Ethereal Summit: Day 1 Recap

Blockchain Beach provided live coverage of the Ethereal Summit by Consensys on May 10 at the Knockdown Center in New York. The first day of the conference showcased voices from all over the world and focused on blockchain’s impact on global development.

Here are the Day 1 highlights:  (Looking for Day 2?  Click here)

The opening Keynote was from Aya Miyaguchi, the Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation:

"Blockchain has the potential to make the world better by recovering the balance society has lost" – @mi_ayako @ConsenSys #ethereal #ETH pic.twitter.com/FwoUnGViaX

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

She announced that the 2018 Ethereum Developer’s Conference (DevCon IV) will be held October 30 – November 2 2018 in Prague, Czech.

Ethereum Developers Conference 2018 (DevCon IV) ? set for 10/30-11/2 in Prague, Czech #ethereal #EtherealNY #ETH –@VitalikButerin @mi_ayako pic.twitter.com/3UeYTjR9zr

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

Later, we were joined by Eva Kaili from the EU Parliament. She made sure to dispel the myth that Bitcoin is good for crime and fraud:

"If you're a criminal or want to do something illegal, do not use Bitcoin" –@EvaKaili #ethereal #etherealny pic.twitter.com/nkmMjH8uCg

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

She also found it very interesting that some recent disruptors, like Uber, have the potential of being disrupted soon:

"@Uber was met with resistance in Europe, but now (with Blockchain) we're seeing a disruption of the disruptors" –@EvaKaili #etherealny #EtherealNY #ethereal pic.twitter.com/SeuchOVp49

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

The next panel focused on the Middle East, including Rahilla Zafar, Managing Director of Consensys. She had a very interesting statistic about the population of Saudi Arabia:

"Saudi Arabia has the highest data consumption per Twitter and YouTube user per capita. We expect Blockchain (technology to follow)" –@rahilla #etherealny #EtherealNY #Ethereal @ConsenSys pic.twitter.com/DOB0Z5eI6c

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

Next, Wall Street Journal writer Paul Vigna gave the audience a bit of a history lesson:

"Luca Pacioli didn't invent double ledger accounting, but he did write the guidebook…which helped capitalism become an explosive force over the next 5 centuries" –@paulvigna #Ethereal #EthereumNY #blockchain pic.twitter.com/VlPdqOEC2Y

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

He also took a couple shots at tech companies that were used for foreign electoral interventions:

"(Blockchain) is a technology-based social movement that was born out of a crisis. 500 years ago you needed an army to overthrow a government…Today, you simply need an @AdSense account and a web page…" –@paulvigna #Ethereal #EtherealNY @WSJTech pic.twitter.com/dZjPhzO6dW

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

Sandra Ro, CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), addressed how blockchain technology can help smaller, developing nations. Previously, she was the Head of Digitization at the CME Group and her work led to launching Bitcoin Futures near the end of 2017.

"If a nation has an indigenous plant that is used for pharma/medicinal purposes, should it share in the profits from the medicines that are derived? If so, Blockchain can help." –@srolondon #EthereumNY #ethereal pic.twitter.com/Lkmiig9NQN

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

Later, Bermuda Premier David Burt made a number of interesting announcements, including one about Overstock and tZERO:

“@OverstockCEO will use Bermuda as an innovation hub for @Overstock Blockchain portfolio companies, including @tzeroblockchain @medici_ventures” –@BermudaPremier #ethereal #EtherealNY pic.twitter.com/6tuogfJbW2

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

Day 1 closed with a keynote from for former JPMorgan Blockchain Lead, Amber Baldet. Her latest venture is still in stealth mode, so she discussed some common misconceptions in Blockchain (a topic Blockchain Beach is passionate about as well!).

The beginning of her presentation focused on her thoughts that there will be many Blockchains with their own strengths and weaknesses:

“There’s no such thing as “the Blockchain,” there are many Blockchains. Your first question shouldn’t be: should it be in a Blockchain, but rather which one.” – @AmberBaldet #EtherealNY #EtherealSummit

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

If you want to build on Blockchain, you need to understand which one aligns with your goals:

Choose your Blockchain wisely

Slide by @AmberBaldet #EtherealNY #EtherealSummit pic.twitter.com/g3XL374oPs

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

She moved on to a point that privacy is not binary, there can be selected privacy. She even used an example that made ZK-SNARK make sense:

“ZK-SNARK helps preserve privacy, while exposing selective data. Imagine you could bid on @CryptoKitties with big eyes, but you wouldn’t know what kind of tail any of them have.” – @AmberBaldet #EtherealNY #EtherealSummit #zksnark

— Blockchain Beach (@blocchainbeach) May 11, 2018

You can find our coverage from Day 2 of the event here.  Also, catch our future event coverage by following us on Twitter.