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Luncheon Seminar: Introduction of Blockchain and NFT under the “Belt and Road”

2022-01-18

Maritime Silk Road Society (MSRS) and Preface Coding co-organized the “Luncheon Seminar: Introduction of Blockchain and NFT under the Belt and Road” on 18 January. The speaker was Dr Alfred Tse, Director of Preface Coding. The event was originally scheduled for Preface Coffee & Wine’s Central outlet. However, the seminar had to be changed to a ZOOM meeting due to the sudden outbreak of Omicron. Nevertheless, participants could enjoy the meals in any of the Preface Coffee &Wine outlets with the coupons afterwards.

The "Digital Silk Road" was first proposed in 2015 and became an integral part of China's “Belt and Road” initiative. President Xi Jinping also mentioned in 2019 that blockchain is an “important breakthrough in independent innovation of core technologies”, which shows that the new technology is highly valued by China. Dr Tse pointed out that the blockchain uses cryptography to store and protect data without any managing institution behind. Every user can make transactions without restrictions in the free open network thus popularizing high-end activities. For example, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have facilitated art transactions independent of the auction houses. Buyers can buy art works directly from creators without any intermediary. Besides, cryptocurrencies are widely accepted as the medium of transaction in emerging markets. Their lack of state or government control contributes to market decentralization.

Although cryptocurrency speculation has been intense in recent years, Dr Tse suggested that the risk of investing cryptocurrency is high. As new currencies keep emerging, their quality varies a lot, and may not have substantial value in the long run. However, Dr Tse emphasized that these new technologies should be considered from the nature of economy. He noted that people should not ignore the economic potential of advanced technology.

In the discussion session, while a participant said that he was collector of NFTs, others were curious about how these technologies would affect the social systems.

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