Diane Hidalgo | Evident | 2020 Year in Review
Diane: We do look forward to seeing how blockchain changes the way we conduct business. Any paradigm shift is an opportunity to communicate and mount an exciting information campaign for the public or for a smaller set of stakeholders.
January 27, 2021 — Every person you ask will say the same thing: 2020 is unlike any other year.
The cryptocurrency industry felt the full brunt of the pandemic, as evidenced by the March 2020 crash. Nine months, one Bitcoin halving and a couple of institutions later, the industry sees a resurgence in interest brought about by Bitcoin hitting and breaking the psychological all-time high at $20,000 and reaching a new one of $42,000.
What is the 2020 Year in Review?
BitPinas sought the opinion of key crypto and blockchain leaders/influencers in the Philippines and abroad on what they think about 2020 in general and what they look forward to in 2019.
Diane Hidalgo is the Director of Corporate and Public Affairs at Evident Communications, a public relations company that has worked with a number of cryptocurrency and fintech companies in the Philippines.
For those who don’t know Evident, how did you end up in a crypto publication?
Evident is an integrated marketing and public relations firm. We are seven years in the business and we have a body of work that shows our love for taking on challengers and changemakers as clients. Our work in the blockchain space began early in 2018, when we managed publicity for an association that helps regulate crypto, digital asset, and fintech companies in a special economic zone. Since then, we have met, partnered with, and serviced organizations that acknowledge the many possibilities of a distributed ledger technology.
What do you see as the biggest challenge doing PR in the crypto space?
The challenge for crypto depends on whether the jurisdiction restricts or regulates the currency. Legal grounding definitely affects acceptance, usability, and security–and these three factors, along with the maturity of the target audience, shape our communication strategies. Those of us who track blockchain and crypto news would find it much easier to just talk amongst ourselves; however, there is merit in embarking on campaigns that educate and inform the public about the day to day applications of such a powerful technology. There is more that we can mine out of it than the gains from speculative trades or a parabolic bull run in 2017.
What have been your big wins for 2020?
Our biggest wins in 2020 are not in the realm of the crypto but in one of its most promising applications, which is digital payments. We’ve had the pleasure of working with civil society organizations and the government in the promotion of e-wallets and transaction accounts as the default means of sending money, purchasing goods, and paying bills. Reducing the public’s cyber insecurity through PR and social media channels amidst the pandemic and helping them see the merits of a fully-digital, interoperable system will bring lasting behavioral changes. Our work was recognized as a PR campaign of the year for COVID-19 by an international awarding body.
What do you find personally exciting in the cryptocurrency space?
Bitcoin above 20,000 USD in a global pandemic economy is enough to make people take a second look, though quite frankly, we are more excited to see how central banks and technology players would react to fresh developments in the space. We would like to see the first state-issued cryptocurrency–and then study how it changes an economy and a population. We want to see how corporate rules will be set in the advent of smart contracts or how blockchain-based bond issuances will fare.
What do you think of the public’s perception of cryptocurrencies in 2020 versus in the previous years?
The events of 2020 have left very little room in the public’s consciousness to examine or shape a new opinion about cryptocurrencies.
What is your fearless 2021 crypto prediction or forecast or is there something you or your company is looking forward to in this space?
Evident is not the position to make a forecast, however, we do look forward to seeing how blockchain changes the way we conduct business. Any paradigm shift is an opportunity to communicate and mount an exciting information campaign for the public or for a smaller set of stakeholders.
Follow Diane Hidalgo on Linkedin. Check out Evident’s website and Facebook page.
This article is published on BitPinas: Diane Hidalgo | Evident | 2020 Year in Review
