Emerging Markets Compass Note No 57
Developing a proper governance and regulatory framework for blockchain-based applications will be essential to providing market participants the stability they need to fully engage with the technology, and allowing innovation to flourish. Given the global, multi-sectoral reach of blockchain, regulators and industry will have to work in a collaborative manner to ensure they can both experiment and learn, and so shape the future of the technology in a way that benefits all parties and society as a whole.
This collection attempts to focus attention on the potential of blockchain, and of distributed ledger technology more generally, to address some of the economic and financial challenges that emerging markets face today. These challenges are many, and include Know-Your-Customer gaps, the de-risking by global financial institutions that is preventing emerging markets from accessing the global financial system, and the costs and inefficiencies of processing remittances through the interlinked ledger system that is today’s correspondent banking network infrastructure. Various approaches using distributed ledger technology could provide solutions, as well as a new infrastructure for financial services in emerging markets.
Leveraging distributed ledger technology to promote financial inclusion and sustainable development.
Part of FinDev Gateway blog series, Blockchain in Development, which explores the potential and limitations of blockchain for financial inclusion and development.