IBM Chief Technology Officer Stanley Yong said a social consensus is necessary on establishing blockchain-based financial transaction infrastructure.

In the DECONOMY forum Friday at Seoul’s Jangchung Gymnasium, the officer said building an extensive and usable blockchain-based infrastructure for financial transactions is possible. He added more critical than the technology itself is the social consensus.

He said unless social consensus is made and the legal framework is established, building the blockchain-based infrastructure would face limits. According to him, “technology has been in rapid progress. Blockchain technology accelerates standardization and quickens financial transaction speed.”

Blockchain’s main feature is decentralization. However, he said,  “Until we make a social consensus, the centralized operation is inevitable.”

He and other panelists in the forum said, “It would be difficult to establish the decentralized financial market infrastructure where there are no central bank-based regulations.”

They view that blockchain would technically enable people to deal in direct financial transactions without financial intermediaries. However, they said such a decentralized financial transaction would be possible only after countries reach social consensus and set a legal framework.