nChain, a global leader and pioneer in blockchain research with over 1,000 research papers about emerging technologies and applications across industries, has recently completed the latest edition of its “The Bitcoin Masterclasses” series in London.
With the theme “Remittance Revolution: Exploring Micropayment Systems and Digital Currency for Empowering Migrant Workers,” the sixth masterclasses edition provided participants with insights into the concept of remittance, micropayments, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
Dr. Craig Wright, founder of nChain (IMAGE CREDIT: https://info.nchain.com)
Led by Dr. Craig Wright, the founder and chief scientist of nChain, the 2-day event also gave employees guidance on the company’s vision about its ongoing projects in the Philippines.
When asked why he chose the theme of remittance, micropayments, and CBDCs for this particular masterclass event, Dr. Wright explained, “We are going to be presenting solutions with the Philippine government soon. We’ve got contracts with them, and having everyone understand the nature of how CBDCs work is important.”
In January this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas announced that it will continue to pilot-test wholesale digital currency (CBDCs) among selected financial institutions in the country until 2024.
When it comes to CDBCs, Dr. Wright emphasized that companies must build platforms that give identity solutions and logging solutions, as well as solutions that make the life of government officials easier “because that’s how they are actually going to care.”
“Part of what we need to do is build solutions that will keep governments happy in following their rules, and what many of the crypto heads do — and wrong — is that they think they can dictate how things should be. A sovereign government like the Philippines, where it’s democratic and selected by the people in the Philippines, should select the rules in the Philippines,” he added.
“When we give them solutions that make them look better, and when we enable the government to provide services for the people in their community, we all win,” Dr. Wright concluded.
Through the use of a complimentary live stream channel, “The Bitcoin Masterclasses” event was also used to educate a wider public — entrepreneurs, creators, developers, and anyone who might be interested to explore Bitcoin solutions for enterprises.
Past, present, and future works
Over in the Philippines, the global blockchain leader has notched many achievements in the past six months alone. In December 2022, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the provincial government of Bataan for the establishment of a digital platform in the area and for streamlining the province’s government processes.
The company also celebrated a night of networking with various thought leaders and blockchain industry movers and shakers in the Philippines when it held the “nChain Blockchain Meetup” at the Manila House Private Club in Bonifacio Global City.
In his speech to welcome the attendees during the Blockchain meetup, nChain Group Executive Chairman Stefan Mathews talked about how the company started, and why they chose the Philippines to be the next country to garner their future projects.
“What we work on and what we filed patent applications on in the first three years is best described as being the DNA of blockchain,” Matthews said. “Our patent portfolio, which is used to make intellectual properties, is the largest of its kind in the world.”
“We have nearly 3,000 patent applications being found globally. We have about 400 of those being granted. We never had a patent application declined. We have about two or three that we have withdrawn because of the discussions with the patent officers,” he explained.
Training Filipinos about blockchain technology
Matthews then discussed the company’s upcoming projects with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and their partnership with the province of Bataan — where they plan to open an incubator facility that will train Filipinos about blockchain technology.
“I got excited for a few reasons because, obviously, blockchain is my life. But it’s also in Bataan, which is where I live. And suddenly, I found myself viewing financial inclusion, social impact, and all these things. And I suddenly realized that it was an opportunity for me and my company (nChain) to do something very special for the Philippines,” he said.
“The incubator is there (for us) to fulfill the promise of training and upskilling, as well as of fostering digitization and fostering innovation,” added Matthews.
The executive chairman also reiterated nChain’s commitment to helping the country implement blockchain solutions throughout the archipelago, cementing their plans by personally talking with the DICT and President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
“The areas that I am personally focused on are areas with IoT around agriculture, around weather, around disaster management, areas of supply chain management, patching on agriculture again, and probably a whole host of other things,” Matthews ends with a smile.