CryptoBlockcon LA 2018: Downtown’s Finest

CryptoBlockCon kicked off their four city conference tour of 2018 with a two day event in Downtown Los Angeles. Blockchain Beach moderated two panels and live tweeted many others. For the full set of tweets, visit our Twitter account or read below for the highlights:

Wednesday April 4th

Chris Snook, from the World Tokenonmic Forum, hosted the evening event. His organization is hosting a 32-start up competition at their annual event this year:

Kicking off #CryptoBlockCon is @chrisjsnook from @worldtokenomic #CryptoBlockCon #BlockchainBeach pic.twitter.com/Wv8953ooYM

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

Steve Masur, of Masur Griffitts + LLP, described how new this industry is for everyone, including the regulators that are being tasked with moving quickly:

“If all you have is a hammer, then all you’ll see is nails” – @masur discussing how regulators need better tools to make decisions about Blockchain regulation #CryptoBlockCon pic.twitter.com/MaeJQDdw1L

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

And fashion was on display:

Gotta love the Tesla boots on Rahul Sonnad @tesloop #CryptoBlockCon #BlockchainBeach pic.twitter.com/gkxx6lnznd

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

Thursday, April 5th

The day started bright and early with an opening keynote from the esteemed CEO of Wax and OPskins, William Quigley:

Welcome to the Blockchain era @quigleyreport @wax_io #CryptoBlockCon pic.twitter.com/kl35CwYpx9

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

And don’t forget that it’s never to late to get involved:

“Every year I tell people to get involved with #Blockchain and they say they “wish they got in last year, but it’s too late now.” It’s not too late” – @quigleyreport #CryptoBlockCon

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

Next up was a panel on sending wealth:

"Sending Wealth: The Future & Possibilities with Crypto Assets" panel @CryptoBlockCon w/@NEMofficial VP Jeff McDonald, @FinhavenHQ CEO Boris Mann, Wampei CEO Russell Castagnero, @CryptoTradersCo CEO Adam Wood, @evangreenberg #cryptoblockcon pic.twitter.com/zYM53YxuYS

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

With a bit of history on the origins of the NEM Blockchain:

"@NEMofficial wasn't an ICO because things weren't ICO's back then…We collected less than $100k in donations which eventually led to a market cap of almost $2B" -NEM VP Jeff McDonald #CryptoBlockCon pic.twitter.com/5WlFPSRQXp

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

And the future of our digital tribes:

No, not (just) currencies! Tokens representing tribes, regional areas, open source apps, and any other incentives and groups that humans care about #cryptoblockconLA https://t.co/yc4XGJQ0Lq

— Boris Mann (@bmann) April 5, 2018

The next panel of the day featured a number of Women Leaders in Blockchain:

Next panel: @amyywan moderating the Female Leaders of Blockchain with @crystalrose of @sensay, @PhuStyles, @leah_cb of @intimate_io, @SimoneSyed of @VelorumCapital, and Alexandra Tinsman @NEMofficial #CryptoBlockCon #BlockchainBeach pic.twitter.com/PRsrOgu9y3

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

The women had great recommendations on how women can get involved:

“My recommendation to any women that wants to be in the Blockchain space is to show up and speak up.” – A. Tinsman @NEMofficial #CryptoBlockCon #WomeninBlockchain

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

How men can help women:

“The best thing you can do (to support #WomeninBlockchain is promote our efforts” – @SimoneSyed

“And mentor” – @leah_cb

“And invest/hire” – @PhuStyles

“Yes, but women also need to ask for what they want/need. Can’t expect anyone to read your mind” – A. Tinsman @NEMofficial

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

And how men can not hurt themselves:

“Whisper networks are real. We will confer (on bad actors) and we’re fricken powerful. Stay on the good list.” – @SimoneSyed @VelorumCapital

“Other side of the problem is men not taking meetings because of “risk.” Just act appropriately.” – @crystalrose @sensay#CryptoBlockCon

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

Later in the day, was a interesting panel on investing in Blockchain companies:

Now: Investing in Blockchain with Lindsey Maule (@lindzjm), Keith Herman (IPA Equities/PMBC Group), Ben Marks (Blocktrade Capital), Eli Blatt (BitFinance) with Moderator, our own @John_Marchesini #CryptoBlockCon pic.twitter.com/0TFxALIQ1Y

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

And there was a great warning from Lindsey Maule of Luna Capital about the dangers of only looking at a project’s community at the surface level:

“Be careful with an engaged community being your investment criteria. An army of bots can make it look like a real conversation is going on when it’s not” – @lindzjm #CryptoBlockCon

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 5, 2018

CryptoBlockCon closed out the day with a Keynote from Crystal Rose, CEO of Sensay and the SENSE token project:

Closing Keynote from @crystalrose @sensay #CryptoBlockCon pic.twitter.com/9wDulewX5a

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 6, 2018

She discussed the Japanese concept of Ikigai and what it means to have a fulfilling purpose in life:

.@crystalrose explains how Ikigai, the Japanese concept of purpose being the overlap of what you love, what the world needs, what you’re good at, and what you’re paid for. With Blockchains, you remove the pay because earning value is built in to the other three #CryptoBlockCon

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 6, 2018

In closing, she touched on the recent trouble with Facebook and the opportunity that lies ahead:

“We’ve been giving our data away for free for 20 years, which is great because we’ve created a system that’s changed the world. Now we have the opportunity to earn value/rewards from our data” – @crystalrose @sensay #CryptoBlockCon

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) April 6, 2018

With the New York CryptoBlockCon coming up next in August, the conference organizers are going to have to work hard to top what they accomplished in Los Angeles the past few days!