, managed by blockchains, automated by artificial intelligence, and all incentivised using crypto-tokens. For a summary of the thesis take a look at the introductory blog, and for a deeper look into Blockchains, Community, & Crypto Governance have a read of my last post here. Today though I want to talk specifically about the convergence of blockchains and the Internet of Things.  

When technological revolutions occur, why do so many projects end up failing? Perhaps our inability to figure out how and where to effectively deploy new technology results in what Greenspan termed ‘irrational exuberance’ back in 1996.

We are excited to introduce the Outlier Ventures vision of the future and our investment thesis: The Convergence Ecosystem. The new data value ecosystem see data captured by the Internet of Things, managed by blockchains, automated by artificial intelligence, and all incentivised using crypto-tokens. For a summary of the thesis take a look at the introductory blog, today I want to take a deeper look at how important communities, governance and politics will play in this new era.

So on 12th Jan (2018) I wrote a post saying there needed to be a ‘Crypto Winter’: a sustained minimum 50% haircut on the market. I actually wanted to say 75% but compromised with the team to not sound too alarmist. Next time I won’t be so restrained ;)

Here we introduce the Outlier Ventures vision of the future and our refined thesis: The Convergence Ecosystem. Download the full paper here.

The month has had its share of regulatory “shake ups” but we believe, this will be an interesting contributor to the ecosystem producing more utility than speculation in the years to come.

The main objective in cryptoeconomics is to design token economies that will grow in utility value over the long haul.

The long-term success of token economies and the protocols they are built around is led by fundamentals, and ultimately adoption. How useful is the protocol, to how many end users? This question is fundamental to our vision of the Convergence Economy.

Despite the original decentralised design of the Internet and the hope of peer-to-peer communication; digital information is anything but peer-to-peer

2017 has been one hell of a year for everyone in crypto. However, like all those who have been involved professionally for many years now, on the one hand we feel vindicated (and a little wealthier), on the other hand frustrated.

Through the SEED token sale, Botanic Technologies (a company that boasts clients including Fortune 100s, startups and multiple government agencies) is open-sourcing its otherwise proprietary IP to supercharge an open industry standard for the common good.

Blockchains combined with artificial intelligence is more than just a technical innovation: it’s an economic paradigm shift

It is almost banal to say it, but as a society we have a data problem. Most of the World’s data is held on private servers.

Current models suggest that the more a cryptoasset is exchanged, the less valuable it becomes — incentivising hoarding

If you have spoken to me recently you will know myself and the Outlier team are really very excited to have announced at the beginning of the month becoming Evernym’s, and the Sovrin Foundation and it’s token’s, lead investor and strategic partner. As with every investment we wanted to find some time to provide the rationale to our decision which I have laid out below.

First, there was Bitcoin. Then there was the altcoin boom. Then the hot new stuff was blockchains without coins. And if you’ve spent any time in the cryptocurrency space lately, you’ll know tokens are the thing of the moment with 10 or more new ones every week.

 Interview from Blockchain Live Event in London on 20 September

Outlier Ventures was the only venture capital firm invited to join regulators, academics, attorneys, and issuers from around the world to discuss token sales (ICOs) at a closed roundtable event last week.

Here we breakdown exactly the value and key functions / processes a CTE offers to the token economy.

Here’s your rundown of the top convergence stories of the month — here’s to the bold and most contrarian stories in the world of blockchains, tokens and convergent emerging tech!

He is our breakdown of The Token Ecosystem Landscape Map based on an analysis of 505 token offerings as of 20th Sept 2017. This will soon be followed by a fully open and searchable database.

With every emergent technology comes business innovation that changes how value is captured and delivered.

Outlier Ventures, after 3 months of deep research, is pleased to share with you it’s vision for the next stage of the token economy: The Community Token Economy which can be downloaded for free from our website.

Summer went by fast! Before everyone gets stuck back in for a busy September, take some time out to reflect on our top Convergence stories of August 2017!

Blockchain’s promise is incredibly powerful but today it is littered with contradictions. Original Article written for Wired.co.uk Blockchain, at least in the UK, is ‘past peak’ in the Gartner Hype Cycle. Either you’re bored of hearing about its miraculous powers or you’re likely lost and confused. If you aren’t, you should be.

The Imperial College Centre for Cryptocurrency Research & Engineering (IC3RE) at Imperial College London has joined forces with blockchain investment group OutlierVentures.io to undertake a 3-year R&D program focused on the convergence of industrial blockchain with other ‘deep tech’ technologies like IoT, machine learning and autonomous robotics.

Every man and his dog is doing an ICO at the moment. It feels like a quick and easy way to raise money from sleeping crypto but what are real upsides? We talk through all the considerations from incentive misalignment to timing, regulatory costs and considerations.

Are you also getting the feeling blockchain is a load of bullshit? Are you struggling to see how any of this will ever make any money? Fear not we help you cut through the hype and explain our 'blockchain +' investment thesis.

As expected, the blockchain market is dominated by the United States with 38.9% of the startups either registered or with development work taking place in the country.

Today we are officially opening up our database of startups through the launch of a Blockchain Startup Tracker.

Dealing with identity of users is both a profound challenge and a promising opportunity for blockchain technology. We first explored identity in early 2015, when we identified 9 building blocks for a successful blockchain industry. So how are things mid-2016?