Vincent Hoffmann, of Htmlcoin Foundation: Mauritius well placed to be a pioneer on Blockchain
Our Executive Vice President, Community Relations, Vincent Hoffmann was interviewed recently by a national newspaper in Mauritius. He spoke on ALTHASH blockchain and services. Happy Reading.
By Sneha Peryagh
How can Mauritius benefit from the “Blockchain” and what service do you offer for this purpose?
Mauritius is a growing financial hub and is making great strides to be the next fin-tech hub of Africa.Blockchain technology is undoubtedly playing a major role in this expansive development.However fin-tech is not the only area where blockchain can provide meaningful and value-added applications.Because of the inherent properties of blockchain technology, it opens the doors to widespread optimization in every industry sector, including government.
By integrating blockchain systems into the respective aspects of said industries to govern the various registration and business processes, it would make a huge impact on mitigating fraud & authentication related issues.This is exactly what ALTHASH aims to achieve.With a team of dedicated blockchain professionals, we have partnered with various institutions to deliver blockchain solutions fit for their needs, from healthcare to government entities.
Do you believe that the Blockchain democratizes the element of trust during transactions?
Our species, while intelligent, have major trust issues and this is understandable given our historical track record of exploitation.Through hard coded algorithms, smart contracts and consensus driven governance, blockchain technology makes it possible to remove the need for “trusted third parties”.
By delivering an incorruptible system that isn’t effected by human elements such as greed and emotion, blockchain indeed does give power back to the people.
What is the future of Blochchain technology and where is Mauritius positioned?
I am of the firm opinion that blockchain technology has passed its tipping point which leads to mass adoption. It has already proven itself to be a superior means of providing transparency while maintaining security with regards to transactions and data entries.Mauritius is in a prime position to be a trend setter as opposed to a trend follower.Whether or not the powers that be actually seize the opportunity to its full potential remains to be seen.
The banking sector is undergoing a profound transformation which is shaking up the positions it has acquired and putting pressure on traditional economic models. What are the fears if the transaction is digitized?
The only transactions which aren’t already digitized are cash transactions. I think it is important to make clear the distinction between blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies with respect to traditional fiat currencies.While blockchain technology has undisputed potential in multiple sectors, as explained above, banks are understandably a bit apprehensive about cryptocurrencies becoming more mainstream from the perspective of a Fintech which they don’t have control of.
Cryptocurrencies are essentially a digitized form of currency, most of which are powered by their own iteration of blockchain.Most cryptocurrencies have a limited supply, which give an element of scarcity, unlike fiat currencies where there is an almost infinite supply as well as centralized control.The inherent value of a cryptocurrency is determined by Supply and Demand with the demand influenced by their respective use-cases and speculative Traders.
However there are thousands of cryptocurrencies in existence and while there are a significant amount of purposeful cryptocurrencies available, there are even more out there which were simply created to cash-in on the hype. IE no real use-case and relies solely on hype and marketing to drive demand.
I would like to see a world where there are some regulations in the crypoto-space and the banking sector is not at odds with cryptocurrencies but rather working together in a truly free-market.
Original publication here:
