On March 10, 2020, a group of people from various blockchain stakeholder groups agreed on the establishment of a new global network named Blockchain Governance Initiative Network (BGIN - pronounced ‘BEGIN’). Japan led the discussion at the G20 in 2019 as the presidency on the governance for decentralized finance in accordance with the experiences against high profile hacking incidents and of forming regulatory frameworks. Building on this background, this network aims at providing an open and neutral sphere for all stakeholders to deepen common understanding and to collaborate to address issues they face in order to attain sustainable development of the blockchain community.
As an open network, we are now actively and widely seeking interested parties to join this initiative, so as to accommodate diverse opinions from a wider range of blockchain stakeholders. For those who are interested, please contact us via bgin-contact@bgin.team
Purpose and tentative goals
As blockchain could affect a wide range of social and economic activities, the way we fulfill social interests in the financial system, which we currently depend on through regulation and its enforcement, may have to change as well. At this early stage of development, we ought to start designing a new mechanism to ensure the sustainable development of our new ecosphere by involving various stakeholders.
The Blockchain Governance Initiative Network (BGIN), pronounced ‘BEGIN’, will take a leading role to design healthy governance where stakeholders develop a common understanding, enhance dialogue, and work together and make a real positive impact for the ecosphere and society at large.
To serve the above purpose, BGIN tentatively aims at
- Creating an open, global and neutral platform for multi-stakeholder dialogue
- Developing a common language and understandings among stakeholders with diverse perspectives
- Building academic anchors through continuous provision of trustable documents and codes based on an open source-style approach
Roadmap and tentative future plans
March 2020 : Blockchain Global Governance Conference (BG2C) in Tokyo as “Genesis block” of BGIN Declaration of the establishment of the Network (Today)
Autumn 2020 : 1st BGIN meeting “BGIN Block 01”
Early 2021 : 2nd BGIN meeting “BGIN Block 02”
Annex 1: Initial Contributors
Julien Bringer (Kallistech)
Brad Carr (Institute of International Finance)
Michele Finck (Max Planck Institute for Innovation)
Joaquin Garcia-Alfaro (Institut Mines-Télécom / Institut Polytechnique de Paris)
Byron Gibson (Stanford Center for Blockchain Research)
Hui Li (Huobi Blockchain Academy)
Philip Martin (Coinbase)
Shin’ichiro Matsuo (BSafe.network / Georgetown University)
Jumpei Miwa (Financial Services Agency, JAPAN)
Katharina Pistor (Columbia Law School)
Nii Quaynor (Ghana Dot Com Ltd)
Jeremy Rubin Danny Ryan (Ethereum Foundation)
David Ripley (Kraken)
Nat Sakimura (OpenID Foundation)
Kazue Sako (Sovrin Foundation)
Mai Santamaria (Ireland Department of Finance)
Yuji Suga (Internet Initiative Japan Inc. / CGTF)
Shigeya Suzuki (BSafe.network / Keio University / WIDE Project / BASE alliance)
Yuta Takanashi (Financial Services Agency, JAPAN / ex-Georgetown University)
Robert Wardrop (Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance)
Pindar Wong (VeriFi (Hong Kong) Limited)
Aaron Wright (Cardozo Law School)
*All members act as an individual and not represent their organizations
Press inquiries: Mai Santamaria / Shin’ichiro Matsuo (Acting Chairs) bgin-contact@bgin.team