Why Blockchain Technology is Good for Business, by Victor Consunji
The following story was published in Inquirer RED’s August-September 2022 issue and has been edited for length and clarity.
Victor Consunji is the CEO of Victor Consunji Development Corporation (VCDC).
The thing with NFTs, blockchain and crypto, every couple of years since the early 2000s, [the technology has] has gained and lost momentum. A lot of people get hyped on it because it’s speculative, like bitcoin. People buy bitcoin because they think its value will shoot through the roof. And other coins too.
I believe that for something to have value, it must have a real world use.
That’s actually what has turned me off crypto. I believe that for something to have value, it must have a real world use. So you can’t tell me that a bitcoin is worth $20,000 per coin when you can’t buy a single thing with it. You can buy bitcoin, but you can’t use it to buy anything else. At least not effectively. And you can’t tell me the value either when the value can’t stay stable.
Having said this, with all the hype surrounding it, [the technology has been] kind of eases into the mainstream just a little. The technology behind it, on the other hand, is incredibly useful. The blockchain behind and the ability of this blockchain in responsible hands as an instrument to have a paradigm shift towards how we do business, and how we interact. This is what I am primarily interested in.
And that’s why we started exploring all NFTs and blockchains and cryptos. I believe that the technology, just like how the internet changed things and continues to do so, the blockchain will do the same.
While the internet is something we use to communicate and find information, the blockchain will change the way we shop, and how we secure transactions and contracts. It is essentially the digitization of what we do on the legal front.
We have this archaic system of legal documents. In the Philippines, everyone must sign every page. If you really think about it, what keeps you on this note? That’s some ink out of your fancy ballpoint pen on a piece of paper. How does ink or paper mean a commitment? And the point is that you don’t actually make the paper responsible for anything. It’s just the act you did, it’s symbolic. Ultimately, the commitment to what is written exists in the psyche of all parties involved. And that piece of paper is just a reminder of what it is you are committed to.
So you have this system that we’ve had for ages – Ever since we’ve had charcoal on a piece of rock, eventually moved to papyrus, finally moved to actual paper.
Why can’t it be done digitally? This is the next step.
And the dilemma that everyone had with the digital track is that because it’s less tangible, and so much easier to manipulate. The confidence wasn’t there. But blockchain technology has the ability to verify. As the technology becomes more understood, it now becomes a possible tool for you to secure contracts, obligations and everything else.
Let’s stay away from the hype and look at the technology. The technology is incredibly useful. The hype comes to go.
