IOHK Founder Charles Hoskinson Says Crypto Industry Needs More Interoperability

Charles Hoskinson, a founder of IOHK, the firm that developed cryptocurrency Cardano (ADA), said that the cryptocurrency industry needs a “WiFi or Bluetooth moment” in an interview with media outlet Cheddar on March 28.

Speaking about the status of the cryptocurrency industry, Hoskinson said that it needs specific standards that will facilitate the development of more interoperability. Per Hoskinson, it will allow communication and information to be traded in an easier way among both digital currency and traditional financial institutions. Hoskinson argued:

"What we are seeing is a collection of standards being created [that] will inevitably converge over the next three to five years to create a situation where you can move information and value between all these different systems ー not just Bitcoin to Litecoin to Ethereum to Cardano ー but also your regular bank account."

Hoskinson said that "what we are looking for is the WiFi or Bluetooth moment of our industry. We haven't quite gotten there yet."

Standard-setting organizations have been expanding and gaining traction recently. Last month, The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) — an Ethereum blockchain standards-setting organization with over 500 members — confirmed it will launch a “token task force” in 2019. The group will reportedly focus on the issue of interoperability between different blockchains, as well as contribute to entreprise tokenization and build public confidence in crypto.

That same month, the EEA opened a regional office in China, wherein Weijia Zhang, vice president of engineering at blockchain interoperability startup Wanchain, was appointed as the head for the new regional office. Zhang will reportedly be responsible “for supporting the advancement and adoption of EEA’s standards by taking part in local hackathons, workshops, training sessions, and conferences.”