Noelle Acheson, Coindesk’s editorial producer and one of the most influential women in the crypto universe, discusses getting job at Coindesk, Twitter fights, industry trends, Coindesk’s analytical sources, and many other nuances in a special interview with Bitnovosti.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: I read about you on the Internet. After you sold a successful e-commerce company, you have decided to dive into the blockchain in 2013. Why did you sell the company and what made you turn your attention to the blockchain, which was not hyped at all back then?
Noelle Acheson: I always wanted three careers, and it was time to start the third one after I sold my own business. I didn’t know what that career was going to be, so I started reading about fintech. And when you are reading about fintech, you end up reading about Bitcoin. And I was just like: “Oh my God. This is going to be huge.” I call it, diving inside the rabbit hole because once you are in, you cannot get out. I started to research everything about the topic, and then I figured out what I wanted to do.
Coindesk was the perfect place because it is looking at the whole sector, not focusing on only one application or one technology. So I reached out to Coindesk and said, “You don’t know me, but I really want to work for you.” And they said, “Okay.”
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: On your Medium account you once wrote, “The Twitter battles are a public example of the force of disagreement.” How often do you use Twitter as a battlefield? Have you ever proven your point to somebody via Twitter?
Noelle Acheson: I don’t argue on Twitter, it’s my policy. You can never win Twitter fights. And if you do, it’s just going to take up so much of your time.
The debates I am going into are not to convince people that I am right, because maybe I’m not. I want to learn from people, so you better convince me. If you do, I’m really happy because I have learned something that I didn’t know before. Twitter is an awful place to argue: one, because you’re limited; two, because the personal connection and body language is lost; three, because the crypto community is often radical and not really open to reasonable debate.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: And who are your favorite people to follow on Twitter?
Noelle Acheson: I enjoy following people like Preston Byrne. Often I do not agree with him, but he is intelligent. I enjoy disagreeing with intelligent people because I will inevitably learn more. I follow Angela Walch as well. I think one of the best Twitter accounts is Jill Carlson. She is very thoughtful and broad in her knowledge. She is the one I am most aligned with. Going more into fintech, I like Leda Glyptis as she is knowledgeable about fintech in general. Sarah Kocianski has wonderful voice, she’s always very curious. There are so many amazing people to follow. Of course, Neeraj from Coincenter, he is so fun, too!
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: The dark side of Twitter is that many fraudsters do post under Vitalik Buterin’s posts like, “giving away ETH, please send 1 coin to this address and I will send you 10 back.” And so many people are actually buying into this.
Noelle Acheson: You are not a star until somebody sets up an imitation account. It’s annoying when you are reading Twitter threads and suddenly scam bots start appearing. What I really do not understand is why Twitter does not do something about it. It can’t be that hard. Something simple, like you can’t use the same profile picture twice or something like that.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: How do you feel about startups trying to bring the blockchain into the real world or “tokenize” real assets? Recently there was a news article about an Andy Warhol painting being sold via the blockchain in the ‘World’s First Crypto Art Auction.”
Noelle Acheson: It is an interesting use case. I’m not sure if the blockchain is necessary for that, but it is interesting that we are trying to look at what securities are and why it is worth it to have a piece of this Andy Warhol painting. And if we get the system where you can make investments in art more liquid, maybe it will help in finding funding for artists?
However, I am not convinced yet, but maybe I am wrong. We trade shares of the companies and the blockchain is not used for that. Maybe the blockchain would make it more efficient, or maybe the blockchain would make it more fragile because of the transparency.
What I think is fascinating is that startups are asking those questions. They are putting it forward here. A whole different business model can emerge when we are using blockchain technology and other technologies.
But in the end, maybe the blockchain will not be used for as many things as the startups will make us think. But we are trying, we are pushing the boundaries, we are asking the questions, and we are rethinking how things are done.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: What do you think about tokenizing the assets of some classic investment fund? Would it work?
Noelle Acheson: It will not be changed quickly, but I do think that we are going to have more liquid and transparent capital markets once we get the technology figured out. I do think that the biggest advantage of blockchain technology will be the easier access to finance for everybody: for entrepreneurs, for individuals, for artists, fund managers, and more. If money flows more freely, then that will make the economy move at a different rhythm. We are not convinced that it will necessary be a good thing, so I do not know what it will look like, but I know that the change will create opportunities. But there will be mistakes and bumps along the way.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: Recently, Fujitsu has launched a blockchain-based reward points system aimed at innovating retail. What do you think about that? Why would IT giants need a blockchain, and will the trend of blockchain implementation continue?
Noelle Acheson: I haven’t read about Fujitsu, but I’m not surprised. What I do not understand is why they need the blockchain. The blockchain is only interesting if you are willing to give up control. Use a database, it is more efficient. It’s cheaper, faster, and easier to maintain.
However, if you are willing to give up control on the data, use the blockchain. If Fujitsu wants to give up control of their reward program, and if they want the points to be used by their competitors, for instance, then the blockchain will be needed.
