Blockchain for government and enterprise projects: Simit Naik speaks at Philippine Blockchain Week

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nChain’s Simit Naik recently attended Philippine Blockchain Week and gave a talk on blockchain for enterprise and government projects.

Introducing Simit Naik and nChain

Naik introduces himself as the Director of the Commercial and Strategy team at nChain. The company’s mission is to secure the internet of value and build the foundations to allow governments and enterprises to exchange data and value.

nChain has three main areas of focus: software, professional services, and IP licensing. It has one of the world’s largest intellectual property portfolios related to the blockchain (over 2,800 filed patents with over 500 granted), aiming to allow everyone to build on the innovations it delivers.

Blockchain is more than digital currencies

Naik explains that most people associate blockchains with digital currencies like BTC and Ethereum, but it’s so much more than that. It’s also more than concepts like CeFi (centralized finance), DeFi (decentralized finance), CEX (centralized exchange), DEX (decentralized exchange), and other associated buzzwords. It’s not about avoiding regulation or circumnavigating government rules.

Blockchain is a tool for data integrity; it’s a timestamp server that gives us the ability to introduce a real-time audit trail—an immutable record of what happened, when, and in what order.

“Bitcoin itself is just an audit of transactions that have occurred,” he says.

Looking back to the original design of Bitcoin, Naik tells the audience that it was a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. 

“It’s all about peer-to-peer value exchange,” he continued.

Delving deeper, he explains that a blockchain is a distributed ledger that enables micropayments, provides a secure infrastructure for delivering value, and is scalable today. He differentiates between private ledgers like Hyperledger and public blockchains like Bitcoin.

Private ledgers versus public blockchains

Naik then outlines the key advantages and disadvantages of public blockchains versus private ledgers.

“Private ledgers may be cheap, but they’re not secure,” he says.

They’re still reliant on centralized entities, and there’s no independent way to verify anything. On public blockchains, anyone can verify anything.

“Public blockchains can be fast, and they can be cheap,” Naik says, dispelling a common myth. It all comes down to their design, and nChain builds on the BSV Blockchain for this reason. It’s public, secure, the protocol is stable and doesn’t change, and it’s fast and cheap to transact on.

Challenges and opportunities

What are the problems nChain is trying to solve? Naik outlines them according to three main categories.

Data is poor. Everyone uses and exchanges data, but data is fragmented, inaccurate, and is often compromised. Blockchain is a key part of addressing this problem and can create a reliable database we can trust.

Fragmented system. Many people don’t have access to banking services and rely heavily on cash globally. They’re not able to participate in Web 3.0 or Defi. Blockchain gives us the ability to create more inclusive financial systems that give these people access.

Lack of trust. All value exchange entails interacting with another who may or may not be trustworthy. How do we overcome this trust deficit? Blockchain gives us the ability to address it.

From a government perspective, blockchain has much to offer, too. It can allow governments to enable policy, create jobs, upskill and educate the population, and promote inclusion.

nChain’s solutions and case studies

nChain works with enterprises and governments all over the world. Many of the solutions it has been designing are now ready to take to market. Naik outlines some of them.

As the world moves towards Central Bank Digital Currencies, nChain has developed a scalable and cost-effective solution to allow nations to offer CBDCs that respect privacy, guarantee security and transparency, and offer traceability. Naik says he’s extremely passionate about CBDCs and believes they will be key to delivering peer-to-peer payments with low transaction costs.

nChain is also building a payment solution for both online and real-world gaming and is helping to connect the islands of Tuvalu digitally, as well as revolutionizing supply chains, showcasing how blockchain technology can impact a wide range of industries.

Watch: Philippine Blockchain Week highlights: Positioning the Philippines as blockchain capital of Asia