Too early for blockchain adoption: Earle Hall

Tuesday 19th of March 2019

Blockchain technology is here to stay, but the technology is still immature and probably shouldn’t be adopted by most operators in the industry as yet, a leading industry expert has warned.

Earle Hall, CEO of AXESnetwork, an IoT Fintech specialized in the casino industry, said he has become concerned about some of the things he is starting to see with regard to the adoption and understanding of the uses of blockchain.

“Blockchain is not something you need today,” he said giving a keynote address to open the ASEAN Gaming Summit in Manila. “It’s something you need to think about for tomorrow.”

“If you think you need blockchain today, then convince me you found a technology that is good enough to evolve through time,” said Hall, who is also the Gaming Standards Association Chair of the Blockchain Committee.

Hall stressed that blockchain is not a fad and will have numerous applications in the industry in the future, from helping with responsible gambling, through to systems security and loyalty programs. The technology is evolving fast and its development is being driven by the need for protection from quantum computing.

He urged executives to educate themselves about blockchain and to develop an information strategy. At present he said most executives are not able to articulate what it is they need from blockchain and therefore are likely to make expensive mistakes.