Entrepreneur India – July 2019

58 l ENTREPRENEUR l JULY 2019

TechBLOCKCHAIN

IS BLOCKCHAIN

THE NEW

TECHNOLOGY

OF TRUST?

By Nidhi Singh

B

lockchain continues to be a

hot topic across the global

start-up ecosystem. And more

entrepreneurs are placing

huge bets on this technology.

Yet the adoption remains

sluggish despite the growing

investment by start-ups and

potential investors. Main

reasons for this are fears

over security and regulatory

uncertainty. Will mass

implementation of blockchain

technology remain a distant

fantasy?

US-based rating agency

Moody’s Investor Service

warns about the risks

associated with the

technology. “New risks with

blockchain technology in

securitizations may emerge

as well as the reinforcement

of some already existing

ones. Risks include

counterparty concentration,

IT and operational risks,

inappropriate blockchain

governance and legal

and regulatory issues,”

its report says. Another

study by auditing firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers

(PwC) states that trust is

one of the biggest blockers

to the blockchain’s adoption.

Concern about trust among

respondents in the survey

was highest in Singapore (37

per cent) after Hong Kong (35

per cent).

Riding the Wave

Despite issues, companies,

especially those in Asia Pacific,

are not shying away from the

technology. Singapore-based

LALA World Chief Executive

Officer and Founder Sankalp

Shangari believes blockchain

technology is not only bringing

in a difference at the consumer

level but also posing a threat

to the established system of

governance, which is obtrusive

of financial freedom.

“A lot of myths are floating

around the technology. It

was dubbed as a dubious

technology, which may look

promising, but was porous

and could be compromised.

The reality is far from it,

the technology is secure and

reliable than any of the other

techniques available. But at

the same time, it is complex

and in a nascent stage just

like the web was in the early

1990s and that is what helps

the naysayers in spreading

heresy about it. The need is to

understand its applicability to

a particular problem and the

impact it has in solving it,”

says Shangari.

LALA ID, a product of LALA

World, is a comprehensive

solution that protects the

personal information of

users through the immutable

blockchain technology.

Additionally, the start-up

offers features like crypto

payments through its

application. “The world is

going gung-ho about the

possibilities of the said

technology, which is gradually

growing as an infrastructural

pillar of economic

functionalities, receiving the

attention it deserves,” stresses

Shangari.

Varied Uses

Mike Davie’s Quadrant

Protocol leverages blockchain

and smart contracts to track

the data’s journey along

the data chain—from the

originating device to the data

scientists that add value to the

data—and provide automatic

compensation every time the

data is purchased. This helps

create a more sustainable data

economy. The start-up serves

as the blueprint that provides

an organized system for the

utilization of decentralized

data.

“Data quality is vital

to the success of artificial

intelligence. Algorithms will

believe whatever the data

tells them to believe, so using

poor quality data can result

in unintended consequences.

Data consumers, therefore,

need to know where the

data is coming from and be

able to trust the source. At

the same time, the original

providers of the data are rarely

compensated fairly. Data

Despite

issues,

companies,

especially

those in Asia

Pacific, are

not shying

away from the

technology.