Danny Arteaga – KEY NOTE SPEAKER

A new economy is emerging. With just an internet connection, people are making all sorts of transactions virtually, without the need of any intermediary, financial institutions, documents to fill in, huge amounts of money on fees and impossible procedures. All this is possible thanks to the blockchain technology. Blockchain is not easy to understand and it remains in the early stages of adoption; Bitcoin is only one example of the power of blockchain used by a cryptocurrency. However, people are quickly becoming aware, not only of how it operates, but also of how useful it is in everyday life.

This technology can be compared to a ledger, or database. Each block in the chain contains data, just like a page in a traditional ledger. But the crucial advancement is that it exists in a distributed fashion. In this way, blockchain enables, for the first time, secure transaction of value without the need for an intermediary, and part of its innovation is that it permits the tokenization of assets, which is essentially the process of representing real-world assets on the blockchain using digital tokens. In that manner, investors have more access to assets that are difficult to find, such as gemstones, and keep a true value by holding the tokens, besides having a greater confidence when taking an investment decision.

So far, there have been successful experiences of tokenization of gold and diamonds, and now it has reached the emerald industry, through Gemera, a project that created a crypto-token backed by Colombian emeralds and that uses a blockchain based platform to connect emerald producers and investors, providing in that manner a more democratic, transparent and accessible way to invest in this type of assets and offering a set of modern solutions for the producers to expand to new markets.

In few words, with the benefits of blockchain the emerald industry could introduce successfully into the revolution of digital assets, which could trigger the value of emeralds and eliminate borders. Gemera is making all this possible.

Senior journalist, an expert in marketing, social responsibility, and corporate communications. He was Communications Director at the International Center of Social Responsibility & Sustainability, where he had led the marketing strategy, several
editorial projects and organized important events, such as the three versions of the Responsible.