Havas expands blockchain offering with new Havas Sovereign Technologies platform

What has Havas launched?

• Havas Sovereign Technologies will offer clients “end-to-end support in appropriating innovations, protecting their reputation and mitigating the risks associated with new technologies,“ the company said in a statement.

• Fabien Aufrechter, director of Havas Blockchain, will be heading up the new platform, which will be targeting public bodies and NGOs as well as brands and startups.

• It includes Havas Blockchain, which launched back in 2018, as well as “support on all subjects related to sovereign technologies“. That unit previously focused on supporting initial coin offerings in the cryptocurrency sector and drew upon Havas talent in its Paris base, Russia, Singapore, Japan and Korea; the new platform will be operated in a “decentralized“ manner across 15 countries, according to Aufrechter.

Why has Havas expanded its blockchain activities?

• Blockchain technologies, such as cryptocurrencies and digital assets, are an expanding market. NFTs burst on to the mainstream earlier this year, and in August sales volumes on trading platform OpenSea reached $1.9bn, up from $148m in March.

• Aufrechter said: “The technological leap of the last five years has turned digital sovereignty from a purely technological issue into a real strategic challenge. The issues of innovation, trust and technological security have become inescapable for both public and private players. With its expert and agile approach, Havas Sovereign Technologies will accompany brands and institutions in their quest to no longer offer ‘just technology’ but ‘the right technology’.“

• It’s unclear how expanding into the blockchain sector will help Havas reduce its carbon footprint. The holding company has vowed to reach net zero in its direct emissions by 2025, though blockchain technologies involve very high energy consumption; a recent study estimated that one cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was generating a carbon footprint bigger than London.

• Aufrechter told The Drum: “Not all blockchain has a heavy carbon footprint. We are encouraging our clients to prefer the new generations of blockchain in order to reduce the carbon footprint of their activities. Globally, 76% of hashers are using renewable energy. We are not a blockchain but a company advising clients using blockchain (and now also other tech). All types of tech (from a simple computer to AI or IoT) consume energies: we help our clients to use the best tech (one of the criteria being indeed their low impact on the environment).

​Note: this article was updated on 27 August to include further comment from Fabian Aufrechter and Havas.