Blockchain

Revisiting Philippines’ Biggest Blockchain Conference in 2022

Published

2 years ago

10 February 2023

The Philippines wants to carve its name as one of the blockchain capitals of the world. And 2022 was filled with blockchain conferences, meetups, and other events that created awareness, provided education, and increased interest in blockchain and its adoption.

Undoubtedly, the past year has been fruitful, and it calls for a look back on the biggest blockchain conference held in the country.

The Philippine Blockchain Week

The Philippine Blockchain Week (PBW) was held from November 28 to December 4. The inaugural event aimed to empower Filipinos to learn about what blockchain is, how it has grown, and the benefits it can provide. More than a hundred globally-recognized speakers took the stage to impart their knowledge to participants composed of enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, industry experts, and global leaders.

Apart from talks from blockchain experts, the blockchain conference also held gaming expos and a non-fungible token (NFT) exhibit. The event capped off with the Philippine Block Award, which honored blockchain movers and shakers in the country and the region.

Some of the awarded blockchain leaders are as follows:

UnionBank of the Philippines Chairman Justo A. Ortiz – Leader of the Year Award
Rien Lews Pecson, the eighth grader who made the first blockchain-based voting platform iVote.ph – Blockchain Leader of the Future.
Managing Partner of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra Atty. Mark S. Gorriceta, Traxion Tech CEO Ann J. Cuisa, Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Atty. Kelvin Lester K. Lee, etc. – Philippine Block Champions

Philippines’ potential to lead SEA for blockchain adoption

Transforming the country into the blockchain capital of Asia is highly possible as the government showed openness to utilize emerging technologies, particularly blockchain, local media outlet ABS-CBN News reported.

One of the main speakers at the Philippine Blockchain Week was Ian Utile, the CEO of the NFT event leader NFT.NYC. Utile believes that the Philippines is in the right spot to lead Southeast Asia to blockchain adoption because the “young population [is] already invested in play-to-earn games.”

“You have all the technical connection, the young people… It makes me feel there’s a lot of promise about the future of blockchain here in Manila as a city, the Philippines as a country, and Southeast Asia as a region,” Utile said in an interview with CoinGeek’s Claire Celdran.

Local telecommunications firm DITO’s Chief Operating Officer and Philippine Blockchain Week Lead Convener Donald Lim believes that the Philippines’ population and statistics provide the Philippines with the advantage to become a global blockchain leader, with the tech-savvy generation being the “key to spurring the adoption of emerging technologies in the country.”

“The Philippines has the numbers to become a blockchain hub. Our population is at 110 million, with a median age of 25. We also have the highest internet penetration and the highest NFT penetration rate of a digital population,” Lim explained.

The year was filled with conventions, meetups, and events that made Filipinos aware of what blockchain has in store for the future digital economy. With it being the biggest and most attended blockchain conference last year, Filipinos are already looking forward to what 2023 has in store.