Industry stakeholders and thought leaders in the Philippines braved the rainy season to meet at the Blockchain Social Philippines networking event at the Manila House Private Club in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
Guests from various industries like Digital Pilipinas’ Amor Maclang, Infrawatch’s Terry Ridon, Coins.ph’s Jennifer Bilango, and Ateneo de Manila University’s Christian Pulmano networked with government representatives including Department of Science and Technology (DOST) supervising science research specialist Glenda Sacbibit and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Asec. Edwin Ligot, among other attendees.
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Blockchain energy in the Philippines would surpass others
nChain’s Business Development Lead Stephanie Tower hosted a quick program to tackle the efforts that the global blockchain firm has been working on in the Southeast Asian country.
“As we have moved forward, we have also grown not just as individuals but also as organizations and sectors. We can see that with the way the Philippines is moving towards what we call the Golden Digital Era,” Tower said.
Mentioning the leaders in the Philippine blockchain sphere, Tower invited Maclang, the lead convenor of Digital Pilipinas, to share some insights on what the private sector-led movement has been doing within the space.
“Don’t you guys think that the Philippines—the energy of the Philippines—would surpass what Zug can potentially offer?” Maclang asked the audience at the Blockchain Social Philippines, noting that the country is poised to become a leading blockchain hub with the help of global firms like nChain.
nChain Executive Chairman Stefan Matthews, meanwhile, had some exciting news to share: the first was Ayre Group Founder Calvin Ayre’s investment in the firm, and the Block Dojo Philippines’ official launch on August 8.
“We will officially open the doors for Filipino entrepreneurs and innovators to file applications for the incubator program. I’m expecting a huge number of applications,” Matthews said. “I’m confident that we will find some really exciting applications.”
Matthews said many personalities will be attending the launch, including a yet-to-be named VIP.
More blockchain innovation is yet to come as nchain welcomes CBDC plans
The digital peso might be just around the corner as nChain shared that they are working with BSV Blockchain Association as well as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) plan and a plan to educate Filipinos about blockchain technology through their “nChain Blockchain Immersion Program.”
“The goal is to foster education in the country as we move forward with the adoption. We want to make sure that we also educate each one of us of the power of technology, its use cases and applications, and how it’s gonna impact our lives,” Tower said.
Additionally, Tower revealed that one of their plans with the blockchain immersion program is to have a roundtable discussion with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas about CBDC—establishing a roadmap toward a digital peso.
Four leaders from the BSV blockchain ecosystem—nChain Director of Commercial and Strategy Simit Naik, BSV Academy’s Todd Price, Evan Freeman, and Kevin Healy—also shared their insights and vision for a blockchain-powered Philippines.
“The reason why we’re building a roundtable is to help with the five-year strategy program and figure out how the technology is gonna work [in the Philippines],” Naik said.
“There’s nothing more inspiring than the Philippines. Again, there’s nothing truly more powerful than education. If we can educate the Filipino people on how they can lead the world in blockchain implementation [then], there’s no chance for any other country to take that away from the Philippines,” Freeman, the BSV Blockchain Association’s director for education, said.
“We really wanna help the Philippine people to achieve the greatness that they deserve, the opportunities that they deserve. And through our educational programs with Ateneo, the SEC, and the BSP, we seek to really give that knowledge necessary to the Filipinos to develop plans and create solutions about the critical issues here and all over the world,” he added.
Watch: Bataan gov’t & nChain are aiming to bring the Philippines to its golden digital age
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