Vigen Arushanyan is the founder and president of Nooor - Armenian Blockchain Association. He is also the CEO of Global Content Alliance, the leading content aggregator and Pay-TV channels distributor in Armenia.
CoinChoose.com:
Having in mind that Armenia is one of the up-and-coming blockchain hubs in the region, how difficult it was for you to host and organize an event as prominent as ChainPoint, and how much time and effort you spent on it?
Vigen:
First of all, thank you very much for this opportunity to spread some light on what we do here. Well, that was a real challenge, especially the first one. We had to convince people that Armenia has something to offer – in terms of knowledge, highly skilled professionals, broadly spread connections to the US, EU, and the CIS countries. But we succeeded. Mostly due to the fact of having a strong personal network that we were able to deliver the message to and of course nothing would be possible without my devoted team. Regarding the time, I would say it is more than a full-time dedication for me. But in return, I got an enormous amount of energy and inspiration from being involved in something so valuable.
CoinChoose.com:
It seems that ICOs are currently going through the dark period of their existence. They’ve been a highly disputed topic due to various fraudulent schemes happening in the past. Taking a look at the event’s agenda, it seems that fundraising will be one of the main topic discussions. According to you, what steps are required for ICOs to undergo a complete comeback?
Vigen:
Definitely, ICOs nowadays are a far cry to what we’ve been used to see. And that is because of the mistakes made both by the ICO runners and the backers. They were inexperienced and in some cases – greed-driven. Today, the investors are more cautious and are not willing to invest in just about any shiny ICO project. And that is the reason that the ICO founders on their turn become more serious and responsible. That is natural, there is some kind of correction on the market.
The interesting thing, still, is that some reports suggest that despite the drastic drop in the number of ICOs conducted this year, the average amount of the funds raised seems to have grown by 2M USD (for the Q1 2019). This is a good signal that this fundraising model continues to be of interest for many. And to undergo a comeback, we need some time for people to forget about scams that undermined the reputation of the whole industry and to look at them in a different perspective; and more mature projects and responsible founders. Not to forget about regulation, some clear rules for the game would benefit much as well.
CoinChoose.com:
At first glance, it seems that ChainPoint will encompass industries such as FinTech, Digital Economy, Decentralized Governance, and Investments on top of fundraising networks. Can you let us know what are the most prominent names from the industry that will participate in panel debates and networking?
Vigen:
Sure, just take a look at our speaker lineup and you will not want to miss ChainPoint. The thought-leaders are here to share their exclusive insights. To mention some names – the CEO of Bitcoin.com Stefan Rust, the Global Crypto Leader at PwC and the Chairman of FinTech Association of Hong Kong Henri Arslanian, the Minister of Economy of Armenia Tigran Khachatryan, the founder of AVA Labs Emin Gün Sirer, and many more are going to be on stage.
CoinChoose.com:
ChainPoint is a relatively new conference with a lot of expectations and involvement. What do you aim to achieve by hosting such an event, especially in this line of business, and if everything goes as planned, do you plan to make it a reoccurring annual event?
Vigen:
ChainPoint is already an annual grand event of Nooor. You can even think of it as a global meetup of our international network which comes to celebrate the one-year work that we’ve done together. This is a business-driven event which should serve as a platform where people to find partners, close deals and make money. So the aim is to promote Armenia as a global hub in this sense and showcase what we have got here.
CoinChoose.com:
Let’s zoom out and take a look at a bigger picture. How do you perceive blockchain in its current form, and what will it take for it to finally become a globally adopted technology?
Vigen:
Well, the blockchain technology carries immense potential, but I doubt we are using even 5% of that. If we are not talking about current technical issues, the true global adoption will come when there is a real need in this technology, which in its turn will come from the changes in the economic model of existing companies or from the rise of new types of businesses. The biggest benefits of blockchain are hidden behind the new business models that are just waiting to be uncovered and that would not be possible without the invention of blockchain. Besides, I think the combinations of blockchain with other emerging tech such as AI, IoT, Big Data, etc. are the ones to look after, as that can potentially lead us to completely new levels of interactions.
Contrary to that, in terms of cryptocurrencies as a part of blockchain industry, mass adoption is not a matter of a distant future anymore.
CoinChoose.com:
Armenian-based blockchain-powered enterprises have had their fair share of success in the general sense. Which one would you single out as being most interested?
Vigen:
That one is a tough question, as many of Armenian startups are good in their own way. To pick one randomly out of the best, I’ll name CoinStats. This is a crypto-portfolio tracking mobile app, actually the most popular one in the entire space, that has a handful of really useful features and is going to be packed with more unique ones pretty soon.
CoinChoose.com:
One of Nooor’s goals is to spread the world of blockchain and crypto through word of mouth and education resources, but also to showcase the disruptive power it brings along. How important is the education in the blockchain, and what will it take to undergo a complete adoption?
Vigen:
True, education is the key to success, and one should not underestimate its importance. Even today, there are people who don’t distinguish between blockchain and bitcoin. And people usually avoid things they don’t understand. Actually, sometimes they are even afraid of things they are not aware of (greeting to some governments out there).
That is why education is the first thing we need to do in the field. And we are going in the right direction – a recent study revealed that more than half of the Top 50 universities already have crypto classes. And I am not talking only about formal education. In fact, student clubs, community meetups, informal educational programs, and even big events like ChainPoint are all good at enlightening people about the future.
Hosted by Nooor – Armenian Blockchain Association, ChainPoint 19 Conference will take place on October 14-15 in Yerevan, Armenia. Follow CoinChoose.com on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to never miss a beep.
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