On Friday 22nd November, Nepal’s very first Blockchain Symposium was held in 8 Degrees in Jhamsikhel which consisted of 5 speakers and 47 participants in a fascinating discussion about this revolutionary technology and how to best incorporate it into Nepali industries. Ashmita Manandhar, the host from eSatya, kicked off the event by introducing the Symposium sponsored by WVI Nepal and supported by Paluwa Pleaders and also introducing the speakers.

The first speaker, Santosh Shrestha from Rumsan Group of Comapnies, gave the audience a brief introduction to blockchain. He talked about immutability which the act of storing something without it ever being changed. Santosh highlighted that the biggest thing blockchain has given to the world so far is the Bitcoin network. The reason it is so popular and so powerful is because no government has been able to interfere or bring it down, this shows the power behind blockchain networks. These networks are revolutionary as everyone in the network can be held accountable, the network rejects malicious activity and every move is traceable. Some examples of use cases in Nepal are identity platform, supply chain and other governance activities.

His presentation deck is included here.

Astha Sharma from Code Rush spoke next about her research on how the United Nation’s sustainable development goals could be addressed through the use of blockchain technology. The following are Astha’s examples of blockchain projects with social initiatives from all over the world. Building Blocks is a Syrian refugee food delivery monitoring project. Blockchain simulation lab is a cash transfer network among women entrepreneurs. Climate chain coalition is a climate change tracking platform. Kiva protocol is an identity management platform piloting in Sierra Leone that provides authentication so people can build credit and apply for loans easier. Lastly, the universal health information is a network for patients and professionals to share health information. 

Astha then moved on to highlight blockchain platforms in Nepal with social initiatives. These included Sikka, a digital transfer token for non-profit use, Laxmi Bank’s low loan rates initiative storing information about workers in blockchain and Blockchain Foundation Nepal and Esatya’s blockchain-based projects. Astha concludes that the sustainable development goals should be attainable by 2030 with the help of these blockchain initiatives.

Her presentation deck is included here.

The third speaker was Dikpal Khatri Chhetry from eSatya who shared his study to understand the mentality of Nepali people towards the concept of blockchain. He conducted a survey consisting of 70 students and 28 executives. 79% of students believed the “hype about blockchain” meaning they believed that blockchain is a revolutionary technology that will change the future. However, only 65% of the students knew what blockchain was more than one year ago, which means Nepal is still slow on educating students on this new technology. 85% of executives believe it is a good idea for their companies to research on blockchain in order to come up with innovative solutions that would benefit their company. Furthermore, thinking about the Nepali scenario, 82% of respondents believe there is no proper government regulations regarding this technology. An example to support this statement would be Sikka. They had to transform their system from Ethereum to Hyperledger due to confusing government regulations in Nepal.

His presentation deck is included here.

Concluding the first half of the program was Bibek Koirala also from eSatya, who talked about Agile project management in blockchain. Agile means incorporating changes as they come, which is contradictory to blockchain’s immutable system. The problems we are currently facing with management in blockchain projects are lack of smart contract upgradability, iterating, unfamiliar technology stack, lack of role definition for developers and lack of proper standards. Bibek gave two examples of agile implemented products which are Indorse and Agriclear. He then suggested some approaches of software development including the need to research new designs and patterns and making platforms open sourced and also test-driven and behaviour-driven development.

His presentation deck is included here.

The second half of the session was moderated by Shishir Subedi, the director of Paluwa Pleaders who are promoting the culture of legal research in Nepal. Shishir started with the crucial question; “Does cryptocurrency fall under the definition of money?” with the conclusion that in theory, it is money, however, not practically. In many countries, crypto is considered an asset and taxed accordingly connecting this to how regulatory mechanisms around the world tax blockchain usage. He mentioned some major international cases where blockchain is being used by the government as well as the three ongoing legal cases in the Supreme Court of Nepal related to cryptocurrency. He concluded that most cases in Nepal related to Hundi rather than cryptocurrency as exchanging nepali rupees to foreign currency is what is illegal.

The next speaker was Atit Rijal, a commercial lawyer, who started by making a bold statement, “Judges in Nepal don’t know much about Cryptocurrency and Blockchain”. There is lack of testimonies and the lawyers don’t hesitate at all to express their lack of knowledge about cryptocurrency in reports. Lawyers change during ongoing cases, which makes the process of researching, finalizing and concluding cases really complex as the new lawyers will need to start from scratch on their research in this unexplored technology.

Supreme Court is the highest court of the country and it’s rather illogical to file a case directly to the Supreme Court without without having any knowledge about the deeper issue. In written form, only bitcoin is stated as illegal in Nepal. Because of that simple statement, it is assumed that all Cryptocurrencies are illegal. The main problem in Nepal is that the policy makers aren’t familiar with this technology. So Atit concludes that more experts need to be involved in these cases so that they get solved quickly without any obstructions.

Next, Santosh came back up to the podium as a commentator. He focused on the business oriented aspect of cryptocurrency. He strongly believes in the statement, “When something benefits an individual, he’ll find a way to do it.” He expressed how money is so very restrictive in Nepal whereas in other countries like the US, moving money isn’t a very big deal. In order for Nepal to be less restrictive, at this early stage of the blockchain revolution, the government should dedicate some resources to research this technology and the gray areas that come with itl

The final commentator was Saujanya Acharya from World Vision International Nepal giving a more technically detailed outlook on blockchain. He started a cash transfer program targeted to disaster victims in early 2017 called Sikka. They faced issues of transparency and accountability so his team created this platform in blockchain. As mentioned earlier, they had to transform their system from Ethereum to Hyperledger because of the discrepancies in Nepal with using cryptocurrency. Saujanya also concluded with his disappointment in how there are very few experts in the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain in Nepal.

To conclude the session there was a discussion that involve the audience as well. There were some nuanced questions that were brought up to spark up the discussion. Questions ranged from how to normalize cryptocurrency transactions to the adoption rates of crypto in the banking industry in Nepal. Shortly after, Shishir wrapped up the engaging discussion to conclude the event and direct guests to network and connect over high tea.

Written by Ila and Anushka