The future is Blockchain – how stc Bahrain is paving the way for a digital future

Eng. Nezar Banabeela, CEO, stc Bahrain

The rules of financial trading have significantly transformed. From the classic buzzing scenes of brokers trading on behalf of their clients in Wall Street investment banks and stock exchanges, we have now moved to handheld smart devices executing trades on everything from stocks to cryptocurrencies; the market is metamorphosizing.

Blockchain technology has facilitated a lot of this. Blockchain in manufacturing is growing at a rate of 73% between 2022 and 2026 and boosting global GDP by $1.76 trillion by 20301. Witnessing an exponential rise in popularity, it has its limitations. The systems are closed off from the rest of the world. They are vital for security but limit the input data they can accept. A need for a bridge that can help these systems see what is happening in the outside world is required – and this is where Chainlink comes in.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network that provides input on various external sources of data. The network plays an important role in the real-world implementation of blockchain technologies and provides input to what’s known as smart contracts.

At stc Bahrain, we are proud to be the first in the region to launch an official Chainlink node – continuing to push boundaries and advance the smart contract ecosystem globally. The Chainlink node will provide smart contracts with access to a secure source of real-world data and secure off-chain computations. The launch is a step towards spurring the digital ecosystem growth within Bahrain and the region.

Through the launch of the Chainlink node, we are proud to lead the way in digitizing service experiences in Bahrain and providing high-quality data and highly reliable decentralized services to smart contracts. We are also enabling the growth of the digital ecosystem as more economic activity begins to migrate to blockchain networks.

The future of web3 and DeFi in Bahrain

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, powered by web3, is geared to replace traditional financial systems and processes, where intermediaries would not be required. Through DeFi, financial control is democratized and transferred to the individuals carrying the transactions.

Bahrain boasts a large percentage of youth within its population who have a strong appetite for innovation and have acquired significant digital talent in the marketplace. This makes Bahrain the ideal hub for such advancements and paves the way for increased adoption of blockchain-based applications. With its flexible regulatory frameworks and rapid digital transformation, the Kingdom is on its way to becoming a fintech leader in the region.

In response to the growing demand for crypto assets, the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) has been one of the Middle East’s early adopters in the crypto assets space. Bahrain-based Rain, licensed by the CBB, is a crypto exchange that enables users to buy, sell and store bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – with more than 180,000 users and over $1.9 billion in transactions. 12 Also headquartered in Bahrain is CoinMENA, a digital assets exchange that has recently launched the region’s first cashback offer. Binance, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, has been granted a crypto-asset service provider license from the CBB, the first license as a crypto-asset provider in the Gulf.

Similarly, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are also on Bahrain’s agenda. The Kingdom held several workshops and discussion panels, with the first of its kind NFT Exhibition in March this year to discuss cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and blockchain technology.

The technological advancements in the Kingdom, illustrated by its increasing appetite to utilize blockchain technologies, further solidify Bahrain’s position as a leading digital hub in the region. As we witness the exponential growth in multiple sectors in Bahrain and the region, we are proud to be at the forefront of their digital transformation.