Blockchain solves the problem of information asymmetry

In the session “Developing and Managing Blockchain Innovation", the panelists discussed the application of blockchain in governance projects, enterprise, and medium to long-term changes to be witnessed due to it

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Vivekdeep Gupta, Country Manager, India, R3, talked about how blockchain is used for supply chain needs. One big use case of enterprise blockchain identified and being used at scale has been around supply chain finance, logistics, and trade finance. Blockchain solves the information asymmetry that exists among various parties. It also solves the archaic processes, especially in trade finance. There are multiple global and local cases where blockchain has added value.

R3 runs two global networks. One is called Contour, focused on global letters of credit. The other is Marco Polo, focused on open accounts space. Domestically, there are a number of banks focused on domestic trade finance. Cycle time for processing a letter of credit in India was about 5-8 weeks. We have reduced that by 75% using blockchain-enabled technologies. Blockchain has found its sweet spot. It allows transparency and visibility for multiple parties over a single trade finance app. It also makes the lives of big corporates and SMEs much easier.

Prashanth Swaminathan, Partner and Head of Institutional Business, Woodstock Fund, said there are trends in public domain. One is convergence, where the underlying tech is consolidating. We foresee space for public blockchains to be here. With the bedrock of blockchain, there will be emerging technologies on top of it. This could be AT/ML, VR, etc. We are identifying layers of blockchain and middleware that facilitate creation of futuristic apps. Woodstock is an emerging technology investment firm, investing in early and growth-stage distributed ledger technology (DLT) startups and companies.

Second theme is financialization. It is an extension of the DeFi language. In DeFi, over last 12-18 months, we have seen that proliferate and create lot of efficiencies. We will see lot more merging of DeFi with traditional finance. We will see supply coming into DeFi, at a global level. It will merge with demand from real-life use cases.