Cryptocurrency investor Bradley Rotter likes talking about technology with teenagers because he says they have a good sense of not just where tech is now, but where it may be going.

The vice chairman of Rivetz Corp. first heard about cryptocurrency from a 15-year-old, and another member of the teen set persuaded him to purchase his first token in a company called MaidSafe.net Ltd, an autonomous data network. Since then, Rotter (pictured) has been actively pursuing a set of projects in the cryptocurrency world, including an ambitious initiative to tokenize large segments of the world’s infrastructure.

“What I’m extremely interested in is using tokenization for infrastructure, for gigantic projects,” Rotter said. “Someday you’ll be able to buy a three-mile stretch of a toll road in Texas and, as the owner of that three-mile stretch, you’ll get 25 cents a car credited every minute.”

Rotter stopped by the set of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, and spoke with co-hosts John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante) at the Polycon 18 event in The Bahamas. They discussed current interest in security tokens and how cryptocurrencies could disrupt the banking industry.

Move toward security tokens

The craze in initial coin offerings has been driven primarily by investment in two types of tokens. Utility tokens are backed by a product or service, while security tokens are based on hard assets like real estate or precious metals.

A hard asset, such as a highway, may turn out to be a far more attractive investment for cryptocurrency followers than services. “I think the issuance of tokens as securities is going to be a pretty big deal,” Rotter said. “No one is really using utility tokens now. They’ll soon realize that by buying these utility tokens, in many cases, there’s not much utility.”

There are signs that tokenization may soon transform the banking world as well. BankEx, a decentralized bank-as-a-service providing fintech solutions powered by the blockchain, launched its own token sale in November.

“Banks had better be paying attention to this,” Rotter said. “If we’re right about cryptocurrency, [traditional] banks will become as plentiful and useful as Blockbuster video stores.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Polycon18.

Photo: SiliconANGLE