Blockchain Experts: Interoperability and Identity Key to Scaling Global Finance
From digital credentials to regulatory engagement, experts call for open collaboration to overcome blockchain’s human and institutional hurdles
Despite technical advances and growing enterprise interest, blockchain still struggles to overcome one of its most persistent obstacles: people. While the technology has matured, many regulatory systems, financial institutions, and public perceptions remain misunderstood, slowing real-world adoption.
“Fewer than 20% of global policymakers can actually tell the difference between blockchain and crypto assets,” said Professor Naseem Naqvi, president of The British Blockchain Association. “This is not just a knowledge gap. It’s a policy risk.”
Fred Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, emphasized that the biggest challenge is not linking blockchains to each other but integrating them with legacy infrastructure like central banks and custodians.
“We’ve been trying to connect blockchains to blockchains,” he said. “But the real question is: how do you connect them to core banking systems?”
The panelists warned that volatile crypto trends remain skewed public narratives despite measurable progress in digital identity and post-trade settlement.
“We keep fighting new devils—first ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings), then NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), now meme coins,” Gregaard said. “We need more focus on infrastructure that actually works.”
They argued that the solution requires more than code—it demands education, alignment, and political will.
“We are finally mature enough to be taken seriously,” said Daniela Barbosa, executive director of LF Decentralized Trust. “But we have to prove why this technology matters.”
Open Standards, Real Adoption
Gregaard stressed that blockchain adoption hinges on compatibility with existing global systems. Cardano’s work with the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)—a system responsible for identifying entities in over 80% of international trade—is one example.
“We created a layer where identity anchors can link to platforms like IBM, Microsoft, or Avaloq,” he said. “That allows verifiable trust—whether for settlement, KYC (know your client), or even software.”
The ability to verify and move secure data between blockchain and traditional systems reduces the need for redundant steps and intermediaries.
“We shouldn’t be competing on infrastructure,” Gregaard said. “We should be competing on user experience and services.”
The conversation took place at the Digital Assets Summit organized by FT Live in London on May 6–7, 2025.
For Barbosa, long-term viability depends on open-source principles. Her organization hosts 17 decentralized projects under the Linux Foundation’s Decentralized Trust initiative, including Cardano’s digital credential platform.
“The market needs optionality,” she said. “And open collaboration is how we get there.”
She highlighted the importance of governance in building durable infrastructure. In Canada, for example, developers from the British Columbia government are core maintainers of a digital identity platform.
“They’re contributing code because it’s critical infrastructure for Canadian citizens,” she said. “This is about public trust, not just innovation.”
Bridging Blockchains and Institutions
Arthur Breitman, co-founder of Tezos, outlined two forms of interoperability: practical compatibility and deeper composability.
“If you’re a custodian, you want to support assets from different chains,” he said. “That’s compatibility, and it’s achievable.”
Tezos launched Etherlink, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible Layer 2 blockchain to accelerate that.
Powered by Tezos’ Smart Rollup technology, Etherlink enables fast, non-custodial integration with Ethereum tools like wallets and indexers. Built on the Tezos Layer 1, it offers near-instant confirmations and low transaction costs while remaining open and permissionless.
“It’s a tremendous way to accelerate interoperability,” Breitman said. “We’re also working on JavaScript rollups, to connect with the web development world.”
But composability—where smart contracts on different chains interact directly—is far more complex.
“It works great for information,” he said, “but blockchains represent state, not just data. That’s much harder to bridge.”
Breitman also pointed to a growing legislative risk: many jurisdictions are not technology-neutral.
“There are proposals in the EU saying blockchains can’t be public—because of GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation]—and can’t be private—because of anti-money laundering rules,” he said. “It’s a Catch-22.” (A Catch-22 refers to a paradox where one requirement blocks the other, creating a lose-lose situation.)
He added that the lack of clear outcomes makes defending the entire sector harder.
“We’ve been on these panels since 2015, talking about digitizing assets,” he said. “There’s progress, but not enough success stories. And regulators need evidence.”
Naqvi agreed: “If regulators don’t allow digitalization, it won’t happen. But they want to see success before supporting it. That loop is one of our biggest bottlenecks.”
Fixing the Developer Pipeline
Another structural gap: the talent pool.
“There are 40 million open-source developers in the Web2 world,” Barbosa said, referring to the second generation of the internet, known for user-generated content, social platforms, and interactive websites. “But only around 40,000 in blockchain.”
She insisted this isn’t a skills problem—it’s a visibility issue.
“People can learn blockchain. The tooling isn’t that special,” she said. “But we need to engage engineers and business leaders, especially in critical areas like cryptography.”
Naqvi noted that blockchain is inherently multidisciplinary. “You can be a lawyer or academic and still work in blockchain,” he said. “It’s one of the most in-demand skills globally.”
Breitman believes the issue is interest, not ability. “Most blockchain projects rely on existing components—ledgers, multi-signature contracts,” he said. “The real opportunity is improving the developer experience and letting them reuse familiar libraries in languages like Java and .NET.”
When asked if AI draws talent away from blockchain, Breitman responded, “Yes, but it also filters out the opportunists. What’s left is people genuinely interested in the tech.”
Gregaard argued that AI may push blockchain adoption forward.
“Enterprises are embracing generative AI, and one of the biggest reasons is they can secure it using blockchains like Cardano,” he said. “It’s a huge opportunity.”
A Back-End Revolution, Ready to Scale
For Naqvi, the ultimate success metric is invisibility.
“We’ll know blockchain has succeeded when we no longer realize we’re using it,” he said. “It should just run in the background.”
Yet achieving that vision requires confronting slow-moving institutional habits. Gregaard pointed to the financial industry’s outdated settlement cycles as an example.
“Why can’t I instantly settle a $100 million bond?” he asked.
Today, most global markets operate on T+2 or T+3—meaning trades are finalized two or three days after the transaction date. Blockchain enables T+0, or same-day settlement, significantly reducing counterparty risk and operating costs.
This shift is already happening in some jurisdictions.
“In Abu Dhabi, zero-knowledge proofs are used to streamline onboarding between banks and asset managers,” Gregaard said. “You don’t need to re-collect sensitive information—just verify it. That reduces risk and boosts privacy.”
As geopolitical tensions rise and legacy systems strain under new demands, blockchain’s foundational role in the next generation of financial infrastructure is becoming clearer. The tools, standards, and institutional alignment are falling into place for the first time—not to reinvent finance, but to finally make it work better behind the scenes.