CryptoCanal founder Eleonore Blanc
What’s the hottest hub right now for anything crypto or blockchain? If you’re thinking Amsterdam, then….no. But it does have the potential, say both CryptoCanals Eléonore Blanc and BCNL’s Rudolf Van Ee. At the start of Dutch Blockchain Week, organised by Van Ee, they talk about the current state of the Amsterdam blockchain ecosystem.
Down the rabbit hole
“It’s happening here!” That’s what Eléonore Blanc thought to herself in 2017. After joining a meetup in which she was introduced to cryptocurrencies, she went ‘down the rabbit hole’. With her background in political science and public management, she could ‘only fall in love with bitcoin’s disruptive narrative of financial empowerment and economic freedom’, she describes.
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Blanc quickly became a key player in the Amsterdam crypto ecosystem. In 2019, she founded CryptoCanal, a consultancy with which she can spread knowledge and create a stronger ecosystem in Amsterdam. As such she has worked with Luno, OKEx and Bitcoin.com, Cyber Capital and Satoshi’s Angels, publishes the Humans of Crypto podcast and has been hosting meetups and deep dives for the Amsterdam crypto community.
Things slowed down
Fast forward to 2021, and Amsterdam seems to have lost some of its early magic, says Blanc. “A couple of years ago, we had events every week and there were so many cool companies. Now, there’s also lots of bullshit out there.” Blanc blames the first-mover disadvantage. “We were very early, but then we got cocky. Back then, companies like Bitonic offering to buy bitcoin through iDeal payments was revolutionary. But they didn’t really grow from there.”
“The idea of spending crypto kind of died”, Blanc says. “A lot of the original players stepped out and what I see being developed right now is good in terms of crypto, but it doesn’t have the same ideals as a couple of years ago. It’s harder now to find something amazing.” There are some parties Blanc sees as important in the crypto ecosystem. Currency exchange Bitvavo does wonders for the adoption of crypto, she says, while fund manager Cyber Capital serves as an institutional investment fund (for which Blanc is an investor). Amsterdam-based Blockdata is mapping the ecosystem.
Lisbon, Dubai, Singapore, Berlin
That begs the question: where is ‘it’ currently happening? “In Europe, I would say Portugal”, says Blanc. “Through their good tax policies, they’ve attracted a lot of good digital nomads that work in the crypto scene. Second, I would say Dubai. They want to innovate because they realise oil is not the future. So they poured a lot of money into the ecosystem. That means it also attracts a lot of scammers though. It is a cesspool, but one that is moving for sure.”
Rudolf van Ee also looks elsewhere for the large blockchain hubs. “I would say Singapore, new York. In Europe London, Paris and Berlin are large hubs. I consider Amsterdam to be just below that.” Van Ee has been working with blockchain technology for over ten years and is currently Managing Director of AIX21, which recruits talent for blockchain, AI and crypto companies.
This week is Dutch Blockchain Week
Van Ee is also co-founder of the non-profit BCNL foundation, which organises the Dutch Blockchain week together with Dutch Blockchain Coalition. The Dutch Blockchain Week is a series of events to connect the Dutch ecosystem. Their 2021 edition, partly digital for obvious reasons, starts today and lasts till the end of the week, offering 20 talks with experts and several meetups with a wide range of partners.
Van Ee: “The startup climate in Amsterdam is really good. There is fantastic infrastructure, a lot of knowledge and it is generally inclusive, which is important within the blockchain community. However, the laws and regulations cause interesting parties to do their business elsewhere. The Netherlands has always had an entrepreneurial mindset, but this is not reflected in the passive approach of the authorities. In Germany or Singapore, these developments are not considered scary or dangerous.”
Local success stories
As an example, Van Ee mentions the fact that crypto companies have a hard time opening a bank account in The Netherlands. It even got so far that the Dutch crypto association VBNL entered legal proceedings against the Dutch national bank over the rules crypto companies face. “It may help, but obviously it is not particularly conducive for good cooperation”, says Van Ee.
Van Ee does see some cool things happening in the Amsterdam ecosystem. He mentions digital fashion house The Fabricant, copyright protection solution Wordproof or Workpi. “They allow resumes on the blockchain, so anyone can validate the data. I’ve come across people that claim to have attended MIT, Harvard ánd Stanford. It would be great for these institutions to let me verify this easily, to increase trust.”
Another recent success Van Ee likes to mention is the new €106 million fund by Maven 11 Capital for blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology. He also sees the adoption of blockchain solutions by large companies accelerating. “Last couple of years, they’ve been interested in the technology but were feeling out the situation. For the last two years, this has changed. We now see for instance Deloitte and large banks actively building self-sovereign identity solutions. There are more corporations in the ecosystem, and they are more active. That’s great news.”
New branch of the crypto tree
Blanc is not entirely convinced the current enterprise solutions will foster innovation. She’d rather go a bit more underground to find the entrepreneurial spirit of the blockchain community in Amsterdam. “I went to an NFT-meetup last month and it was the most amazing thing. I hardly knew anyone! There’s a whole new branch of the crypto tree growing. There were AR and VR developers and designers in a whole new circle of people that are interested in crypto. The NFT community in Amsterdam is beautiful to see.”
She’s also excited about the increased visibility of cryptocurrencies with the general public. “Look at companies like Crypto.com, they’ve got advertisement deals with every major sports outlet. If they have that kind of money to spend, I’m all for it. I’ll applaud any adoption initiative if it brings new people in.”
‘Get the act together’
Access to crypto for a broad audience is also what makes Van Ee happy, he says. A recent big surprise was followed the announcement of the Metaverse, by the platform formerly known as Facebook. “Basically all the large companies jumped on that bandwagon. Whether it is Budweiser or Adidas, every type of industry is now figuring out what to do with that technology. Celebrities and influencers are now also full aboard, actively pushing NFTs and crypto. We’ve seen some great collaborations in the blockchain space with cool artists. About 25 per cent of the youth in The Netherlands own crypto. That opens the doors to many new possibilities.”
“Blockchain technology used to be something for the finance world, but now it is for every top sector. That is the big shift that’s currently going on. The flight it took the past couple of years is now visible in every industry.” Van Ee does stress the need for less restrictive regulations. “If The Netherlands gets its act together, I think we can become a significant player in the world”.
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