Before, during and after the blockchain hype, I have been very active. Not only in giving talks, writing articles and even books, but also as active participant in the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) project, as well as in the Beltug Blockchain Task Force.
My blockchain superpower is a deep technological understanding of the technology, as well as of competing technologies. This way, I was well-grounded and able to withstand the hype hurricanes.
European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI)
The European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) was born in 2018 when 29 countries (all EU members states, Norway and Liechtenstein) and the EU Commission joined forces to create the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP).
The EBP’s vision is to leverage blockchain to create cross-border services for public administrations, businesses, citizens and their ecosystems to verify information and make services trustworthy.
My activities in the EBSI project
- 2019-2024: Participation on behalf of Smals in de Technical workgroup of EBSI.
- 2020-2022: Smals hosted and managed an EBSI node. I coordinated the launch, maintenance and update.
- 2020-2022: The KU Leuven, Belnet and BOSA and Smals participated in BELBLOCK, a EU-funded project with the aim of, among others, improve the nodes and create awareness. As a result of the online conference we organised in early 2021, IT Daily published an interview.
Independent expert in litigations
I have expertise in writing independent expert reports on behalf of internationally reputed enterprises in the context of litigations involving security, cryptography and cryptocurrencies.
In June 2023, I passed the Legal Course Court Expert (Juridische Opleiding Gerechtsdeskundige), at the Faculty of Law of the KU Leuven. The course was on-campus and I passed with 85%. This course is a necessary condition for being appointed as a court expert by courts in Belgium
Author of books on blockchain
On behalf of Larcier Group and SdU, two leading publishers in the domain of law in Belgium and the Netherlands, I have co-authored several books. Combined, several thousands of copies have been sold.
The books provided an adequate answer to the powerful blockchain hype back then and the confusion it created. The authoring was preceded by several talks for lawyers.
Beltug Blockchain Task Force
Beltug is the Belgian association of CIOs and digital technology leaders
In order to explore the potential of blockchain, as well as to create synergies, Beltug managed the Beltug Blockchain Task force between 2018 and 2020.
I participated on behalf of Smals.
Articles & talks
In order to create awareness, demystify blockchain technology, and to bring inflated expectations back to earth, I have published several articles on Bitcoin, Blockchain and Web3. I have also given many talks, not only for the public sector, but also for lawyers.