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Digital currencies have gained recognition since the publishing of Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008, yet the industry continues to strive toward mainstream adoption. Institutional backing has recently begun to shift in favor of cryptocurrency, fulfilling a key ingredient for helping the industry reach its full potential. This is evidenced, in part, by the SEC approved Greyscale Bitcoin Investment Trust, which has $3.7 Billion in various cryptocurrency assets under management. In addition, Fidelity Investments reported that one 1/3 of institutional investors own digital assets. The tides are turning, yet the complexities of cryptocurrency tokens have stifled widespread adoption. Vault12 is advancing the industry forward with its personal digital asset security platform.
Vault12's Chief Crypto officer, Wasim Ahmad, explores acceptance and adoption in a recent keynote address at Parallel Summit — a virtual event series exploring fundamental transformations in the blockchain industry — The virtual conference discussion was centered around the future of crypto assets, regulatory developments, and hurdles to adoption — the full summit from June 19, 2020 is available at https://parallelsummit.io and includes a riveting panel with SEC and CFTC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Brian Quintenz that describes the future of digital assets.
In his keynote, Ahmad highlights Vault12's mission to bring innovation to the crypto market amidst a Renaissance of digital asset protection.
In today's uncertain times, digital assets promise to revolutionize the financial industry and its systems, but the journey to mass adoption will be a marathon, not a sprint. Regulation and security are key components in the process, which faces significant hurdles. As those invested in traditional markets begin to transition to digital assets, the institutional custody that has always existed in traditional markets must be apparent, according to Ahmad, yet personal custody will be just as important when it comes to cryptocurrency.
Traditionally, security measures for cryptocurrency have been convoluted and difficult to keep track of, with few options available. For example, of the 18 most popular crypto wallets, there are only two options for saving a wallet's seed phrase — a list of random words (usually 12) used to recover crypto assets. Some only offer one option: to write it down. As a result, access to one's digital currency carries inherent risk of being affected by hacking, natural disaster, or other barriers. The risk of hacking has been made evident with popular scandals like Mt. Gox, where $460 Million was stolen from the world's largest Bitcoin exchange.
Aside from hacking, there is also a risk of losing access to one's seed phrase, without which the digital currency itself is rendered inaccessible. The most seasoned crypto veterans go to great lengths to prevent the heart-fluttering moment of having misplaced or inadvertently lost a seed phrase, yet conventional methods all have their pitfalls. Imagine writing a seed phrase on a sheet of paper, which is thrown out by an unknowing family member or losing access to stored files containing your seed phrase. This means that unless you have a great (read: 100% accurate) memory, your digital assets could be inaccessible. Forever.
The Covid-19 pandemic uncovered another potential barrier to access when banks, along with other business were ordered to close. Imagine having stored portions of your seed phrase in various physical locations such as a bank safe deposit box. Post-Covid-19 investors will prefer decentralized solutions over highly centralized institutions when it comes to accessing digital assets. Enter, Vault 12.
According to Ahmad, the next generation of investors will need to understand these risks and must have a tried and true policy at their fingertips to avoid barriers to access. Vault12's digital asset protection platform seeks to help solve current security shortcomings. The mobile app is leading a paradigm shift toward heightened security and more reliable accessibility of one's digital access. This is carried out via a digital vault, which is protected by the vault owner's trusted social network, known as "guardians". End-to-end encryption offers an added layer of protection as neither party has the full seed phrase, nor can they see their portion. Guardians can also be replaced if a contact has been lost or severed. Lost your phone? Not to worry as your Vault can be recovered from your new mobile device.
After 5 years of development, the Vault12 app is finally available for download in the app store. Download it now or request a live walk-through here.
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Wasim Ahmad
Wasim is a serial entrepreneur with five exits, and an advisor in the fields of AI, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and encryption solutions. At Vault12, he led the private and public fundraising efforts, and focuses today on expanding the Vault12 ecosystem. His crypto experience began with AlphaPoint, where he worked with the founding team to launch the world's first crypto trading exchanges.
Previously he was a founding member of Voltage Security, a spinout from Stanford University, that launched Identity-Based Encryption (IBE), a breakthrough in Public Key Cryptography, and pioneered the use of sophisticated data encryption to protect sensitive data across the world's payment systems. Wasim serves on the board of non-profit, StartOut, and is a Seedcamp and WeWork Labs global mentor.
Wasim graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and French from the University of Sussex.
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