Blockchain technology and the decentralizing effects of distributed ledgers have enormous amounts of potential and may mean the Internet will never be the same again. The fact that one could eventually run vast applications without any servers is equally transformational. But it’s still very much a wild west out there in terms of ascertaining who is working on ‘the real deal’.
The blockchain world is currently weighed down with the expectations of dubious crypto-currency speculators and sky-high ICOs and hacks that are interfering with a frank conversation about the future.
Which is why TechCrunch has decided to throw its hat into the ring and try to bring together the leading players in the space for a frank discussion and inquiry into this next phase in Zug, Switzerland, this July.
At TC Sessions: Blockchain 2018, TechCrunch’s editors will bring together top figures in the blockchain technology world to discuss how and where blockchain technology is going to disrupt the status quo.
We’re delighted to announce that Jun Hasegawa, CEO / Founder of Omise, a multinational payments company currently present in Thailand (HQ), Japan, Singapore and Indonesia that has raised over $50M in funding.
In 2015, his desire to push the boundaries led Omise to become the very first financial services company to join the Ethereum community. In 2017, after over a year of research and development, this culminated in the launch of OmiseGO, the crowd-funded blockchain division tasked with creating the OMG network. This is an Ethereum-based public blockchain with the ambitious vision of enabling financial service equity by radically decentralizing value transfer and exchange.
Prior to founding payments Omise, Jun was involved in founding a series of tech companies in Japan mainly in the fields of e-commerce, lifelog and mobile payments and is currently based in Bangkok.
We’ll also be joined by one of the leading proponents of blockchain tech to track the provenance of real-world objects.
Leanne Kemp, is Founder & CEO of Everledger – a digital, global ledger that tracks and protects items of value.
Using her knowledge of emerging technologies, business, jewelry and insurance, Everledger is aiming at a new kind of global transparency for luxury, constructing a digital verification system that assists in the reduction of fraud, black markets, and trafficking.
Everledger was recently named Best Blockchain Company at the Financial Tech Awards 2016, Best Newcomer at the Asia Insurance Technology Awards 2016, Innovator of the Year at the Penrose Awards, and Best B2B Start-up at the Digital Top 50 Awards.
TC Sessions: Blockchain 2018 is being built on the hugely successful Disrupt San Francisco 2017 event, which included discussions on blockchain startups, cryptocurrency and ICOs with guests such as Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin.
But why is it in Zug, Switzerland?
Well, Zug has become known as “Crypto Valley” because of the numerous blockchain companies that have moved there to capitalize on the canton’s forward-thinking approach to regulation and favorable tax approach for cutting-edge projects.
As well as the above speakers we’ll also be joined by Brian Behlendorf, the executive director of the Hyperledger project, an open source, collaborative effort advancing blockchain technologies in areas like marketplaces, data-sharing networks, micro-currencies and decentralized digital communities.
At the event we’ll be covering how decentralization will impact the internet and web services today; how big businesses and enterprises are moving forward to tap the potential of the blockchain; what the future of financing through crypto and ICOs might look like; and the important technological breakthroughs and challenges facing blockchain.
More speakers are due to be announced in the coming weeks and months, but you can already buy a ticket here.
If you’re interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at this event, contact us here.
