European Blockchain Hub sets up shop in Asia

The European Blockchain Hub formally entered Asia last weekend during an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hub, which was first established in Slovenia, is a union of different entities in partnership with government institutions that support the growth of blockchain technology.

Blockchain is basically a virtual ledger of transactions. It was originally used for cryptocurrency but has since evolved to cover virtually anything related to trading or transactions. It makes use of a list of records, called blocks. The beauty of blockchain is that it’s managed by a peer-to-peer network and is virtually unalterable and resistant to modification

The main aim of the European Blockchain Hub is to educate the masses about the potential of Blockchain as well as continue its spread and development to a global scale. Setting up the main headquarters in Malaysia was their first step toward spreading awareness about Blockchain in Asia. The event also gave birth to the Asian Blockchain Hub, spearheaded by Mr. Rex Yeap, Co-founder European Blockchain Hub and Asian Blockchain Hub founder.

The main event of the day was the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement, formally creating the Asian Blockchain Hub and its partnership with the European Blockchain Hub. Key members and VIPs from different partner institutions and both hubs were the ones at the helm.

The day was also filled with different talks about blockchain and its uses and advantages.

Summary of presentations in the Forum

Before the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement, a few key speakers took to the stage to present their take on blockchain technology. One speaker was even from the Philippines. After which, a forum was also held to inform participants of the benefits and uses of blockchain. Here were the speakers for the day.

Blaz Golob, President European Blockchain Hub

Blaz Golob, the President of the European Blockchain Hub, during his introductory speech before the MOA signing.

Blockchain is not only (used) for cryptocurrency but also for solving the millennium development goals.

Mr. Golob also presented during the forum in the afternoon, where he highlighted the main goals of the European Blockchain Hub. Basically, the Hub is a multi-stakeholders platform with four main pillars or proponents — Governments/Public, Corporate (Business), NGOs, and Academia.

Atty. Joy Alameda, CEZA (Cagayan Economic Zone Authority) Representative

After the warm welcomes, Atty. Joy Alameda took to the stage to explain CEZA’s Fintech Project. CEZA or Cagayan Economic Zone Authorty is the agency that handles operations in the first economic zone in the Philippines, the Cagayan Special Economic Zone. The zone offers companies the means to pursue financial technology. CEZA is working on developing and building financial banking centers for blockchain and cryptocurrency.

One of their projects aims to construct railways and roads in greater Cagayan for easier trade and connections. Another plan is to transform the area into an aerotropolis to allow easier travel for tourists, businessmen, and investors.

The institution also has partners in the form of the CEZA incentivized blockchain and cryptocurrency firms that came from Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and Malaysia. They’re also planning on becoming the first Fintech hub in the Philippines that will give rise to smarter cities and better industries. This is a big step forward for the company, as they very well may be the first ever in the country to utilize blockchain.

Dr. George So, Founding Chairman of Hong Kong Innovation Association, Chairman of Unity Hong Kong SME, Founding Chairman of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area Economic and Trade Association

Dr. So talked about how Blockchain will foster the acceptance of cryptocurrency. There are four important phrases in fostering the acceptance of a concept or idea — Market trends, follow the trend, quantum leap, and understand the times. Basically, you have to understand the current market trend, follow that trend, and understand what’s happening around you.

Blockchain follows the five transformations for a prosperous world. That’s because the technology relies on the trust protocol and requires no middleman. It also lets owners, developers, and creators receive the full benefit of their work or rentals.

Jasmine Ng, Director Nem Foundation

Jasmin Ng talked about the Nem foundation as a whole. The foundation is dedicated to the development of blockchain as well as the management of its own cryptocurrency, XEM. Their main goal is to introduce, educate, and promote the use of their own blockchain platform on an international scale. The foundation is now slowly gaining clients.

Zoran Dordevic, CEO Tolar

Zoran Dordevice talked about one of the major projects of Tolar, a blockchain focused company, and that’s HashNET. Before all that though, he talked about the major advantages of blockchain, not only for cryptocurrency but also in stopping cyber-crime and fraud. Of course, blockchain isn’t perfect so Mr. Dordevic also laid down the shortcomings of the technology in recent years.

Basically, HashNET is Tolar’s answer to the shortcomings of blockchain. It offers faster speeds, low energy consumption, and is open sourced. It also uses virtual voting and is a public ledger.

Olivier Burlot, Co-Founder ADITUS

Olivier Burlot talked about what aditus PAY is all about. The company is basically a platform for cryptocurrency owners to purchase luxury goods. These goods can range from high-end cars to even luxury lodgings. It’s the shopping platform of crypto-affluents, those who have large amounts of crypto-currency. Of course, blockchain is the core technology of aditus PAY.

Gregor Novak, CEO & Co-founder of SunContract

SunContract is the first live blockchain-powered peer-to-peer platform for the energy market. Essentially, it’s a blockchain supported energy trading platform. The main goal of the platform is to allow homeowners to freely buy, sell, and trade electricity.

It’s a system aiming to create an energy-sufficient community uncontrolled by power distributors and generators. SunContract is still under development and improvement in Slovenia but will soon be available to other European Union Nations.

Steve Van Zutphen, Core team for Eunex

Mr. Zutphen talked about the future of blockchain and its effects on the global economy, particularly the democratization of money. Cryptocurrency is growing at a steady and speedy rate, Eunex is projecting that the Crypto market cap could reach $10PHP 587INR 847EUR 10CNY 73 trillion in a span of 5 years, maybe even less. Take note, it’s current cap as of the forum was at $300PHP 17,606INR 25,425EUR 286CNY 2,183 million.

Not only that, in a span of about 3-5 years, major players in technology may start to adapt crypto assets even going as far as creating their own currency. Think, Apple offering Apple coins or Google offering Google Coins or whatever they deem the right name to their crypto.

There were still a few speakers after Mr. Zutphen, all sharing the application and benefits of blockchain technology. We believe this is what we need in the Philippines right now, to educate the masses that blockchain is beyond just cryptocurrency. We’ll be writing more about blockchain in the coming days, especially now that it’s reaching a global scale and has entered Asia.