The changing landscape of the global economy due to the technological progress in the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector is not lost on anybody. As the countries of this world look at ways to embrace this technology without treading on the toes of the well-established financial systems, some of the industry leaders from the crypto space are making their presence felt at gatherings of international importance to give insights into the blockchain space to ministers, bureaucrats and heads of financial institutions from all over the world with the intent of helping them make informed decisions in their respective nations on implementation of cryptocurrency-based solutions to solve real-world problems. These meetings also help in furthering the cause of cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption to derive value out of it.
In the same context, the Financial Markets Director at OKEx Lennix Lai has been making his presence felt during the latest edition of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting currently being held in Davos. While at Davos, Lai took part in two major events – Russia House 2020 and EmTech Investment Meeting 2020 where he stressed upon the need to bring over 2 billion unbanked people across the world into the fold of financial services.
A majority of the unbanked population haven’t been able to access traditional financial services so far due to various reasons including the inability of banks to set up branches in remote areas due to heavy operational costs, lack of awareness among the individuals about the benefits of financial services and how it can improve their quality of life, lack of trust in the banking system, illiteracy and even the creditworthiness or lack thereof of the individuals seeking to open an account. During the talks, Lei presented a strong case for blockchain technology by elaborating on how it can be used to overcome the financial inclusion challenges currently faced by governments and banking institutions.
Lennix Lai made a statement at the Russia House 2020 event saying, “Unbankedness has been a global challenge. The underprivileged who are not able to afford or return with enough economic benefits to the bank are left behind from a decent living standard… Blockchain and cryptocurrencies appear to be a solution to the problem by providing a digital, decentralized financial system that can work mutually-beneficially with traditional markets to substantially lower the operational costs and serve the areas traditional banking cannot cover.”
In fact, there are numerous studies conducted in this regard, and most of them have concluded that the use of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology-based alternative financial solutions can help in achieving 100% financial inclusion. However, when it comes to implementation, governments across the world are still lagging behind. The studies have also shown that the adoption of decentralized ledger technology in mainstream banking could also drastically reduce their operating costs which could in turn influence the expansion of banking networks even to the remotest of places.
Being one of the leading cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform with a global audience, OKEx believes that it can contribute towards the development of a robust alternative financial infrastructure in partnership with all the stakeholders to influence complete financial inclusion. Outlining the company’s vision and commitment at the EmTech Investment Meeting 2020 Lennix Lai said,
“As a leading crypto exchange with a vision of financial inclusion, we are committed to bringing a robust and trustable environment to cater to crypto users.” Further adding, “We see the endorsement from global regulators. Hence, we do the best in engaging with them and performing the best compliance practice in the industry. We also see the volatility of bitcoin getting lower, making it become a favorable alternative asset for mainstream finance. And the recent surge of DeFi reflects that people are starting to brace a free, open, permission-less financial system. With our recently launched options, coupled with our futures and spot markets, crypto users can now manage the price fluctuation of crypto. In 2020, we will continue our effort on developing stablecoin, OKEx wallet and also derivatives products. At OKEx, we believe blockchain can achieve an inclusive sustainable development as well as financial inclusion for all, banked and unbanked.”
OKEx is already active in creating universal solutions in the blockchain space by kickstarting initiatives that address various shortcomings in the new age fintech industry. The platform’s initiative to create a Global SRO to bring in uniformity in the rules and regulations for the crypto industry while implementing good practices for such businesses is widely recognized in the industry. Also, Lennix Lai’s recent participation in the two Davos’ events held at the sidelines of 50th WEF Annual Meeting has helped OKEx interact with government officials and businessmen, which could prove to be instrumental in garnering their support for the planning and implementation of the financial inclusion product based on a stablecoin.
