Boris Johnson hails blockchain ‘opportunities’ at Singapore conference | Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has addressed a conference on blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrency, as part of his lucrative post-No 10 lecture circuit, despite controversy surrounding the industry following the multibillion-dollar collapse of the FTX exchange.

In his speech, the former prime minister suggested that blockchain was full of possibilities and appeared to compare it to major technological innovations such as the invention of fire, railways and the internet.

But Johnson also said he supported the idea of ​​more regulation of cryptocurrencies, arguing that its proponents “need to convince people that their use cases are real and work for them in their lives, as opposed to this being about speculation and a new kind of financial markets.” or instrument”.

“When there’s a mania and a bubble, when you have speculators driving up prices by finding a larger pool of people to exploit, you need measures to protect the public from Ponzi schemes,” he said.

Johnson has yet to declare how much he was paid for the speech or who funded it and the trip to Singapore, where he revealed he was staying at the five-star Raffles hotel, which can cost £1,000 a night.

It comes after he was paid £276,130 by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers for another speech in the US. He has also taken almost £40,000 in free accommodation from the family of Anthony Bamford, a major Conservative Party donor, £11,560 in hospitality from Rupert Murdoch in the US and £10,000 in hospitality at Heathrow Airport’s Royal Suite.

Blockchain technology is used to provide a secure way to make and record transactions, most commonly for the cryptocurrency bitcoin.

It is largely unregulated, but it has come under intense government scrutiny in recent weeks after the demise of one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, left thousands frozen out of their savings. The value of the most famous cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has also plummeted.

Many cryptocurrency giants have argued for regulation, but some governments and regulators fear that this will give it status and credibility by aligning it with traditional finance.

This week, the European Central Bank said bitcoin is on an “artificially induced last gasp before the road to irrelevance”, in a sharp intervention arguing against giving regulatory legitimacy to the cryptocurrency.

However, supporters of the technology include the new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who has previously said he wants to make the UK a global hub for crypto-asset technology and investment.

Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, has also vocally backed the technologies behind cryptocurrency, taking £11,638 in hospitality to attend a cryptocurrency conference called Permissionless in Florida, as well as £10,000 to speak at a fintech conference called LendIt.

Speaking at the International Symposium on Blockchain Advancements (ISBA) in Singapore, Johnson described the room of blockchain enthusiasts as “pioneers at the forefront of a new and still infant technology whose possibility the entire world struggles to assess”, adding: “Given the enormous controversies in some use cases … and given all the delicacy and sensitivities, I will do my best to tiptoe through the minefield at the pace I am known for.”

He also encouraged them, as “innovators everywhere [do]with the possible exception of Singapore, come to London, come to Britain”.

Johnson said technology was “morally neutral” and skepticism about its use was “generally wrong”. He also said that “the blockchain idea seems to have all kinds of possibilities to allow people to deal with people without a third party being able to authenticate”, but he drew a distinction between the technology and its use through cryptocurrencies.

Regarding cryptocurrencies, he said his question was “who is responsible for the climbing train, because I’ve seen some pretty shocking headlines about this whole venture, and I think we have to have a way to hold people accountable”.

“If it’s going to be successful and if it’s going to build trust, then obviously it needs to be regulated in a way to build trust in a way that visibly protects all participants,” Johnson said.

He said a better relationship between the cryptocurrency industry and politicians “would have to happen if this thing has a future”.

Johnson also gave his views on Twitter, saying it can be a “scary environment for politicians” and the “piles” were like “nothing they had been prepared for”.

He said a “twitstorm might flare up like a typhoon in the South China Sea and cause your plane to buffet, but it doesn’t really reflect what’s happening in the rest of the world”. However, he said politicians need to “learn to have thicker skins about it” and find “ways to do it without feeling beaten up – I don’t read a lot of that”.