Software company ConsenSys eyes Phl market

MANILA, Philippines - Consensus Systems (ConsenSys), a blockchain software technology company, is seeking to capture the Philippine market on the back of the country’s fast growing utilization of technology.

ConsenSys operates on the Ethereum blockchain, which is similar to crypto currency Bitcoin but provides other functionalities such as smart contracts, which companies can use for their business and financial transactions.

In a recent interview with The Star, ConsenSys officials said the company is in talks with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to familiarize themselves with the regulatory framework in the country that would govern such platforms.

John Lilic, director for Enteprise Business Technology Development Strategy and Operations at ConsenSys said Ethereum could create a lot of financial applications which Philippine companies can use.

“We’re not just transferring money. We can do smart contracts, business logic execution, complex financial instruments, he said.

ConsenSys recently met with BSP officials.

“The BSP is very open to the technology that we’re bringing in,” Lilic said.

In information technology parlance, a blockchain is a ledger of sorts that stores records of transactions across many computers in such a way that the registered transactions cannot be altered retroactively.

The Ethereum blockchain processes transactions and stores data much like any other computer system but, at the same time, solves present-day challenges.

Smart contracts, meanwhile, provide ways of making a deal and locking in all the details using the security of the blockchain. Examples are simple bond agreements and other deals involving financial instruments.

Through smart contracts, financial institutions can settle securities in minutes instead of days while manufacturers can operate more efficiently by reducing product recalls by sharing production logs with original equipment manufacturers and regulators.

Other types of businesses, meanwhile, can also benefit as they can now more closely manage the flow of goods and related payments with greater speed and less risk through these smart contracts.

For instance, Lilic said Ethereum has the capability to process more complex business logic and business transactions and has identity attributes.

This means that users have custody over identity attributes.

As such, it provides a framework where one can manage their identity and people can attest who they really are.

This identity attributes would allow people to process loans and receive loans and can allow people to register properties.

In all, with the Ethereum blockchain, it can start creating public registries for all kinds of things.

In 2013, Vitalik Buterin, who had previously worked on Bitcoin, developed and introduced Ethereum.