Bitcoin SV is here for utility, not speculation: Brendan Lee on CoinGeek Backstage

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The Philippines was recently ranked second globally for adoption of digital assets, but Bitcoin has primarily been a speculative asset for most Filipinos. At the first Blockchain Social Manila, Brendan Lee took the stage to talk about Bitcoin’s utility beyond the hype, and as he told CoinGeek Backstage, the Southeast Asian country could greatly benefit from adopting blockchain technology.

The founder of Elas was one of the speakers at the meetup, bringing together Bitcoin enthusiasts, regulators, developers and innovators. Speaking with CoinGeek Backstage host Claire Celdran, he made it clear that the BSV ecosystem isn’t about hyping tokens and speculation – it’s about utility.

“Typically, when people come to these blockchain events, it’s [always] someone there to sell them a token, and tell them what to buy and how to trade. One of the first things I’ve told everybody is ‘that’s exactly what we’re not here to do,’” Lee said.

“We’re not here for speculation – we’re here for utility, we’re here for the future,” he noted.

The Philippines has recently seen a surge in blockchain adoption, with Chainalysis ranking it second for overall adoption and fourth for centralized value received. Filipinos have also become global leaders in games to make money, NFTs and the metaverse.

However, the rapid adoption has left Filipinos vulnerable to fraud and other major market changes. When Axie Infinity was hacked and its tokens depleted, Filipinos were the most affected, with many players falling heavily into debt.

Lee believes the country should look beyond tokens and explore blockchain technology in other sectors. One area that can be of great benefit is digitization through blockchain.

“What blockchain offers us is a way to streamline any process that uses paper and without breaking the continuity of that process, replicate it digitally and make it instantly available where you need it,” he said.

Lee further pointed out that blockchain should be the plumbing that underpins processes and that the end user never needs to know they are relying on blockchain, a message Dr. Craig Wright has hammered home for years.

“We can fit blockchain into any process in a way that’s almost similar, so it will feel very much like the old process, but just a lot faster and a lot easier and a lot cheaper,” Lee explained.

Blockchain Social Manila attracted a diverse audience, many of whom have never built on or used applications built on Bitcoin. Lee pointed out that it was critical for the BSV ecosystem to continue to interact with and educate these non-Bitcoiners and win them over.

“I had many interesting conversations with people in the government. Most of them are still trying to find their way. They know blockchain is going to be a thing, but they’re not quite sure which blockchain, or how,” he said.

The Philippines will gain more from adopting Bitcoin SV than most countries. The country is home to over 110 million people, 40% of whom are unbanked, according to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Furthermore, the country received $38 billion in remittances this year, the fourth highest recipient in the world after India, Mexico and China respectively.

This makes the Philippines uniquely positioned to benefit from BSV. With its transaction fees consistently the lowest in the market at a fraction of a penny, BSV offers Filipinos the easiest, cheapest, fastest and most efficient payment method.

The country is already taking to BSV, and with the opening of a new BSV Hub in Manila last month, this adoption is only set to increase.

See: Blockchain Social Manila: Digitization through blockchain will boost growth in the Philippines

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