We talk with University of Ottawa Master's in Law student, Guarav Arora, PIAC's unofficial cryptocurrencies expert after an internship at PIAC, about all things crypto and the blockchain that you wanted to know but were afraid to ask: NFTs, ICOs, metaverses, stablecoins, de-fi, DAOs and smart contracts, etc., etc. and how some of it could be used to improve financial services for consumers but how, at present, many financial and consumer risks (fraud anyone?) and regulatory challenges must be overcome first. Hopefully the first of many on this issue!
Guarav Arora, University of Ottawa Master's student in the law department and recent tech law intern at PIAC, sits down to describe, and in some cases to defend against the host, cryptocurrencies (and blockchain and distributed ledger technologies in general) and their derivative products like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), stablecoins, initial coin offerings (ICOs), decentralized finance (de-fi), distributed autonomous organizations (DAOs), smart contracts, and the coming metaverse and its relation to finance. We try to see the potential benefits while being realistic about the relative lack of regulatory controls in this area (currency controls and investment regulation) and why consumers should be cautious about this area while waiting for it to be made more safe and consumer-positive. Because this is such a new and challenging area, we essentially run out of time, so likely this will be the first of a few podcasts on crypto. Enjoy!