Antony Welfare - Commercializing Blockchain: Strategic Applications in the Real World

1. Chapter 6

Antony Welfare

I am a lifelong retailer, author of the #1 Bestseller The Retail Handbook, qualified accountant and a Blockchain leader, helping to develop, and understand, the new technologies transforming retail, CPG and supply chain businesses. Being born into a retail family, and working since a young age, has given me an insatiable desire to grow, develop, and nurture business and change within business.

The world is transforming at an ever faster pace and keeping track of the latest technologies inspires me to learn more, and help others understand the transformational impacts of these technologies. I started my research into Blockchain in 2016 and have learnt more than most about the technology and its impact on business and society.

I am a Blockchain advisor to the UK Government, a lecturer on the UCL Executive Blockchain programme, and judge and retail advisor for Blockchain Live. I run the Retail Week Technology blog for Oracle, and am a speaker on Blockchain at many events, including Tech: Retail Week, FT Future of Retail and Retail 4.0 (Berlin).

I focus on the retail and supply chain use cases for Blockchain, and other complementary technologies such as IoT, AI/ML, and RPA.

My experience in Blockchain has led me to inspire hundreds of people on the future of Blockchain, so that together we can learn how this technology will transform our lives. I have spoken at many events in the UK, Europe, South America, and Canada to all people interested in Blockchain and the transformational opportunities it gives.

My interest in Blockchain started in February 2016 when I asked a colleague What is Bitcoin? And why are retailers not using it? Little did I know, that one conversation would open my mind to the potential of Blockchain technology. I spent three months researching, discussing, and finding out how Blockchain worked, using books and online information, and attending meetups. During this research I came across Ethereum and started to research Ethereum in depth.

In August 2016, I bought my first 11 ETH for 8.88 each 100 well spent. Once I was literally invested, I started to research daily. I kept my focus on Ethereum, as this is a true Blockchain and can support many types of Blockchain use case. I joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance and attended many of the Ethereum meetups when there were less than 100 of us (now there are 1000s attending these meetups!).

As a leader in the Blockchain world, I spend most of my days working with organizations providing Blockchain technology solutions for organizations wanting to use Blockchain solutions. I meet many different people each day, and find out more about the future of Blockchain technology all the time.

My main role is to develop and deliver the Blockchain message to help people understand the future potential. This helps to bring more people into the ecosystem who can contribute to the development of the Blockchain solutions.

I keynote at many conferences and ensure that my focus is on the practical use cases of Blockchain technology. I enjoy presenting the vision of the future to people from all walks of life and experience. After all my keynotes, I am inundated with questions and eager people wanting to learn more (one of the main reasons for writing this book).