Moving Towards Decentralisation

KARACHI: The regulators should take tangible measures to facilitate and develop the blockchain technology and its largest application, cryptocurrencies so that Pakistan could reap the benefits of this cutting-edge technology, said Salman Khan, co-founder of Xord, a Web3 research and development (R&D) company based in Pakistan.

“If we are to participate in the Web3 revolution, we cannot imagine a world without blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies,” he added.

Khan also the chief growth officer of Xord, is a community builder, building a Web3 and blockchain developer community named Blockship, to empower the local talent contribute to the Web3 revolution.

Web3 is the third iteration of the World Wide Web (WWW). This version of web technologies allows the users to incorporate concepts like decentralisation and token economies into the web.

It aims at owning and controlling by the users. In the current state of the internet, Web2, a few large tech companies such as Meta, Google and Amazon dominate the e-space. They control the rules and system and capture a vast majority of the value generated.

Xord, a Web3 research and development organisation, is working to empower the leaders to create an honest world. The company has built the next-generation applications, robust products and provided blockchain solutions across the globe.

Following are the excerpts of an exclusive talk with him:

Tell us about your professional background, achievements and inspiration?

While we were studying in the third year of bachelors at the University of Karachi in 2018, the cutting-edge technologies were booming all across the world. The talk of the fourth industrial revolution was on hype and the new technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and big data were becoming more popular.

However, the blockchain technology caught our attention. The first application of blockchain technology came forward in the form of digital currencies, which fascinated us in a way that showed how the world could be able to use a decentralised form of a financial system.

While we were exploring the blockchain technology, one of my co-founders Khawaja Abdul Sami initiated an idea about forming a company by leveraging this technology. I, Taha Haq and Syed Fahad Hussain joined hands together with Sami to launch our startup.

We started this company with just four people, which has now grown to over 100 people. This journey has not only created hundreds of jobs but has produced world-class Web3 talent, as well.

What was the vision behind Xord?

The vision behind starting Xord in 2018, was to make the system of the world trustworthy. Sticking with our vision to decentralise the world by making Web3 accessible to billion people, we built Web3 products and provided blockchain services.

In which verticals, Xord works? Services and operations?

Xord provides consultation and technical services to Web3 companies and startups in building and launching their Web3 products. The services include Decentralised Application (DApp) development, interoperable solutions, tooling development, enterprise blockchain solutions, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and GameFi implementations.

Additionally, Xord is also building products of its own, which include Unipilot, a decentralised finance product managing liquidity of the users on the largest decentralised exchange and Spock, which offers Web3 data analytics to the builders, organisations and investors.

What challenges did you face in establishing your company?

The technology, which we picked was very nascent and had a huge learning curve. It still is developing rapidly and getting better with each passing day.

It is challenging for us to not only cope with the global pace but also difficult to find the right talent in Pakistan since not many people are skilled in this domain.

To overcome this challenge, we have been carrying out awareness activities locally in Pakistan, which involve awareness sessions, boot-camps, seminars, conferences, and training sessions.

Xord also hosted Pakistan’s largest and exclusive Web3 conference called Web3 Disrupt: Karachi Edition.

The company is also actively involved in community building activities and has gathered more than 2,000 people in a Web3 community called BlockshipDAO. Through BlockshipDAO, Xord has trained hundreds of developers with knowledge of blockchain technology and its development.

How important are the regulators for Web3 and are they playing their due role in the current scenario?

Blockchain itself does not primarily need regulations. However, cryptocurrencies need an adequate regulatory framework for the general audience to safely interact with them.

Last year, we have seen that there is a large amount of investment that has flown into the Web3 space. If we facilitate the Web3 builders in Pakistan, this will create huge economic opportunities for us.

The regulators are still taking time in deciding the legal fate of the technology, while Pakistanis had already invested money worth millions of dollars according to the reports by the international companies.

How can Web3 be beneficial for the public or private sectors of Pakistan?

The Web3 technologies, including blockchain, decentralised networks and smart contracts, have the potential to bring benefits to both the public and private sectors of Pakistan, including improved transparency and accountability, increased efficiency and cost savings, greater security and enhanced collaboration and interoperability.

However, these technologies are still in the early stages of development and organisations should carefully consider the potential benefits and challenges of implementing them and ensure that they have the necessary resources and expertise to effectively utilise them.

Xord also launched a Blockchain vision paper for Pakistan. The paper focuses on building the blockchain landscape in the country. It describes the values of the blockchain technology, discusses the benefits of blockchain and its implementations in different industrial sectors such as education, digital identities, healthcare and supply chain.

How do you compare Web3 adoption in Pakistan to the rest of the world?

Pakistan lags behind in adopting the cutting-edge technologies. However, we have succeeded in producing such technology talent after it was introduced in Pakistan. Similarly, in the Web3 space, we still have a lack of awareness about the basic concept and the underlying technologies that will be used in achieving the vision of a new web.

Some freelancers have rose to the occasion and are contributing to the global Web3 companies. Xord has also been an active advocate of Web3 technologies through different events such as conferences, workshops, boot-camps and hackathons.

Running the biggest Web3 company, Xord, in Pakistan, we have found some very tangible ideas, which are flourishing with the passage of time. Many youngsters had already started working on their products in the space and technology freelancers are also growing.

Various software companies have started exploring this space to provide solutions and services to global companies. Xord has been working in this space since 2018 and we can say that this domain is still in its infancy period and, we as a nation, can cope with the global Web3 revolution.

Have you achieved what you desired? What are your future plans?

Although we have provided our technical expertise to global companies, we still have a long way to go. Our 10-year goal is to make Web3 accessible to a billion users. We plan to achieve it by building world-class Web3 products such as Unipilot and Spock. Our services will also help other companies and startups achieve their goals.

We will also continue our Web3 advocacy through all the possible channels and bring more people towards this space and build a sustainable Web3 landscape of Pakistan.