Telcos Become Blockchain Gateways
Lisk has taken a leap toward mainstream Web3 adoption in Southeast Asia. The Ethereum‑compatible Layer‑2 network has entered a strategic alliance with infrastructure provider The Binary Holdings (TBH), whose telecom integrations in Indonesia and the Philippines collectively serve more than 160 million mobile subscribers. The partnership will weave blockchain tools directly into telco apps people already use to buy data and pay bills, turning routine smartphone interactions into seamless on‑chain events. citeturn0search0
How OneWave Removes On‑Ramp Friction
TBH will embed its OneWave Web3 hub inside participating carrier apps. Subscribers can launch decentralised applications built on Lisk without installing a separate wallet or wrestling with seed phrases. Purchases and rewards will be settled on Lisk while the front‑end keeps the familiar look of a conventional portal. Users will also earn and spend BNRY, TBH’s native token, on everyday services, creating a bridge between crypto incentives and real consumer value.
Tackling Fees and Onboarding Barriers
Lisk COO Dominic Schwenter notes that complex onboarding and high fees still slow Web3 adoption in emerging markets. Southeast Asian countries boast vibrant mobile economies yet patchy banking; telcos, already de‑facto payment rails, can double as gateways for blockchain finance and identity. With OneWave, Lisk aims to deliver usable decentralised services—cheap payments, provable identity, tokenised rewards—rather than mere speculative trading.
DAO Season 1 Aligns Builder Incentives
The announcement dovetails with Lisk DAO Season 1, a programme running until 11 June that allocates grants to teams who:
- Raise total value locked (TVL)
- Boost cross‑chain activity
- Deploy new smart contracts
- Nurture developer education
- Prepare for an upcoming vote on burning a portion of the LSK supply
A Q1 airdrop already added 277,000 accounts and pushed transactions above 48 million, sending TVL past $200 million. Projects such as UTU Protocol (reputation scores) and Swypt (USDT payments in Africa) underscore Lisk’s real‑world focus.
Why Southeast Asia Is the Perfect Testbed
Smartphone penetration in the region exceeds 80 percent, annual remittance flows top $35 billion, and wallet apps are woven into daily life. Yet bank‑account coverage is uneven, and cross‑border fees erode migrant earnings. Plugging a scalable, EVM‑compatible Layer‑2 like Lisk into the telco layer lets developers push low‑fee payments, asset transfers, and tokenised game rewards without Metamask pop‑ups or volatile gas quotes. Here, familiarity—not speculation—becomes the on‑ramp.
A Blueprint for Layer‑2 Mass Adoption
TBH CEO Manit Parikh frames the collaboration as a way to put blockchain “straight into people’s pockets,” letting subscribers earn tokens by doing things they already do—buying airtime or sending micro‑payments. If the rollout succeeds, tens of millions could tap Ethereum Layer‑2 functionality without noticing it, blurring the line between trusted Web2 interfaces and powerful Web3 rails. For Lisk, the telco alliance offers a template for how Layer‑2 networks might reach the next billion users: meet them inside apps they trust, hide complexity, and let tangible utility—not hype—drive adoption.
