3 things Malaysia’s blockchain ecosystem needs right now

There is no topic more polarizing than blockchain at the moment. One camp believes it will revolutionize every sector while the other camp thinks it is nothing but a fad.

I’m personally interested in the combination of digital tokens and blockchain in creating virtual continuity, which sounds like a fundamental breakthrough. However, people are giving tremendous weight on the crowdfunding part of cryptocurrencies, giving scant regard for the real power of blockchain.

So, when I was given a chance to moderate a panel discussion on the blockchain ecosystem in Malaysia, I set out to investigate the local ecosystem’s needs at this very moment. The panelists were from HelloGold, Access Blockchain Association Malaysia, and Blocklime, which all have their hands in the local blockchain ecosystem.

Here were the three key takeaways as it relates to what the blockchain ecosystem in Malaysia needs right now to grow.

(L-R) Dave Appleton, Suraya Zainudin, Harpreet Singh, and the author.

Quality community building

Dave Appleton (a member of HelloGold’s technical staff) voiced his concern for the current set up. According to him, “The moment people in Malaysia start talking about blockchain, they talk about investment schemes and mining contracts.”

The public’s general blockchain and cryptocurrency education has definitely not kept pace with the popularity of the tech, leading opportunists to capitalize on the hype. Appleton believes the community needs to deal with responsible media to “get the message across on what blockchain is really all about to fight this.”

ICOs used to be very community driven, with technically-sound people investing in them. But it has grown to a stage where they are attracting more mainstream investors.

Unlike other cities, Kuala Lumpur is fragmented, having scattered centers of influence. To combat this, Appleton thinks there needs to be more medium-sized community events so proper education and meaningful sharing on the use cases of blockchain can be done more frequently.

However, when asked about the interaction between blockchain developers in Malaysia, Harpreet Singh (CEO of Blocklime) stressed there might be a lack of a tech-focused blockchain community:

“You don’t have proper communication among the developers in Malaysia. A lot of groups are either working in silos or out to share about ways to profit from blockchain, whereas discussion on tech is actually very rare.”

Suraya Zainudin (vice president of Access Blockchain Association in Malaysia) highlighted the need for cross-pollinating different communities. “We need to see more leadership from the blockchain industry players, and we also need blockchain personalities that appeal to various subsets of developer communities,” she opined.

Unless there are more core characters in the industry that can lead cross-community mixing, it would be highly unlikely to achieve critical mass for the development community.

Train more tech talent

See beyond the coins