Crypto Education for Mass Adoption

Binance is growing its presence in key countries around the world. One in particular is the Philippines, a country that has embraced blockchain games during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

BSC News caught up with Kenneth Stern, Binance Country Head in the Philippines, during the Philippine Web3 Festival in mid-November, to better understand how the cryptocurrency exchange plans to enter the Philippine market. The center of Binance’s strategy to reach the large unbanked population of the country is through education. The team has partnered with several government agencies, local universities and Web3 communities to help spearhead crypto education in the region.

“There is a huge unbanked sector in the Philippines, so we see a lot of opportunity in the market,” Stern told BSC News. “Our goal is to educate, through Binance Academy [and] a number of partnerships with local universities. Our mission in the country is largely based on education and really helping the unbanked sector.”

Binance has partnered with several university partners, including Enderen, University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and National University, to help spread crypto education by offering courses related to blockchain and Web3. This is an effort to help bring in more talent to the crypto industry, while allowing Filipinos access to better opportunities without having to leave the country. 

Stern said that the team also participated in several senate hearings to help regulators understand the complicated technology of blockchain, and aid them in creating crypto legislation. The Philippines is one of the first countries to create a framework on cryptocurrency regulation. For Binance, it's a matter of educating regulators to craft legislation that aids the blockchain industry in the country.

The team also looks to support local Web3 communities, like YGG and Blockchain Space, in organizing more events like the Philippine Web3 Festival, in order to better educate the local population on topics related to blockchain technology.

When asked about the future of Web3 in the country, this is what Stern had to say:

“I think blockchain gaming was a phenomenon that happened during the pandemic that accelerated crypto adoption. I think it's going to continue to rise, especially with events like [the Philippine Web3 Festival] and a growing community,” Stern answered. “But I really do believe that the remittance case is going to create some mass adoption. The challenge is creating quality offramp channels nationwide.”

The transfer of funds is one of the main use cases of blockchain technology. It allows for users to directly send coins from one wallet to another without having to deal with a centralized entity that charges massive fees. Once more Filipinos understand that they can save and earn using blockchain tech, Web3, and cryptocurrencies, then that is a potential catalyst to spark crypto adoption in the country.

But the infrastructure needs to be there in order for adoption to happen. While there is a huge opportunity for Binance to capture the unbanked sector of the country, their funds and value will remain on-chain if offramps are not made available to Filipinos. This is where traditional financial institutions, or possibly the government, will play an important role in the adoption of blockchain technology in the country.

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Binance positions itself as the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and crypto-asset infrastructure provider with a financial product suite that includes the largest digital asset exchange by volume. The Binance platform aims to increase the freedom of money for users and features a comprehensive portfolio of crypto-asset products and offerings, including trading and finance, education, data and research, social good, investment and incubation, decentralization, and infrastructure solutions.

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