At Consensus 2023, attendees discussed how blockchain companies can embrace environmental, social, and governance (ESG) mandates to attract institutional money. According to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, global ESG-related assets under management (AUM) are projected to reach $33.9 trillion by 2026, constituting 21.5% of total global AUM.
If blockchain companies want to get that next institutional dollar, there needs to be an ESG direction, said one attendee. The most obvious and easy solution is encouraging the adoption of proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms, which see users pledge their assets to become transaction validators.
However, there is a disconnect between the crypto industry and regulators. The first step to get this right is for blockchain to be used as a utility to solve real-world problems, said one attendee with prior professional experience in the U.S. Capitol.
Though attendees were far from consensus on key issues like whether blockchains should ditch the carbon-intensive mining process, there was alignment on the need for crypto to speak the language of Washington D.C. and converse with those on Capitol Hill in order to reach consensus on crypto’s ESG mandate.