NOV 20 · 2024 · POST

Local Problems, Global Technology

We built Selendra for problems Cambodian businesses actually have, not because we love crypto.

2 MIN READ

THE PIECE

← ALL POSTS

A lot of blockchain projects chase whatever is trending: DeFi, NFTs, memecoins, the next wave.

We started by asking what problems Cambodian businesses actually have.

What we found

Talking to businesses around Phnom Penh, the same four things came up. Land records were on paper, which made them slow and easy to fake. Supply chains were hard to trace from source to shelf. Loyalty programs were fragmented and costly to run. Cross-border payments were slow and expensive.

Dull problems, all of them. Also the ones businesses here deal with every day.

Cambodia first

Selendra is EVM-compatible and built on Substrate, so it works with standard Ethereum tooling. Developers can use MetaMask, Web3.js and the frameworks they already know.

What we build on top is aimed at those four problems: a land registry for property records that stay clear and permanent, supply-chain tracking that verifies where goods came from, loyalty programs that work across different merchants, and cheaper transfers with our neighbours. Each one answers something specific rather than demonstrating what a blockchain can do in general.

The approach

In a small market it is tempting to go global on day one. We did the opposite and solved Cambodian problems first. If something works here, with our infrastructure and our uncertainties, it will probably work most places.

Being honest about it

Blockchain in Cambodia has real obstacles. Rules shift with government policy. The pool of technical talent is small. Rural internet is spotty. And plenty of businesses have been burned by hype and no longer trust anything that sounds like it.

We work with regulators instead of around them, train developers through our schools work, build offline-first where we have to, and keep the conversation on business results rather than token prices.

Where it stands

Selendra's mainnet is live and real businesses are running real applications on it, not pilots or proofs of concept.

We were never trying to build the next Ethereum or get rich on tokens. The aim is to make Cambodian businesses a little more efficient and a little better connected.

NOV 20 · 2024

ALL POSTS →