Blockchain Options and Innovation: A Talk with John Karantonis of Geopay 

Geopay.me, Inc. (“Geopay.me”), founded in 2013, is a firm addressing the products and relationships redefining crypto payments and merchant services. It provides an “all in one” mobile money product, alternative payment network and real-time multi-currency exchange built to reach the masses. Its products are apt for small businesses, online merchants, and individuals underserved by traditional payment mechanisms.

CEO John Karantonis was formerly the cofounder of a leading location-based digital media network (now part of RMG Mall Media). He has also worked at various telecom, media and technology companies. 

Karantonis is one the panelists at The Mankoff Company's Disruptive Innovation: Blockchain event to be held on February 24 in Chicago and is expected to speak about Geopay and blockchain technology.

John Karantonis, in conversation with Stacey Mankoff, Managing Principal of The Mankoff Company, spoke about blockchain technology, the obstacles it faces, investment in blockchain space and much more: 

John, tell me about why you feel now blockchain has become hot topic?

Well, at a practical business level it eliminates intermediaries while increasing the kind of security that can substantially reduce fraud; while expanding access and keeping transaction fees low. The banks, although competitors to one another, now see the opportunity to streamline intra-banking processes and reduce information/duplication related costs by establishing a common protocol on which their networking can run. In these initial stages, the banks are also looking to develop ways to move assets around more efficiently. Banks want their blockchains to record transactions in conventional financial assets such as currencies, bonds or derivatives. Improving or disrupting the way clearinghouses and central settlement systems operate by adopting blockchain-like private ledgers is a primary impetus of investment.

John, what are you seeing as the biggest hurdle that blockchain will have to overcome?

Scalability without tradeoffs to decentralization and transaction validation, although it seems 'segregated witness' and other proposals such as off-chain protocols, partial transaction validation and more efficient cryptographic proofs could be implemented in the near future. Another hurdle is the learning curve and coordination required for industries to test and implement application-specific solutions. The good news is there are a lot of bright people entering the space. The protocol is being continuously improved by thousands of participating developers. The rest of the world where most of the under banked people live is also catching on.  It won't surprise me if interesting innovations emerge from these markets, where new solutions to less understood pain– points will be implemented.

Where do you see investment in blockchain going and what type of firms are in development? 

We see increased investment going to firms that develop the systems, business models and solutions to drive greater adoption of blockchain services between merchants and consumers. Again, half the world's merchants and workers are "off the books," non-banked and have limited access to financial networks. Successful fintech companies of the future will harness the power of the blockchain to build-up large scale production businesses that aggregate sizable markets across the informal economies. They will bring banking and other related financial services to these populations via SMS and mobile apps. The remittance category aligns with this trend and low-cost infrastructure will bring in new customers currently excluded from the conventional industry. My firm, Geopay,is developing the products and relationships to redefine crypto payments in merchant and remittance services. 

What's really key is that the blockchain protocol, not unlike TCP-IP before it, is a fundamental paradigm shift that will impact many industries. It can change and adapt overtime to better serve innovation around finance as well as many alternative use cases.