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