Blockchain: a disruptive technology for global economic inclusion?

Kuldeep Bandhu Aryal, Kudzai M Mubaiwa, Megan Leahy-Wright, Benjamin Clair, Martín Restrepo Blockchain technology offers an enormous opportunity in 2018: Its decentralized, secure and transparent system of storing and making transactions supports a range of services, from providing the “unbanked” with access to financial services through cryptocurrencies (e.g. Bitcoin), to executing records and verifying contracts (e.g. land registry) without the need for a third-party, and reducing transaction fees and improving supply chain management for entrepreneurs. There are many opportunities but equally many unanswered questions when it comes to the future of blockchain technology in developing markets and beyond, though. In Zimbabwe which has not had its own currency for almost ten years now, Bitcoin is traded at even higher exchange rates than elsewhere on the planet - but it can hardly be used locally. Sikka, a Nepali Rupee-backed e-token built on the Ethereum blockchain, allows rural community members to easily trade and buy goods, equipment, and services with SMS/USSD/IVR codes by using a simple feature phone. BetterChain disintermediates information access and makes corresponding value allocation more transparent along mineral supply chains - from small-scale mining communities in challenging environments like Congo all the way to responsible electronics and electric car manufacturers. Blockchain enable as well new governance opportunities, empowering communities and people to organize and advance into a decentralized autonomous society, creating marketplaces for governance services, global basic income, smart contracts, universal basic services and virtual citizenships.  This session brings experts from technology, finance, and grassroots community activism together to discuss a way forward with blockchain technology where no one is left behind.  supported by T-Labs