Blockchain Beyond The Smartphone: How This One Reaches The Unconnected

Most blockchains promise financial inclusion, but few are designed for users without internet, smartphones or even formal identity documents.

Fedrok AG CEO Dr. Philip Blazdell says that needs to change — and fast.

Speaking to Benzinga, Blazdell explained the on-the-ground reality of deploying blockchain systems in places like Chad, Niger and Papua New Guinea, where infrastructure, trust and digital literacy are minimal.

"In regions without reliable internet, smartphones or formal banking infrastructure, true inclusion means designing tools that work around those limitations," he said.

Fedrok's solution is to engineer blockchain systems that work through USSD and SMS-based wallets, often operated from basic feature phones, allowing people in off-grid environments to interact with digital systems.

But the technological challenge is only half the problem.

"One of the most surprising challenges we've encountered is not technological, but cultural: trust," Blazdell said. "In many underserved areas, people don't trust banks, governments, or unfamiliar digital systems, but they do trust local cooperatives, elders, or religious leaders."

To bridge that gap, Fedrok partners with local agents and community leaders to onboard users, explain value flows, and support transactions.

The company also embeds community-based verification into its decentralized identity systems, especially important in areas where conventional KYC processes are impossible due to the lack of birth certificates, addresses, or national IDs.

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“Without this kind of support, even the best-designed Web3 tools can fail to gain traction,” Blazdell added.

Fedrok is also integrating education and user support into its deployments, ranging from radio programming to local theatre performances to introduce digital tools in local languages.

The company is currently piloting tokenized reward systems tied to environmental outcomes, such as mangrove planting or waste cleanups. These tokens can then be redeemed for real-world essentials like school fees or fertilizer vouchers.

Blazdell emphasized that for financial inclusion to succeed, "blockchain must be invisible to the user. They just see the outcome: a fertilizer voucher, a school fee paid, or a token earned for planting trees."

Fedrok's broader mission goes beyond financial inclusion.

It also includes the creation of its own Layer 1 blockchain protocol, tailored for environmental validation and ESG compliance.

But the company's approach, Blazdell says, always starts at the edges, where connectivity is sparse, access is limited and trust is earned in person.

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