ConsenSys gains traction in PH market
CONSENSYS, the world’s leading full-stack blockchain software company, is looking to the Philippines as a strategic hub in Southeast Asia to roll out the blockchain solutions and services built on the Ethereum platform.
Blockchain technology is making headway among Southeast Asian countries, with the Philippines aiming to be among the first in achieving mass market blockchain adoption.
“We are now entering a new era of simple and inclusive access to blockchain technology that cuts through the hype to advance stronger, more collaborative, business relationships previously out of reach. Eventually we'll start seeing groundbreaking solutions emerge from the Philippines that are changing the user behavior of how the public interacts with this technology, thereby improving the rate of adoption both in this country and globally,” Joseph Lubin, founder of ConsenSys and co-founder of Ethereum, said.
For her part, Aiai Garcia, ConsenSys Solutions Lead in Asia-Pacific, said, “Even more significant is the opportunity we have to potentially elevate the lives of Filipinos, and deliver positive social impact directly to the people of a country that could stand to benefit the most from solutions provided by blockchain technology.”
Garcia notes that both public and private sectors are interested in how blockchain can be applied to improve on existing systems.
“The Philippines is a prime test case for blockchain tokens’ future utility,” Garcia said.
ConsenSys is embarking on strategic partnerships with companies that are looking for innovative solutions, such as the decentralized applications built on the Ethereum blockchain in banking & finance sectors, education, real estate, energy, and companies in the creative industries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, the financial services sector serves as the model environment for demonstrating how ConsenSys’ technologies can disrupt current systems and conventional business practices to bring greater benefits to individuals.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), in its latest report on the state of financial inclusion, 34.9 percent of local government units are still underserved by banks as of 2017. One out of four Filipinos have no bank accounts, and rely on sending and receiving payments through informal financial institutions such as pawn shops, courier service providers, and other non-bank channels.
With the country’s huge remittance market and a still significant number of unbanked and underserved Filipinos, ConsenSys said the blockchain platform offers huge improvements in security, speed, and cost of sending and receiving payments, allowing millions of Filipinos access to financial services with lower fees and lesser requirements.
ConsenSys envisions the platform to be built using a simple web-app, provided to the rural banks as the entry point to digitize and record any cash inflows and outflows, whether these are generated by payments, deposits or withdrawals into/from client accounts.
ConsenSys said by providing a cheaper, better and faster way of sending and receiving money, the blockchain network can enhance domestic transaction flows in rural areas, uplift business activities and improve the livelihood of entire communities. With UnionBank paving the way for adoption amongst rural banks, the company is committed to developing the platform further to eventually realize a central bank backed cryptocurrency -- a tokenized version of the Philippines’ national currency. PR