The first day of the summit begins
Paris Blockchain Week (PBW) started its fourth year as one of the world’s largest conferences dealing with all things blockchain, crypto and Web3. The event has over 10,000 participants and was sold out last year.
After two days packed with hackathons, talent fairs and investor demos, the main event of the week, the summit, started on March 22.
The Cointelegraph team is stationed in Paris to bring readers the latest news from the ground, presented below in ascending order (latest story at top). Timestamps are in UTC.
Paris Blockchain Week Summit 2023: Day 1
4:40 p.m.: Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier gave a keynote speech discussing Bitcoin:
“You can try to explain why you think it’s wrong, but you should always have a reasonable doubt. It’s just like if you don’t believe in God, that’s fine. But you should always have a reasonable doubt, because the day you die, you will find out.”
1:40 p.m.: 2022 was the year of epic crypto collapses, with the collective failures of Terra, Celsius, Three Arrows Capital and FTX leaving a blemish on the industry. A panel as part of the Open Finance stream discussed how the crypto industry can recover from these events in light of the recent bank failures in the United States. Read more here.
12:40 p.m.: Metaverse regulation was on the agenda during an industry panel that included representatives from IBM Consulting France, Jacob Avocats, France Meta, Crypto Circle, Metacircle and Fenwick. The general takeaway from the panel was that companies must take calculated, strategic risks to increase their Web3 ambitions. “Get comfortable with discomfort,” said one panelist. Read more here.
12:00: Tether Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino spoke about the recent USDC saga and stated that Bitcoin is the “ultimate way” to hold wealth in an exclusive conversation with Cointelegraph’s Joseph Hall.
While discussing the USDC depeg, Ardoino said that stablecoin issuers should always ensure that their reserves remain protected. Read more here.
11:00 a.m.: Bitcoin proponent Tim Draper was the next keynote speaker, discussing “The Decentralization of Everything.” Draper spoke about the need for decentralization in today’s times amid reduced trust in the banking system. He advised people to use Bitcoin to protect themselves against bad governance and banking.
Draper also sang a poem about Bitcoin and how the asset has outperformed traditional financial tools amid the growing banking crisis. Read more here.
10:00 a.m.: The first round of panel discussions kicked off, with Cointelegraph Editor-in-Chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderating a discussion on the evolving role of Web3 technology in the traditional financial ecosystem.
The panel, titled “State of the Chain 2023,” was joined by Patrick McGregor, Chief Product Officer at Coinbase; Matthew Savarese, vice president of Nasdaq Digital Assets; Richard Widmann, Global Head of Web3 Strategy at Google; Dante Disparte, Head of Global Policy at Circle; and Denelle Dixon, Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation.
Live from the State of the Chain 2023 panel at @ParisBlockWeek : @RichJWidmannGlobal Head of Web3 Strategy at @googlecloudunderlines the importance of building value for users in the next evolution of the internet. #PBW2023 pic.twitter.com/8x1hAgJTZG
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 22, 2023
The discussion focused on the state of traditional finance, the recent banking crisis and how Web3-based solutions are becoming the norm in times of financial crisis – something Satoshi Nakamoto himself envisioned when he created Bitcoin.
In addition to reflecting on the current state of Web3, the experts offered their insights and predictions about how things could play out in 2023. read more here.
Another panel discussion around the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, due to come into effect by 2024, saw industry experts weigh in on the impact. The panel was moderated by Sabine Van Haecke-Lepic, a lecturer and researcher at Sciences Po, and was joined by the likes of Gundars Ostrovskis, Team Leader for Digital Finance at the European Commission; Nadia Filali, Director of Blockchain Programs at Caisse des Dépôts; Hubert de Vauplane, partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP; Janet Ho, Head of EU Policy at Chainalysis; and Vytautas Karalevicius, co-founder of Bankera.
The industry experts and regulators commented on the implications and potential impacts of the proposed regulation. read more here.
09:30: The following keynote address was delivered by Stellar Development Foundation Executive Director, Denelle Dixon. She talked about the real-world use cases of blockchain technology, focusing on humanitarian aid. Dixon emphasized that blockchain technology can bring efficiencies to aid distribution, especially when those who need it most are unbanked.
