Cash 3.0 Conference in Cebu Showcases Real-World Applications of Bitcoin Cash
From July 31 to August 2, we hosted the Cash 3.0 Conference in Cebu City — three days of talks, a student hackathon, and a public bazaar all built around one idea: that blockchain technology should be measured by the real applications it enables, not by speculation.
Developers, entrepreneurs, students, merchants, and Bitcoin Cash advocates from across the country came together for the event. Our goal was to bring together everyone needed for a technology ecosystem to work: people who build the products, people who turn them into businesses, merchants who accept new payment methods, and the users who decide whether any of it actually provides value.
Cash 3.0: the idea
The conference was centered on the concept of “Cash 3.0” — the next evolution of money after physical cash and conventional digital payments. Physical cash lets people transact directly, but it is limited by geography. Digital payment systems are more convenient but depend on banks, processors, and intermediaries.
Cash 3.0 envisions internet-native money that keeps the peer-to-peer character of physical cash while gaining the global reach of digital technology. No intermediaries required.
From discussion to working applications
Rather than focusing on trading and investing, the conference highlighted applications designed to solve real problems.
We and other developers demonstrated projects involving retail payments, payroll, freelancing, artificial intelligence, vending machines, digital provenance, rewards, and other peer-to-peer services running on Bitcoin Cash.
Among the technologies presented was the Paytaca NFC Card, designed to make self-custodial payments as simple as tapping a contactless payment card. It combines NFC with Bitcoin Cash smart contracts while letting users keep full control of their funds.
Other projects showcased included Wagey (payroll platform), WorkHippo (peer-to-peer freelancing marketplace), PurelyPeer (gamified advertising), Paytaca AI (pay-per-use artificial intelligence), and Paytaca POS for merchants.
The underlying message was consistent throughout: blockchain technology will ultimately be judged not by the price of digital assets, but by whether useful products and services can actually be built with it.
“Technology creates lasting value when ordinary people can actually use it.” — Joemar Taganna, Paytaca President and CEO
Students built the next generation of applications
Running alongside the conference was the Cash 3.0 Hackathon, where student developers from different colleges and universities built applications using Bitcoin Cash and CashScript.
University of Cebu–Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue took overall champion, followed by ACLC College of Ormoc as first runner-up and University of Cebu Main Campus as second runner-up.
Several teams won category awards:
- ACLC College of Ormoc — Best CashTokens Project (ProofPass)
- University of San Jose–Recoletos — Best Use of CashScript (eSahod)
- STI College Ormoc — Best UI/UX (Pasada)
- ACLC College of Tacloban — Best Merchant Solution (SmartClipCash)
- University of Cebu Main Campus — Most Promising Startup Idea (Hermes)
For us, the hackathon was one of the most encouraging parts of the event. It showed that blockchain development does not have to stay concentrated in established tech centers overseas or in Metro Manila. Young Filipino developers can learn the technology, identify problems in their own communities, and build applications that serve users anywhere.
“The most encouraging part of Cash 3.0 was seeing students, developers, businesses and the community come together in one place. We wanted people to experience Bitcoin Cash not simply as something they hear or read about, but as technology they can actually build with, accept in their businesses and use in everyday transactions. That is how an ecosystem grows — by bringing builders and users together.” — Aaron James Almadro, Paytaca CMO
A marketplace where digital cash was actually used
Cash 3.0 extended outside the conference hall through a three-day bazaar at Robinsons Galleria Cebu. Merchants and attendees used Bitcoin Cash in an actual commercial environment — a live demonstration of peer-to-peer digital commerce rather than just presentations about it.
The combination of bazaar, conference, and hackathon was deliberate. We wanted all the pieces of a working ecosystem in one place: builders, entrepreneurs, merchants, and users.
Speakers and topics
The conference featured speakers from the Philippines and abroad:
- Noel Lovisa, CEO of Code Valley
- Gareth, longtime Bitcoin Cash advocate
- Saqib Noor, surgeon and Bitcoin Cash contributor
- Atty. Rafael Padilla, Filipino fintech lawyer
Topics ranged from merchant adoption and artificial intelligence to the legal foundations of self-custody and peer-to-peer finance. Padilla’s talk on the legal dimensions of self-custody was particularly timely as blockchain applications evolve beyond centralized exchanges.
Technology innovation from the regions
The successful staging of Cash 3.0 also carried significance for technology development outside Metro Manila.
We founded Paytaca in Tacloban City in 2018 and remain headquartered there. From Eastern Visayas, we have developed products intended for users and markets well beyond the region. Holding Cash 3.0 in Cebu brought together two important technology communities in the Visayas and demonstrated that emerging tech companies do not have to originate from Metro Manila to build for national and global markets.
Cebu already has an established technology, startup, education, and business community. Combined with emerging companies and developer communities elsewhere in the Visayas, the region can participate not only as a consumer of technology developed elsewhere but as a place where new financial and digital technologies are designed, tested, and commercialized.
“We want more builders. If we want the Philippines to participate meaningfully in emerging technologies, we cannot be satisfied with simply using products created elsewhere. We need students, developers and entrepreneurs who are capable of creating the technology and businesses themselves.” — Joemar Taganna
Building an economy, not just a technology
Cash 3.0 left us with a clear challenge: transforming promising technology into products people genuinely need and are willing to use. That means better user experiences, sustainable businesses, merchant and user education, and applications that can compete with existing financial platforms.
For Cebu, Eastern Visayas, and the wider Philippine technology community, Cash 3.0 showed that conversations about the future of money do not have to remain theoretical. That future can also be built — and tested — here.
Photos and videos from Cash 3.0 Conference are posted on the conference website: