Agenda
November 17th
Building a Blockchain Behemoth
Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world, and its founder and CEO, Chinese-Canadian billionaire Changpeng Zhao, is so well-known that he’s often referred to by his initials alone – “CZ.” Binance’s scale has attracted scrutiny from regulators across the globe, yet the exchange has managed to maintain a cult-like popularity among its customers. Zhao will give us a rare peek behind the curtain at Binance, sharing his insights on what it takes to run the company in a choppy market and his biggest hopes, fears and predictions about its future in this virtual interview.
Keeping the Web3 Dream Funded
Billions in capital were raised by crypto native funds and web3 VCs during an unprecedented bull run, but as the crypto markets turn bearish, how will investors keep their web3 dream alive? We talk to some of the most influential investors in the crypto space about which potential bets are too early, too late and right on time.
Robo-taxis in the Metaverse
How does autonomous transportation operate in the Meta-verse? In this session, we’ll build a autonomous car in a simulated environment using computer vision and path planning algorithms. Then, we’ll integrate a Polygon wallet with the car, so that the car is able to extend its autonomy to not only drive itself, but pay for its own repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.
Networking Break
Bringing DeFi to the Masses: How Do We Make DeFi a Seamless, Easy Reality for Millions of Users Who Aren’t Crypto Experts?
Currently, 72 percent of the world’s population has, or will soon have, access to instant payments, according to the 2022 Worldpay from FIS Global Payments Report. Many markets are also replacing or renovating their established real-time services to cater to instant payments. What does it take to onboard these users to a Web3-first, DeFi world? How simple must it be, and how quickly can we get there? This session will address these questions and more, from the perspective of one of the world’s largest payment firms.
Keeping It Legal
The legal issues associated with crypto and Web3 are complex. Tech companies may need to consider balancing the ethos of the blockchain industry with protecting their revenue models and reducing regulatory risk. How are they structuring financings – with equity or tokens or both? How can they protect their IP in an open-source world? What contracts do they need with customers and service partners? And what are the best ways to operate within regulatory uncertainty and an anticipated wave of enforcement actions? Leading attorneys from a variety of practice groups at Wilson Sonsini, one of the pathbreaking law firms in the crypto space, will address these and other questions, including questions from the audience.
Crypto's on Fire But Devs Are Still Building
The crypto world is full of volatile moments and heavy market swings, but in between it all: developers are still building. But what’s really happening behind the scenes? When the whole crypto world is seemingly focused on the currently imploding market, what are developers focused on creating and scaling? Where do they see the future of web3 and how can these developers and builders alike prevent their own projects from facing an unwanted death?
Networking Break
TechCrunch Crypto Pitch-off
The industry’s brightest entrepreneurs will take the stage in front of a live audience and a panel of industry experts, pitching revolutionary technologies.
A Non-Fungible Empire
Few in the crypto space saw the explosive adoption of NFTs happening this quickly this soon, but NFT marketplace startup OpenSea, which was founded back in 2017, was waiting in the wings. Fast forward to present day, and there have been tens of billions of dollars in NFT transaction volume with OpenSea handling the lion’s share of those sales. CEO Devin Finzer has so far fended off marketplace competitors from well-funded public behemoths and upstart threats, but can the $13.3 billion startup hold its lead through a bear market?
Securing Web3
As blockchain boosters continue to onboard swaths of consumers to their vision of the crypto web, a central question has been how the underlying tech can be optimized to keep these new users safe. We’ll talk to a panel of experts with expertise in blockchains, decentralized apps and protocols on how web3 technologists can build a more secure environment for users.
Creating a True, User-Led Metaverse
The metaverse provides a virtual space that connects people, worlds, and communities. A place where users can exchange currency and goods between themselves, not the company behind the platform. As the internet evolves, we hold the responsibility to create platforms that encompass diversity and inclusion, ownership of data, security, and sustainability. As leaders in this space, how do we create an environment that allows users and creators to explore their imaginations and earning potential without limits?
Someone Stole Your Bitcoin…Now What?
As high-profile crypto and NFT thefts continue to haunt wary investors who are already navigating a harsh crypto winter, robust security developments are growing increasingly more important. Fortunately for investors and business owners alike, there is finally a way to protect digital assets against the worst-case scenario.This session will cover how, for the first time ever, bitcoin can be frozen and recovered through the DAR Process – a Digital Asset Recovery Process that makes it possible for property rights to be enforced to recover stolen or lost bitcoin. Join this discussion on how this is the first, crucial step toward safeguarding all digital assets against theft and scams within the rule of law, how investors can use this tool, and how platforms can easily adopt this process to better protect users.
Networking Break
Building for Normies
The most-hyped decentralized apps have typically been built for crypto speculators or decentralized finance acolytes, but a new breed of products are being crafted with the common internet user in mind. Join us, as we chat with the founders of some of web3’s most exciting consumer apps and pick their brains on mainstream audience opportunities and the challenges of building consumer crypto businesses in a bear market.
Fundraising in a Crypto Winter
The days of flashy deal terms for pre-product crypto startups may be a thing of the past as the industry stares down an uncertain next few years. We talk with a number of veteran crypto founders on how young founders can keep a steady source of funding during the bear market and what their investors might like to see.
The Future of Finance
In this session, Polygon, a leading Ethereum scaling platform, will discuss why DeFi remains superior to CeFi, how Polygon is empowering DeFi developers and Polygon’s approach to tackle liquidity and new users via partnerships with Stripe, Robinhood, Nubank and many more.
Is Crypto Regulation Ready?
As crypto markets continue to gain mainstream adoption, regulators globally are watching the young industry with laser focus. But which crypto companies, protocols and projects will be compliant within the current regulatory framework? And how will the crypto industry respond when government agencies start providing new guidelines? We talk to some of the brightest people in the space who will dig into what regulation means for the industry in 2022.
Wrap
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