Stefan Matthews: Philippines has the chance to leapfrog developed nations through blockchain

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The Philippines may have lagged behind the West in adopting some of today’s most defining technologies. However, it can turn this into its strength, and through blockchain adoption, it can leapfrog other developed nations, Stefan Matthews believes.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Blockchain Summit in Bataan, Matthews revealed that he was impressed by the level of blockchain development and adoption in the Philippines.

“This country can enormously benefit from the initiatives that are on the table here,” Matthews told CoinGeek Backstage reporter Claire Celdran.

Matthews, the nChain and TAAL (CSE: TAAL | FWB:9SQ1 | OTC: TAALF) Executive Chairman, is a Bitcoin veteran who has been around since the days the digital currency was thought to be for geeks and technophiles. As he noted, Bitcoin was designed from the very beginning to be regulatory compliant, contrary to most of the anti-establishment rhetoric that took over once Satoshi Nakamoto stepped away from active development in the early 2010s.

“Regulatory oversight is critically important. I’ll never shy away from that,” he stated.

One of the most exciting areas of blockchain adoption is in storing government records, assets, and transactions, he says. In the Philippines, the Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. government has pledged its commitment to digitalizing governance, and Matthews said this is a critical first step. He added that this would set the country on its way to leapfrogging other developed nations.

“First world countries have to go through steps ABCDEF as they adopt new and innovative technologies. Developing countries have the unique opportunity to go from A to F in one step, and that’s what’s going to happen here. I can feel it. I can see it,” Matthews remarked.

“I want to spend the rest of my working life with blockchain technology,” he noted.

The blockchain veteran added that he intends to dedicate the rest of his working life to blockchain technology. In his experience, it has become much easier to talk to government officials and even enterprise clients about blockchain than it was years ago as the technology goes mainstream. He believes it’s only a matter of time before governments globally start operating on the blockchain.

Watch: Global Blockchain Summit highlights