Experts have said that bringing regulation to the blockchain space in Nigeria could unlock limitless possibilities for the economy.
A blockchain is essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain.
Hanu Fejiro, CEO of Patricia, while speaking at the Technext Conference, hosted in Lagos noted blockchain holds possibilities for the conduct of elections.
“We can use the Blockchain to verify votes. Instead of taking much time and stressing personnel and putting them at risk, what if we build a technology solution based on the blockchain. We all have smartphones with us, we will just download an app and verify that we are the one at the back of it. Each identity to one vote and this is built upon the blockchain, it cannot be retracted,” Fejiro said.
He noted that blockchain can reduce the time spent conducting elections in the country to about 3 hours.
Speaking further on the opportunities, the CEO explained that Patricia is turning on an idea of ‘risk-free betting’ which is powered by Blockchain Technology where people put a certain amount of money and post it into a pool and at the end of the day it increases by 10 percent in a month and after the month, the system will automatically pick few people and give everyone their initial investment while the interest will also be shared among the selected persons from the system at no cost.
He explained that these are innovations that can be built on the Blockchain and these are just the early stages of it because the surface is yet to be scratched.
“Imagine we have a central system where the entire country goes into any hospital regardless of where you are in the country, all you have to do is to give them your ID and the ID will pull up your Data that is on the Blockchain, this will enable them to know who you are, what illness you have.
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Imagine there is a car accident and this man cannot speak but he has his ID on him, we can use the Blockchain to extract that information and save the man’s life” He added.
He pledged support from regulators to help in bringing up these innovations and ideas to reality to help in fostering economic growth and taking the country and Africa as a whole to the next level.
Buchi Okoro, CEO of Quidax during a panel session of the conference stated that Blockchain Technology has been the biggest innovation in finance over the last 100 years.
He acknowledges that cryptocurrency has made finance easier, especially in terms of foreign transactions.
While speaking on the regulation of cryptocurrency, he encouraged regulators to do their job and they should also understand what is going on in the space and create a space for innovation.
Dickson Nsofor, CEO of Kora speaks on the need for regulators to adapt to the changes in technology and innovation.
“Regulators should understand that technology is changing and should adopt the best regulatory measures that will benefit innovation,” Nsofor said.
The speakers urged the regulators to engage with stakeholders and understand deeply the benefits of cryptocurrency and Blockchain to see the future and opportunities that lie within the space.
Technext Conference is the first edition of the conference hosted by Technext, a tech-driven media house to lead a timely conversation in the cryptocurrency space.
Cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography, rather than by a centralized authority.
