The first day of the summit begins

by · March 22, 2023

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.”

Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier gave a keynote speech on the Master Stage at PBW. Source: Cointelegraph

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.

A panel discussion titled “FTX, Luna, Celsius, 3AC: From Hero to Zero” at Paris Blockchain Week. Source: Live stream

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.

Arena in Paris Blockchain Week. Source: Cointelegraph

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.

Cointelegraph journalist Joseph Hall with Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino at Paris Blockchain Week.

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.

Tim Draper advocated for Bitcoin against bad governance and banking failures.

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.

Cointelegraph Editor-in-Chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderates a panel at Web3.

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.

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.

Patrick McGregor, Matthew Savarese, Richard Widmann, Dante Disparte, Denelle Dixon and Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr (from left to right).

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.

Gundars Ostrovskis, Sabine Van Haecke-Lepic, Vytautas Karalevicius, Nadia Filali, Hubert de Vauplane and Janet Ho (from left to right).

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.

Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon talks about blockchain’s role in humanitarian aid.

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.

Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin during his opening speech.

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.

Henri Arslanian talks about global crypto trends.

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.

The Paris Blockchain Week Summit started with a keynote by Zahreddine Touag.

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.

Ivan de Lastours de Bernarde, Katelin Holloway, Marguerite de Tavernost, Michael Amar, Andrei Brasoveanu and Richard Muirhead (left to right)

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.

Neal Stephenson and Michael Amar (left to right).

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:

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.

On March 20, there was a relatively crowded talent fair tailored for the crypto and blockchain industry. Source: Cointelegraph

Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall attends pre-summit events

The pre-summit events at PBW 2023 included a talent fair.

The Cointelegraph team makes sure you get the best angle.

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.

Jackson DuMont, Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr and Joseph Hall (from left to right). Source: Cointelegraph

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.