Canadian platform

This week, our 6 Questions go to Rene Reinsberg, a co-founder of Celo, an open platform that makes financial tools accessible to anyone with a mobile phone.

Rene Reinsberg is a co-founder of Celo and president of The Celo Foundation, a grant-giving organization supporting the carbon-negative Celo blockchain. He has been working at the intersection of finance, technology and development for the past 15 years, including at Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), McKinsey, General Catalyst Partners, the World Bank and TechnoServe. His previous company, Locu, was acquired by GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) where he served as vice president of Emerging Products post-acquisition.

1 What is the main hurdle to mass adoption of blockchain technology?
2 What do you think will be the biggest trend in blockchain for the next 12 months?
3 Whats a problem you think blockchain has a chance to solve, but a solution hasnt been attempted yet?
4 What would you like to see tokenized? When, if ever would you expect this to happen?
5 What has been the toughest challenge youve faced in our industry so far?
6 What is the single most innovative use-case for blockchain youve ever seen? It doesnt have to be the one likeliest to succeed!

By the end of May, Bitcoin’s (BTC) price had dropped 40%, Ether (ETH) had lost 50% of its value, and the entire crypto market dipped below its $1-trillion capitalization for the first time since January 2021. As we enter a clear bear market trend, it’s essential to focus on what the blockchain industry has always suggested: build.

Bitcoin, Ether and the broader crypto market’s downturn correlate to macroeconomic uncertainty. The uncertainty is driven by rising interest rates coupled with quantitative tightening, resulting in asset price sell-offs across the stock exchange and the crypto market. It’s entirely possible that we can see the repeat of events like the Terra ecosystem’s unwinding, crypto lending service Celsius’ fallout, and the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital’s $400-million liquidation losses.