Morning Wire’s Crypto Insider meets Oliver Worsley, Co-Founder and CEO of Worsleys Client Services
Over the past few months I have attended many blockchain and crypto events and one young energetic entrepreneur kept crossing my path – Oli Worsley. It’s evident when meeting Oli that he is not your typical developer with a niche idea for disruption, nor is he the traditional financier looking to cash in on crypto as a digital asset. Instead he could be described as a novel product of the ‘Blockchain platform’ for an ‘opportunity set’ with a view to helping those in a similar boat gain safe access to an exciting new world.
I was therefore determined to find out more about him and his business. We met up last week to discuss his ambitions and I found myself delving into a classic example of how the crypto world can send you down a metaphorical rabbit hole!
How long have you been involved in the space?
“For nearly two years, which is nearly a lifetime in the crypto world, during which I learned a huge amount about the power of blockchain and crypto (just as most other people I have met in this space have). Initially, I was self-taught through informative blockchain and crypto community channels like You Tube and Reddit, which is where the most active blockchain investors can be found. However, while this gave me a true insight into the space, it obviously isn’t enough. So, I recently completed the Oxford Blockchain Business Strategy programme. Specifically, though, I set up my consultancy to help push the industry forward nearly a year ago.
How would you describe yourself and how you got into the world of Blockchain and Crypto?
I have always considered myself quite entrepreneurial but admittedly, not hugely academic. I left school after my GCSE’s to pursue a kickboxing career and ran a successful franchise of fight academies in Surrey. During my time running the business, I realised that being an entrepreneur was more fulfilling than teaching itself. This alongside the 2008 financial crisis and a serious injury, inspired me to take an opportunity to tackle the world in business.
I worked in various sales roles trying to make a name for myself, although nothing ever seemed to fully satiate my hunger. I always felt I could achieve something bigger and better.
Fast forward to 2016, I had started to hear about blockchain and crypto – Bitcoin predominately but paid no attention to this apparent ‘Ponzi scheme’. However, after further investigations, I relented. I opened Coinbase account and having made a small profit I was hooked. By researching which crypto coins to buy I started to understand more about the underlying protocol, blockchain. While blockchain’s primary purpose is to create the environment that enables cryptocurrencies to work, it became clear to me how fundamentally important the tech was, is and will be in our modern society. Once I decoupled blockchain from crypto and viewed them separately, my mind raced with ideas. This was my personal eureka moment.
This relatively short but immersive period led to me setting up Worsleys Client Services (www.worsleys-cs.com) where my team and I educate and advise clients on Blockchain, Crypto and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). With mass adoption being the key to success for any nascent industry, people need to trust and understand it and its possibilities. I am especially keen to champion flexible and sensible industry wide self-regulation, which will help appease the sceptics and those who are desperate to embrace this new way of life but do not know who to trust.
So together with a limited number of associates within the industry, I have put together a working group called Blockchain Verification Standards (BVS) with a view to creating the framework for a trustworthy standards model. We want to create a BVS kite mark, which could be given to assessed projects and therefore essentially give peace of mind to both consumers and vendors alike whilst leaving any ‘cowboys’ out in the cold. I believe that instilling trust into the sector will help push Blockchain in London up from the bottom instead of waiting for the tech to trickle down, giving power back to those who are being disrupted.