9:00 in the morning: The opening keynote for the event came from Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, who spoke about the importance of decentralized networks in traditional finance. Lubin highlighted the diversity of the Web3 space and how it has helped the ecosystem grow stronger with a wide range of talent.
08:30: The next keynote came from Henri Arslanian, co-founder of investment banking firm Nine Blocks Capital Management, and focused on the latest global crypto trends – including Bitcoin, central bank digital currencies and non-fungible tokens.
Arslanian shed light on some of the past year’s key events in the crypto world, from the growth of Bitcoin to the many crypto contagions and recent bank runs. He emphasized that there will be more stress on regulations and transparency in the future.
at 8:00 a.m.: The first day of the summit started with a keynote from Zahreddine Touag, co-founder of Paris Blockchain Week. During his keynote, he emphasized the need for events like PBW and its role in building business relationships and connecting with new people.
Investor panel: What are the best investment opportunities in Web3?
In the next panel discussion, which focused on investment opportunities in Web3, investor Marguerite de Tavernost said that the bear market is the best time to enter the crypto market. She added that they provide more time for investors and innovators to build their reputation.
Fabric Ventures co-founder talks Bitcoin, banking crisis
Richard Muirhead, the co-founder of Fabric Ventures, talked about Bitcoin price, inflation, the banking crisis and the new role of Web3 in the middle of it all. He said that with its deflationary properties, Bitcoin is the first use of Web3 and can become a safe haven in times of crisis. He added that Web3 is actively working to solve traditional financial problems, but it may take time for new use cases to emerge, as they represent much more than simple software development.
In-depth discussion about metaverse gaming
Neal Stephenson, an American author and founder of the metaverse project Lamina1, joined Paris Blockchain Week Chairman Michael Amar to discuss the concept of interoperability in metaverse games.
Stephenson, who coined the term “metaverse” in the 1990s, also spoke with Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr about the evolution of the word. Read more here.
Stephenson said the idea of interoperability is vexing for some game developers, as many have been focused on building their own ecosystems for years, like Fortnite and Minecraft. He explained that the idea of interoperability seems like an abomination because all it offers at this point is dragging and dropping assets from one game to another.
Cointelegraph behind the scenes on day two
The Cointelegraph team kicked off the second day of Paris Blockchain Week 2023 with a reflection on the cultural and historical depth of the venue:
Things at @ParisBlockWeek that just makes sense #PBW2023 pic.twitter.com/Sd8P6TxHJs
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 21, 2023
Web3 is the headline item on the agenda on day one of the summit
The main agenda for March 21 revolves around the scope of Web3 in today’s world. The one-day Web3XP event focuses on how brands and creators can generate value in the metaverse and how Web2 companies can transition to Web3. The event will see professionals representing consumer brands, gaming, collectibles, art and fashion in one place.
Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall attends pre-summit events
The pre-summit events at PBW 2023 included a talent fair.
The Cointelegraph team arrives in Paris
Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, video director Jackson DuMont and reporter Joseph Hall are deployed on the ground in Paris all week to deliver the latest developments from the conference.
Investor Day
Investors Day kicked off the week of March 20, bringing together investors interested in Web3, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), metaverse and blockchain applications.
Stay tuned for continuous updates from PWB, including key takeaways, highlights and behind-the-scenes footage.
Paris Blockchain Week starts
The 2023 edition of PBW features speakers from some of the industry’s biggest players, such as ConsenSys, Ledger, Animoca Brands, Algorand, Reddit and more. Consisting of the main summit and the Web3-focused Web3XP, the main topics include public policy, enterprise blockchain, open finance, Web3 art, and investment in Web3 culture and entertainment, among others.
PBW also has a dedicated event for investors, a competition for startups, a hackathon and several side events.
Last year’s event saw around 3,000 summit attendees and featured keynotes and fireside chats from some of the most prominent figures in the industry, such as Binance’s Changpeng Zhao and Tether’s Paolo Ardoino, among many others.
