Blockchain is fast growing into a mature technology that
is touching many parts of the global economy, but still
fresh to New Zealand.
Globally job listings for crypto
and blockchain have been skyrocketing, growing 118 percent
year on year in recent months.
The NZ government is
currently reviewing the potential for a sovereign digital
currency, as are many other countries around the
world.
Major New Zealand firms are collaborating
around a shared blockchain logistics platform, the Trust
Alliance, to create a trusted digital network for primary
producers to easily share data, BlockchainNZ
community manager Alison Mackie says.
Kiwi blockchain
firms have raised more than $200 million in funding so far
this year and one of the best has been Easy Crypto, she
says.
The company raised $17 million, possibly a New
Zealand record for a start-up first round. Easy Crypto has
recorded more than $1 billion in sales, with platform user
numbers multiplying almost five times in the last 12
months.
“The significance of Easy Crypto is that it
is a pioneering crypto exchange that has placed New Zealand
on the map as a leader in the cryptocurrency
space.
“It is an easy platform for users to manage
their own New Zealand dollar that meets the regulatory
requirements of New Zealand law and banking
taxation.
“Easy Crypto has built a reputation of
being the most trusted exchange platforms in New Zealand,
where people can buy and sell cryptocurrencies and keep
track of the market.
“They do not hold private key
or store funds, ensuring that people have full control of
their own money.
“Anyone can get into cryptocurrency
and utilise it as an investment opportunity as well as a
digital currency. It holds the same freedom and autonomy of
cash and can be seen as a personal back-up to people’s
private money.
“There are a number of opportunities
for blockchain technology to re-cast conventional approaches
to sustainable development and accelerate progress if
deployed responsibly.”
Blockchain could be a
sustainable development goals (SDGs) game changer. It could
build resilient and transparent supply chains, create
stronger and more accountable public institutions; and it
could spur responsible sourcing and consumption for New
Zealand.
When the United Nations blueprinted the SDGs
in 2016, blockchain technology was in its early days. Few
could have foreseen the trajectory and the potential of
blockchain for advancing ambitious
targets.
Governments around the world are proactively
moving forwards in the blockchain and cryptocurrency market.
There is a risk that New Zealand will get left behind unless
the government and the fintech sector acts fast, Mackie
says.
“We appeal to the government and Kiwi
businesses to see blockchain as the next completely neutral,
public digital infrastructure like the internet or
email.
“New Zealand is a living laboratory for
global tech developments and inventions and Kiwis are
producing blockchain businesses such as Easy Crypto have a
global marketplace,” she
says.