Maika Isogawa, CEO of Webacy will be speaking at the upcoming Benzinga Future Of Digital Assets. Mark Nov. 14 on your calendar for the must-attend gathering in the fintech industry!

The crypto revolution has come a long way since the inception of Bitcoin over a decade ago. What was once a niche interest for tech enthusiasts has evolved into a global financial powerhouse of activity. Throughout this, one thing is clear: safety is the key to the next billion users. Users need to feel safe in order to feel free to transact, create, trade, and even play. As the CEO of Webacy, a crypto security startup, I've had the privilege of witnessing the rapid growth of the digital asset space, and I know that we have a big positive shift in trust ahead of us that we can all play a part of.

In the crypto world, we often speak of decentralization, financial inclusivity, and the empowerment of the individual. While these ideals are indeed commendable, they can only be fully realized in a safe environment. Safety in the context of digital assets goes beyond just securing your private keys and protecting your wallet. It encompasses trust in the ecosystem, ensuring that users feel safe and secure in their interactions with the technology.

The internet became a global phenomenon once people felt secure using it. They trusted their data and information with it. Ecommerce took off once users felt comfortable typing their credit card information online. In the crypto realm, security is the linchpin to fostering trust and enabling the next billion users to join in. No one wants to invest their hard-earned money in an environment riddled with fraud, hacks, and scams.

Safety also extends to regulatory compliance and user protection. These measures are essential to shield investors from unscrupulous actors and maintain the integrity of the financial system. In TradFi, there were concepts like the FICO score and credit ratings for businesses. There was the DUNS number. Should the same concepts, like a Safety Score, come to fruition in the Web3 world? We think it is crucial for fintech and digital asset companies to proactively address these issues to attract and retain a growing user base, to self-regulate, and to create a safer environment for all. 

Gambling Was Fun, But Now Let's Build Real Value

In the early days of cryptocurrency, many were drawn by the promise of quick riches. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum became synonymous with speculative trading and volatility. While this undoubtedly attracted a significant user base, it also created an environment that was rife with uncertainty and, in some cases, outright illegal activity. Gambling can be argued as a use case, but it isn’t a sustainable one. It doesn’t bring longevity to a technology, or create winners that are incentivized to help others. 

Now that digital assets can be used for everyday transactions, lending, and investments, just like traditional financial assets, we’re seeing utility in tokenization go beyond ape pictures – we’re seeing hope. To get there fully, we need to build trust and ensure that users' assets are secure. This transition from a speculative mindset to one of value creation fosters the development of a thriving and sustainable ecosystem, which is what we need for this industry to become a household topic.

Embedded Safety: The Future of Crypto

At Webacy, we believe that safety isn’t just an add-on, but should be embedded into existing user experiences. We subscribe to the concept of embedded safety. Think encryption in our URLs, messaging. Think Face ID. Think Banking Alerts. We believe that it is the key to making the digital asset space not only safer but also more user-friendly. At Webacy, we took a step recently to introduce embedded “Safety Scores” into every single Unstoppable Domain. This was meant to help expose safety and risk issues with one’s owned assets, a decentralized domain. It leverages data analytics and machine learning to assess the risk associated with specific crypto addresses, transactions, or activities. The embedded experience is designed to provide users with a quick and easy way to assess the safety of a transaction or address. 

By embedding safety features like risk scores and real-time monitoring into the user experience, we can help users make informed decisions and navigate the crypto landscape with confidence. It shows that project and protocol owners care about safety being innate to an experience, and not as an afterthought.

Enabling the Next Billion Users

Safety is not just a feature in the world of digital assets and fintech; it's a necessity. We must shift our focus from speculative gains to building real value, and embedding safety features and risk mitigation tools can be a game-changer in this endeavor. With the right combination of innovation, responsibility, and user-centric design, we can make the crypto world not only more secure but also more inviting for everyone.

I will be discussing these topics and more at Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets conference, so be sure to join me for a deeper dive into the future of digital asset safety and its role in shaping the industry for the better. Together, we can create a digital asset landscape that is not only secure but also fosters trust, growth, and innovation.

Maika is the CEO of Webacy – the protection layer for self-custody. Webacy develops tools and services to make self-custody safer and easier. Webacy is strictly non-custodial and no-access (no seed phrases, private keys, or passwords). Maika is also a former professional acrobat and performer for the Cirque Du Soleil brand of shows. She attended Stanford University and specialized in Artificial Intelligence. Maika was most recently a Cybersecurity Engineer for Microsoft. She is a Forbes 30 Under 30 lister.