Crypto Pioneer David Chaum: The Blockchain Killer App is…

In the interview on the Bloomberg Odd Lots podcast on 27 May, the crypto pioneer David Chaum believes that pseudonymous messaging with integrated payments are the real killer app for blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

David Chaum is an American cryptographer who first wrote about digital currency in the early 80s. He invented E-cash in 1983, an anonymous cryptographic electronic money or electronic cash system.

David stressed the increased awareness around privacy and digital sovereignty in modern society have provided a potential breakthrough for mass adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. However, he noticed that customers are increasingly conscious that end-to-end encryption messaging is not sufficient to protect customer’s digital sovereignty.

Under these circumstances, David believed “In the modern world, the real killer app is clearly messaging integrated with payments with popular applications in the same namespace — like WeChat in China, and what Facebook is turning into [...] It’s WeChat with blockchain inside.”

“So it’s a payment system based on digital bearer instruments, denominated digital coins, and a solution to the ‘who’s talking to whom’ — the metadata problem — together with a way to allow dApps to run securely off-chain.” David elaborated on the next phenomenon of cryptocurrencies.