Annual tech gathering takes aim at crypto

One of the world’s biggest tech gatherings kicks off in the Portuguese capital on Tuesday, and organizers say a main goal is to ask tough questions about cryptocurrencies.

Around 100,000 people are expected to gather in Lisbon for the four-day Web Summit and related events, the first full-scale edition since 2019 after the disruption of the pandemic.

The conference tries to bring together start-ups, investors, business leaders and agenda-expanding speakers – linguist Noam Chomsky and heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk are among this year’s selection.

However, several of the best slots have been taken by cryptocurrency specialists led by Changpeng Zhao, the head of the crypto exchange Binance.

And many companies in attendance – from startups to billion-dollar companies Yuga Labs and OpenSea – are promoting the technology that fans claim will be the future of the web, gaming and ultimately the entire financial system.

But crypto has so far been derided as a tool for generating investment bubbles, hiding illicit wealth and enabling fraud.

Conference organizer Paddy Cosgrave told AFP there were “a lot of questions to be answered” about crypto, describing it as “mostly smoke and mirrors”.

“We’ve done our best to persuade a lot of the leading lights in the space to come and some of them will have a bit of a kick on stage, we’ll see how that goes,” he added.

Crypto skeptics including actor Ben McKenzie (Gotham, The OC) have also been given slots.

Organizers said the event’s 70,000 tickets were sold out, and Cosgrave estimated around 30,000 more people would be in Lisbon for side events.

Focus on whistleblowers

Zhao’s company is the dominant player in the crypto sector, but it has repeatedly been accused of trying to avoid regulatory scrutiny – claims the company has denied.

And it got involved in one of the biggest stories of the week, with a $500 million investment to back Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.

But the broader crypto sector is struggling with falling values ​​and flattering interest from the public.

And the tech industry as a whole is also struggling with supply chain issues, trade disputes between the US and China, and economic volatility that have sent investors fleeing.

However, Cosgrave played down any suggestion that conferences such as his had a role in stimulating investment or turning around the sector’s fortunes.

“It’s not really about the establishment or the dominant companies today,” he said.

“It is a collection of companies that in the future can play a significant role.”

As usual, however, the Web Summit will host many figures from the dominant companies – Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta will all be there.

But at a lower level than last year, when the conference was hosted by Facebook’s Nick Clegg and by whistleblower Frances Haugen, who accused their company of fueling hate against clicks.

Cosgrave highlighted the event’s history of giving a platform to whistleblowers – this year Mark MacGann, who revealed details of Uber’s aggressive lobbying, will give a speech.

Organizers say more than 1,000 speakers will attend, speaking on topics from cyber security to artificial intelligence.

© 2022 AFP