The underlying legacy infrastructure that built traditional business is unfit for purpose in the digital era. It’s time for a new way: the way of decentralized systems and blockchain technologies.

“McKinsey recently said that the ecosystem will be over $30 trillion; so when you recognize that we are so early, it’s those right now that some might say are the risk takers,” said Dustin Plantholt (pictured), editor of crypto at Forbes Monaco. “But to me, they aren’t taking risk. They’re being a part of making history.”

Plantholt spoke with theCUBE industry analyst John Furrier at Monaco Crypto Summit, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. As host of the Monaco Crypto Summit, Plantholt was an integral part of the entire event. He joined theCUBE to share some of the insights he gained from his place on the main stage. (* Disclosure below.)

Blockchain will fix a broken legacy system

The blockchain ecosystem is moving out of its Wild West phase and into a more mature, responsible structure, as money and the power link together within the community. While ventures retain the creativity and energy that marked the early days, they are now built on top of a solid infrastructure rather than hype and a prayer. And big brands are recognizing this, according to Plantholt.

“A lot of these major brands, you know they are striving for excellence. They’re being more careful of who they partner with and the types of companies they look at it, from reality and a little tough love, to figure out should they align their brand,” he said.

But while the ecosystem is maturing, investors entering the market with the goal of becoming “cryptonaires” need to temper their expectations, according to Plantholt.

“They’re seeing these individuals globally that are making lots and lots of money, but what they don’t realize is that not everybody is going to have that outcome,” he said.

The market, however, is a sound investment for those with a more realistic outlook. From a technological standpoint, blockchain is “going to improve a system that many can agree is collectively broken,” Plantholt said. His experience is that “the smart money; they got it long ago believe it or not.”

JPMorgan Chase, IBM, Walmart, Anheuser-Busch, Daimler and Goldman Sachs are just a few of the major corporations that have already quietly incorporated blockchain into their operations. But the time is coming when blockchain adoption will reach critical mass, according to Plantholt.

“What we’re going to see is this tsunami coming,” he said. “You go alone, you go far. Go together, you go further. And that’s what we’re seeing is that this collective is moving forward. “

The result will be “the greatest transformational shift in human history from both education to jobs, to careers and and even wealth being shifted to a digital world,” Plantholt said.

And he is going to make sure that he is an active participant. “I will not have an excuse when my grandkids or my nieces or my nephews, when they come and ask, where were you? Why were you on the sideline waiting?” he said.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Monaco Crypto Summit event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Monaco Crypto Summit event. Neither DigitalBits, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE