Asia’s Wealthiest Families Gather To Learn The Business Of Blockchain

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One-hundred thirty of Asia’s wealthiest and most influential people gathered in Singapore today to delve into the finer points of blockchain. The group of entrepreneurs, investors and families would have fit in just fine among the cast of Crazy Rich Asians, a recent feel-good film that places Singapore's elite in some of the world's most extravagant settings, and is also set in Singapore.

What brought the investors together was a small group of some of the most influential crypto leaders in Asia and the world, speaking frankly on stage at an invitation-only event hosted by Forbes Asia, called “Decrypting Blockchain for Business.”

Set against a backdrop of the cryptocurrency industry’s value meltdown, which has seen the collective market cap drop of 47% over the past three months, the mood in the packed room was a far cry from the fanatical events the industry became known for in 2017, during one of the largest bull markets in history.

Instead, the audience, comprising sage, old grandparents as well as their innovative young grandchildren, was marked by calm, persistent note taking and more measured analysis. Anderson Tanoto, director of the $18 billion Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) manufacturing conglomerate positioned his interest in blockchain during a fireside chat on stage.

“There are two herds of people in blockchain. Those who want to get rich off crypto, and those who want to change the world with blockchain. I would like to associate myself with the second group.”

Tanoto is the son of Sukanto Tanoto, who founded RGE 50 years ago. As part of the younger Tanoto's exploration of blockchain, which was first popularized as the distributed ledger technology that powers bitcoin, he helped launch the Sustainability Assurance & Innovation Alliance (SUSTAIN) to move RGE’s vast palm oil supply chain to a blockchain.

The consortium of oil palm growers, palm oil processors and consumer goods manufacturers aims to move half the world’s palm oil supply chain to a shared, distributed ledger within the next two years, Tanoto said. Not only does he hope the investment will increase transparency in the supply chain, but he hopes it will remove unnecessary middlemen.

Other non-cryptocurrency applications of blockchain on display at the event were presented by Janil Puthucheary, Singapore’s senior minister of state at the ministry of communications and information and the ministry of transport.

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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2018/12/04/asias-wealthiest-families-gather-to-study-the-business-of-blockchain/#16e744b02f1d