Blockchain Council of the Philippines formed in bid to promote distributed ledger tech adoption

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Key stakeholders in the Philippines’ Web3 space have banded together to create a new council for promoting blockchain technology in the country.

The start of something new 🤩🚀

The Philippine Blockchain Council was officially introduced to the world by lead convenor Donald Lim at the pre-event press con for Philippine Blockchain Week! #PBW2022.

We've said this a lot of times already but…..this is ONLY the beginning 😏 pic.twitter.com/SqPvQ9MB2N

— Philippine Blockchain Week (@philblockchain) November 17, 2022

The formation of the new council, named the “Blockchain Council of the Philippines,” was announced at a press conference at the Manila Marriott Hotel in Pasay. Initial council members came from all sectors of the Web 3 industry in the Philippines, including RCBC Executive Vice President and FinTech Alliance Lito Villanueva, PruLife UK Director and FinTech Alliance trustee Ida Tiongson, and tech lawyer Mark Gorriceta.

“We thank the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for having an open mind in so far as welcoming innovations,” said Villanueva.

The council was unveiled during the Philippine Blockchain Week (PBW) press conference last November 18. The event will feature intellectual discussions on decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the metaverse.

The newly created council will interface with government agencies and regulators to foster greater understanding between state actors and the industry. The top of the agenda for the council and the blockchain week is to attract private sector investment in the ecosystem with the ultimate goal of making the Philippines “the blockchain capital of Asia.”

Present si Nicholas King ng Bitcoin Association for BSV sa @philblockchain week! #Web3 #PBW2022 #PhilippineBlockchainWeek #DeFi #Metaverse #PBW https://t.co/sNv2ebT9Um

— CoinGeek Philippines (@RealCoinGeek_PH) November 15, 2022

One of the international private sectors businesses that would attend the PBW event is nChain, represented by its country director Nicholas King.

The council will be paying significant attention to DLT education in the country to provide a healthy talent pool for the industry. It plans to achieve this through collaborations with educational institutions to offer certifications for DLT-related courses.

Aside from the creation of the council, PBW’s lead convenor Dr. Donald Lim announced the launch of the Philippine Block Awards to honor individuals and entities that have played a key role in developing the blockchain ecosystem in the Philippines.

At Philippine Blockchain Week, we celebrate and honor the achievements of those whose work is innovating the Blockchain Industry.

We’ll see you there!

🗓 Join us on Dec 2, 2022.
📍 Newport World Resorts pic.twitter.com/Rpy3w4TkuP

— Philippine Blockchain Week (@philblockchain) November 15, 2022

The government carefully looks at the industry

The council faces an uphill journey in realizing its objectives to improve DLT adoption in the Philippines. This is because regulators have approached the industry with a great deal of uncertainty, citing the prevalence of fraud and volatility of digital assets.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla reiterated his position on digital assets, saying that the absence of proper consumer protection calls for concern.

“I have already said many times in the past that crypto assets are very risky and those who invest are advised to invest only what they can afford to lose,” Medalla said.

To obtain a better grasp over the industry, BSP halted the registration of new firms in the industry for three years beginning on September 1 but stated that it has no plans to introduce a blanket ban over the entire sector.

Watch: Philippine Fintech Festival Highlights: Designing a digital economy that’s anti-fragile