On this LAB Radio, episode Chris Groshong chats with Will McDonough, founder of iCash which provides a Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol. This enables powerful use cases like smart contract validation, settlement and Blockchain assurance (a precursor to Crypto insurance).
Will McDonough, founder of iCash
Will McDonough is an investor and entrepreneur whose storied career ranges from sports and entertainment management to the world of global finance. In 2014, McDonough led the Initial Public Offering for Atlas Mara (ATMA:LSE) with co-founder and former Barclays CEO Bob Diamond, for a market cap of $825 million after acquiring eight banks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Today, Atlas Mara has more than 3,500 employees and is operated by former executives of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Barclays, Standard Chartered and Ecobank.
Prior to founding Atlas, McDonough and his team in the Investment Management Division of Goldman Sachs managed more than $17 billion in private capital of the firm’s current and retired partners. While at Goldman, he co-founded the Goldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit, an industry-leading conference bringing together the top 100 entrepreneurs in the world every year.
Prior to Goldman, McDonough partnered with New York-based Avenue Capital Group to co-found a $250 million distressed debt fund called Avenue Strategic Partners. Since 2001, he has run his own highly successful management company called MMG, which has represented the licensing and partnerships interests of many high-profile individuals, iconic brands, and venerable estates including The Estate of Nelson Mandela, New England Patriots Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, and supermodel/activist Gisele Bundchen. MMG also co-founded a children’s entertainment company with Andy Heyward, Warren Buffett, Martha Stewart, Stan Lee and Arnold Schwarzenegger to build educational content for children.
iCash, a Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol assuring accurate data from Blockchain transactions
iCash’s is a Blockchain-agnostic Proof of Trust (PoT) protocol which provides distributed trust for data input. This means assuring data is accurate using this construct for services like validating smart contract settlements and Blockchain Assurance.
Just as courts and lawyers provide validate appeals processes for paper contracts, iCash’s PoT Delegates provide the same process for digital Smart Contracts.
While proof of stake and proof of work are certainly breakthrough tech, there is currently no system in place to assure users that the data inputs are accurate.
After listening to this episode you will learn:
- About Will’s origin story and how he got started as a childhood entrepreneur
- How Will got into Boston College after initially being rejected
- How Will transitioned into Finance and Start-ups
- Why Will built a company with Tom Brady and represented such figures as Nelson Mandela financially
- What a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is and the benefit of operating as one
- Creating a company (“fund of funds”) that provided exclusive access to hedge fund managers that money couldn’t buy
- How he developed relationships with JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs
- Why settlement in Blockchain transactions are not always accurate and why that a pain point for institutional traders
- What Proof of Trust (PoT) is and how it works?
- About iCash positioning as an independent third party assurance provider of Crypto (like buying insurance for your car)
- How iCash uses Delegates (third-party Oracles) which can be configured for public or private Blockchains
Further Reading and Resources
- iCash Website
- “Tom Brady, Gary Cohn, and Marc Lasry have all bet on Will McDonough. He’s now betting on blockchain” [CNBC Article]
- Introduction to iCash [Video]
- Special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC)
Will on CNBC’s Crypto Trader discussing iCash:
