PH Bitcoin Pioneer: Crypto Can Reduce Remittance Cost by 50%

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are now our modern-day heroes. From the previous report, remittances have reached $20 billion from January to November 2017. 2% – 5% of that 20 billion used cryptocurrencies as the mode of remittance to the Philippines from abroad.

Bloom Solutions

Bloom Solutions, co-founded by Mr. Luis Buenaventura, has been in the blockchain industry since 2015. Since its mission is to use cryptocurrency and blockchain to solve real-world problems, one of the natural focus is remittances. The goal is to make money transfer faster and more efficient in terms of transaction cost. According to Mr. Buenaventura, the said industry earns $0.5 trillion annually and with the use of cryptocurrencies, the cost can be reduced by up to 50%.

• Read more: Lack of Awareness Hinders Blockchain Adoption in Remittances, Says Bloom Solutions Founder

Business Strategy

Just like in an interview with Mr. Buenaventura that we reported before, he reiterates that his company’s goal is not to compete with the remittance businesses but instead complement them. Using blockchain technology, costs are reduced, records are tamperproof, thus making the businesses more efficient. He exclaims, and this is true to the majority, that the regular remittance sender will not care how the funds are transferred to the eventual receiver. What matters is that it gets transferred fast, and possibly cheaper.

Current application of cryptocurrencies

Mr. Buenaventura shared that more people are currently investing into cryptocurrency rather than using it. Bitcoin, for example, is being used as a store value more than as a medium of payment. For him, though, he thinks the future will witness people trading fiat into cryptocurrencies more and more.

Solving land conflicts by blockchain-based registry

On a different topic, the Southeast Globe asked Mr. Buenaventura if he thinks the blockchain can solve land registry problems. Using the blockchain to describe agreements has been floating around as early as the introduction of Ethereum in 2014. For him, while the blockchain-based registry effectively tells who the true owner of a piece of land, it doesn’t stop the other person from moving in. Mr. Buenaventura admits that the government must be there to enforce the contract. Although, he also admitted that we’re not at that point yet where this can happen.

Mr. Luis Buenaventura is the Co-Founder of Bloom Solutions. He is an alumnus of University of the Philippines. He currently pends down his thoughts at medium.com/@Cryptonight. He also wrote Reinventing Remittances with Bitcoin.

Source: Southeast Asia Globe