MANILA - The Philippines has the potential to become the "blockchain capital" of the world due to its young population, the newly formed Blockchain Council of the Philippines said on Monday.

The country has the right tools and assets to lead in this new sphere, lead convenor of the upcoming Philippine Blockchain Week Donald Lim said.

Blockchain is a digital database or decentralized ledger of transactions across users, which is used by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

"We were the text capital and the BPO capital before, right? And we were the social media capital. Yung blockchain capital, we are very ripe," said Lim.

Lim said the Philippine government has shown openness to this new technology. He also cited how quickly Filipinos can adapt to changes.

"Nakita natin how, for example, during Axie Infinity, biglang ang daming Pilipino nandoon. Kahit jeepney driver ka, gumagamit ka. We're seeing if you just give the Filipinos a platform, people will go there and use it," he added.

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Blockchain is commonly used in the financial world through cryptocurrencies but is gradually being used in many fields and industries as well. It can also be used by private corporations and the government, Lim said.

For example, land titles may now be registered on the blockchain for easier authenticity checks. Organizations can also use blockchain to track supply chains, Lim said.

Lim stressed blockchain's main strength is that the system is safe and secure.

"Dati you have to rely on the server of a central authority, now you have multiple servers verifying 'yes, yes, this is true' and it will be forever be there," he said.

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Philippines can also become a blockchain nation due to its young population, Country Director for nChain and Philippine ambassador for the Bitcoin Association Nicholas King said.

"The Philippines is the biggest in the world with cellphones, and adoption of social media. And because the younger people embrace this technology, I see the adoption of Web3 and blockchain is phenomenal here," he said.

The new council plan to hold the Philippine Blockchain Week at the end of the month to educate more Filipinos on blockchain and Web 3.

Over 100 speakers from across the world are expected to share their thoughts on the technology. Thousands of participants are also expected to attend the week-long event in Pasay.

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