As Bitcoin shatters records, blockchain zealots welcome Trump's return

The blockchain industry anticipates significant growth after President-elect Trump's victory, as experts discuss the potential for regulatory changes and the technology's intrinsic decentralization at the Upbit D Conference in Seoul.

Decentralized AI Society Chairman Michael Casey, right, speaks during a fireside chat with Dunamu CEO Lee Sirgoo at the annual Upbit D Conference, or UDC, at the Shilla Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [DUNAMU]

After a roller coaster ride through booms and busts over the past decade, the blockchain industry is on the brink of an explosive expansion — catalyzed by the election victory of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, a crypto-skeptic-turned-advocate who has pledged to make the United States “the crypto capital of the planet.”

At the seventh edition of the annual Seoul cryptocurrency haven known as the Upbit D Conference (UDC) on Thursday, tech gurus, corporate executives and academics of the global blockchain industry gathered, creating an atmosphere of optimism that reflected surging expectations for the incoming administration's pro-crypto policy drive.

Fifty experts and 700 on-site attendees discussed the changes the blockchain is driving across the world's industries and reiterated their view of the technology's core: A decentralized system owned by all, not by a single individual — and certainly not by the government.

“Whether it’s Sam Bankman-Fried, or Mt. Gox or Donald Trump — they are not our saviors, and their interest is not necessarily in saving us; We have to save ourselves,” said Michael Casey, a cryptocurrency pioneer, former chairman of Consensus, the world’s largest crypto event hosted by CoinDesk, and current chairman of Decentralized AI Society.

During a fireside chat with Dunamu CEO Lee Sirgoo, Casey echoed other attendees' surging optimism for the regulatory changes expected under a second Trump term.

“It’s undeniable that the regulatory constraints that have been placed on this industry under the prior administration were quite harmful, certainly in the United States,” he noted. “If you remove the overhang, I think you have a much better chance of bringing mainstream organizations and banks into this space.”

However, he highlighted that the cornerstone of the technology remains its decentralization, which should help it weather short-term market fluctuations.

Decentralized AI Society Chairman Michael Casey delivers his keynote speech at the annual Upbit D Conference, or UDC, at the Shilla Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [DUNAMU]

“We’ve got to build systems that are antifragile, that can survive no matter what,” he said. “We need to be a little careful about putting all of our eggs in one basket,” he said.

This year's iteration of UDC, which Dunamu has been hosting annually since 2018, was themed around “Blockchain: Powering Real World Change.” Its prelude event, the Digital Asset Conference, similarly focused on the regulatory framework around digital assets in Korea. Its schedule included lectures from security experts, with part of its ticket proceeds funding scholarships for students who aim to become blockchain experts. A post-election surge of investor confidence in digital assets, as well as their underlying blockchain technology, has pushed the price of Bitcoin to record highs as of late. The asset broke the $90,000 mark on Wednesday — more than double its initial price at the beginning of the year.

In Korea, Bitcoin exceeded the 131 million won ($93,100) mark on Upbit — Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, which Dunamu operates — on Thursday following a spike in trading volume.

Dunamu hosted the annual Upbit D Conference, or UDC, at the Shilla Hotel in Jung District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [DUNAMU]

Despite the steep surge, some critics have expressed concern about an overheated market, warning of a possible correction similar to previous collapses that followed rapid gains back in 2017 and 2021. Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung, however, remained confident in the prospects of the underlying blockchain and its disruptive impact, stressing that “Blockchain is no longer an invisible technology. “Just a few years ago, blockchain was considered unfamiliar and complex, but now we can see that perceptions in Korea have significantly changed,” said Chairman Song Chi-hyung in prerecorded welcome remarks during the event.

“While there are still questions and various challenges surrounding blockchain, it is being directly applied to real-world finance on a global scale, and is becoming institutionalized through laws and policies.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]