Simit Naik on CoinGeek Backstage: BSV blockchain has key role to play in the future of smart cities

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Blockchain technology has long been tied to digital currency speculative trading and other get-rich-quick schemes, including DeFi and NFTs. However, the BSV blockchain has focused on real value, from data integrity to efficient payments. At the LEAP 2022 event in Saudi Arabia, nChain’s Simit Naik was among those who took the stage to talk about the power of the BSV enterprise blockchain. In an interview with CoinGeek Backstage, he talked about how nChain is working to make BSV the data ledger for the world.

LEAP 2022 was Saudi Arabia’s biggest tech event yet, and blockchain was among the key topics of discussion. As Naik told CoinGeek’s Becky Liggero, nChain had to be at the event to talk about how the BSV blockchain can help the Middle Eastern country achieve its Vision 2030.

“For us, because we have such strong ideas and a vision for how we want to see blockchain being utilized, it made perfect sense for us to be here in Saudi Arabia,” Naik, nChain’s Director of Commercial & Strategy, told CoinGeek Backstage. “It was a perfect opportunity for us to discuss how we use blockchain to increase the value of data, and improve the way people make and use payments.

nChain is a London-based enterprise blockchain solutions provider that offers diverse services to its clients. On payments, it deals with both digital cash and digital money.

Digital cash focuses mainly on central banks, working on digitizing notes and coins to make it easier to make payments and transfer funds. Many central banks have been exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). While some in the digital currency community view them as an enemy to Bitcoin, Naik believes it’s a “natural evolution of how we get Bitcoin adoption by working with central banks.”

Digital money focuses on creating a digital form of currency for online payments. This sector is dominated by the likes of Visa and Mastercard, which are pretty costly and not designed for the digital world. 

One of nChain’s standout products is Kensei, an enterprise blockchain platform which, as marketing director Dominic Duffy described at CoinGeek New York, is “the gateway to definitive blockchain.” Kensei allows enterprises access to tamper-proof documents and easily auditable logs without possessing complex blockchain development skills.

Kensei promises data integrity, and as Naik told CoinGeek Backstage, it’s a product designed for use by anyone and everyone.

“Everyone uses and relies on data. For us, the beauty in the way Kensei is designed is we can implement it and use it in any kind of use case.”

At LEAP 2022, Naik met several entities interested in integrating Kensei into their operations, he revealed. Some want to use it to fractionalize real estate, while others are interested in using it to improve data governance. Currently, gaming is the leading use case of Kensei, but payments are becoming quite integral as well. 

“You need to be able to trust in the data and where payments are being made in order to make better decisions. Kensei is going to be a core part of that,” Naik explained.

In Saudi Arabia, there’s a lot of interest in smart cities, and Naik believes Kensei has a great role in this. 

“That’s what we’re now looking to do—how can we use Kensei to provide a bit more transparency and integrity of the core data that’s going to drive the next evolution in smart cities and autonomous vehicles,” he said.

To learn more about central bank digital currencies and some of the design decisions that need to be considered when creating and launching it, read nChain’s CBDC playbook.

Watch: CoinGeek New York presentation, Kensei: the Gateway to the Definitive Blockchain