CFOs are trying to find Blockchain’s real power

As someone who has been in technology for a long time, The Chia Network Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Misha Graboi have become accustomed to the cyclical nature of the business.

When today’s tech flavor looks like a world changer, people tend to overestimate its short-term potential and underestimate its long-term potential, Graboi said. Then there is a point when the initial euphoria and fear of missing out (FOMO) is replaced by a more rational investment environment.

“In that environment, companies that are able to execute and put one foot in front of the other very skillfully, as opposed to just building buzz around themselves and things like that, tend to be rewarded,” Graboi said.

Explore a new area

That’s what he and his team at Chia are focusing on, Graboi said. Chia is a new energy-efficient decentralized blockchain, and Graboi joined the company in June.

Interviewed for the PYMNTS series “A Day in the Life of a Digital-First CFO,” Graboi said that, like other organizations, Chia needs to focus primarily on her day-to-day responsibilities — handling payroll, paying suppliers, filing taxes and keep the lights on.

“But when you step up to the more strategic level, as a CFO, to me, in the blockchain industry, it’s really fascinating that there’s a lot of white space out there.” he said.

It means an opportunity to explore a completely new area where the answers are not quite clear yet. What are these instruments? How should they act? How will the markets develop? What does the future look like for the sector?

“The opportunity to really put a stamp on how to think about, for example, the valuation of coins in relation to transaction fees that a blockchain can generate or think about how we’re going to recognize the value of the coin on our balance sheet, and things like that were really, really compelling ,” Graboi said.

Focus on real value

After the washout of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFT), managing the perception of blockchain is a challenge.

Chia continues to work on developing applications that have a big impact at the enterprise or government level, Graboi said. For example, it was chosen as infrastructure for a global carbon storage by the World Bank. This would allow countries to essentially share a database and to verify the integrity of each other’s databases.

Blockchain technology is bringing about sea changes in large parts of the world, Graboi said. In the early stages, people only focused on the cryptocurrency side of it, and there is value to that, but there is more to it.

“Basically, the real value of these chains is the ability for people all over the world who may not even know each other to trade in a reliable way, without relying on an expensive middleman,” Graboi said.

Today, there is a need to define the use case for blockchains effectively, said Graboi. With all the hype around the space, some people want to use blockchain when it’s not really necessary, while others distrust it and don’t want to use it even though they can benefit from blockchain.

“Ultimately, if you have the right kinds of conversations at the right level, and especially if you involve people who are both on the business side and the technical side to understand the security and necessity of what blockchain can actually offer from a securities and operational perspective , I think you can get around these problems, Graboi said.

Building a long-term, sustainable business

When it comes to financing, the macro environment has changed. Graboi said Chia takes that into account when making decisions, but continues to have productive conversations with people in the room.

“Ultimately, as the market stabilizes, we think people are going to look to companies that provide real solutions to real-world problems.”

When it comes to attracting and retaining top tech employees, Graboi said the company is benefiting from the fact that it was founded by BitTorrent inventor Bram Cohen, and it’s attracting the interest of tech talent.

In addition, because Chia has an open source initiative, there are many technological talents who participate voluntarily.

“We’re able to look at it and say, ‘You know what? Here are some guys who are really, really skilled in this area; let’s see if they’ll just come on board,'” Graboi said. “So, it’s almost like a very extended job interview, if you will.”

For Graboi, being the CFO of Chia is a dream job because it is a technology company doing exciting things, it is a mission-driven company focused on creating a secure, sustainable and compliant solution for financial inclusion, and it provides an opportunity to handle a lot of problems with spacing.

“The prayers have to be counted, but there’s also the whole other side of this, which is really creating a new industry and trying to do it in a way that’s not just a cryptocasino, but actually something. It’s a long-term, sustainable business,” said Graboi. “It’s been very, very fascinating.

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