The same goes for other businesses: if you’re willing to share your program with affiliates, competitors, or other people then the blockchain may help you to reduce the bureaucracy. We have seen a lot of enterprises and companies using blockchain applications when it is not necessary and we shouldn’t just say, “What a waste.”
What many firms are doing is just testing. They say, “Let’s test this new technology on something that is not that important, and we will learn and then once we are comfortable with it, we will start to apply it to make some changes. But let’s try it first on something fairly harmless.” And there is nothing wrong with that.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: Okay, they are testing the blockchain. But I personally think that they probably do it for the media coverage.
Noelle Acheson: IT giants have innovation departments, so people working in those departments have to justify their existence, so they get to play with the technology. And then the PR department gets involved, and they need to inform people “we are actually doing something.” But it is not bad. It is annoying, as they are wasting our time by sending all that media content, but in the end, they are exploring and broadening the knowledge. Even if they find out, “hey, blockchain just does not work for it”, it will still be good.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: In one of your recent Medium articles you wrote, “The backing of a large and reputable financial institution brings what was once a niche activity into the hubbub of mainstream markets — and, it perhaps further entrenches these assets’ role as trading vehicles rather than decentralized enablers or financial disruptors.” Which financial institution has to use cryptocurrencies to make it happen in your opinion? Central banks?
Noelle Acheson: I do not think that central banks will use cryptocurrencies. I don’t think they will change their business models for it because it is too risky for them. And right now we do not need it. Will they become more digital? I don’t think so. I think they are digital enough as they are. In fact, Central banks also do a lot of digital money.
I do think we will see banks begin to see Bitcoin as opportunity than as a threat, and I don’t think anybody thinks that cryptocurrencies will replace the dollar or the euro. Bitcoin can be useful for regions which are hard to reach by central banks. And Bitcoin can teach the banks quite a lot about asset manipulation.
I think the banks will also see the huge opportunities in offering services to crypto companies. Right now, it is very hard for blockchain startups to get a bank account. And a lot of it comes from the fear of regulation and the fear of money laundering. But I believe that it will start to change. And when that happens, it will be great for banks because there are so many cryptocurrency startups out there.
I also think that the banks will get more comfortable with the idea to offer services to cryptocurrency investors. And when it’s started, there will be even more investment in cryptocurrencies. And we will see more liquidity in the cryptocurrency market.
I do not see banks issuing their own cryptocurrency because it is not fit in the current economic model. What Circle is doing is really interesting to watch, and I am really looking forward to see how that all will happen and how regulators will deal with it. Circle is trying to get a banking license, and at the same time they have stated that they want to issue the cryptocurrency. So it is interesting to see if are they allowed to do that and if so, whether or not the impact will be on the whole sector.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: Let’s talk about Coindesk. You are making one of the most influential conferences around the world – Consensus. But I heard many people this year were disappointed with the organization – too crowded, not so many industry stars. Many people were claiming that Consensus made its name back in 2016, and right now they are just referring to that success. What do you think about that? Were all the goals achieved by Consensus 2018?
Noelle Acheson: There have always been different opinions on the Consensus, even on the very first one in 2015. I would say to the critics that it is a matter of perspective and priorities, and our sector is so diverse that there is no way that we could make everyone happy. What we are trying to do is set the stage up for debate; we are trying to bring people together in one room.
The first Consensus in 2015 was very crypto focused. And as the sector is still growing, we need everyone to get in one room. Different factions do not want that to happen, they want it to stay pure crypto, the others want it to be pure banking, and somebody else wants it to be pure token. There are events only for those factions, but Consensus is not one of those. We want everyone to gather in one room and meet each other.
We did not expect so many people to be honest. 9,000! Last year we got 3,000. We get the same criticism every year. We can judge the success by the number of people that came and who are glad that they came.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: Since Coindesk is the primary source for many other crypto currency media, may I ask how you analyze the market? What data do you usually use to create analytical articles?
Noelle Acheson: It depends. I can’t speak for my colleagues, but I do know that we have a very strong data team, and we have an excellent research department. If we need the information, they draw really cool graphs for us. The rest of the team finds the information in sources that they assume to useful. Coindesk itself doesn’t have this information. I get the information by picking up the phone and calling people and asking.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: What do you think if some average person reached out Coindesk and said, “Oh I love you,” would he or she be hired or even get a response?
Noelle Acheson: I don’t know. An average person – no. But a person who writes well – yes. And you need to understand blockchain technology. Both of these requirements are not for the average person.
Maria Lobanova, Bitnovosti: So people just need to be brave enough?
Noelle Acheson: Yes! The worst thing that could happen is that they say “no.” That’s it.
https://en.bitnovosti.com/2018/06/21/noelle-acheson-coindesk-reading-about-bitcoin-is-like-a-diving-into-the-rabbit-hole-once-you-are-in-you-cannot-get-out/