Web3 builds while the city burns
Paris Blockchain Week (PBW) celebrated its fourth edition in spring 2023 against a backdrop of riots, protests and general civil unrest. Builders in the Bitcoin (BTC), crypto and Web3 spaces were unfazed by protesters singing and dancing on the doorstep of the conference venue.
The incident occurred amid ongoing protests in Paris and worsening macroeconomic conditions in France. Many participants expressed concern about the impact of these factors on the future of the blockchain and crypto industry, especially in Europe.
Still, the overall mood at PBW 2023 was upbeat, with many attendees citing the recent rise in Bitcoin’s price as a sign of growing mainstream acceptance of the technology. As Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier explained to Cointelegraph: “Bitcoin was designed for this.”
“Bitcoin was designed as a reaction to Lehman Brothers in the 2008 crisis. It was designed because you can’t trust central governments. And it’s designed because it’s clear that central governments will fail. It’s not a question of. It’s more a matter of when.”
But as protesters marched at the entrance to “Les Salles du Carousel” – the crypt in the Louvre where the event was held – there appeared to be a disconnect between the Web3 space and reality.
Denelle Dixon, executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation, explained that “It’s kind of like we don’t recognize what’s happening to the developers and what’s happening to the protesters.” Nir Kouris, the founder of Creator Nations, told Cointelegraph that the work of Paris Blockchain Week is “super important”, but it is important to talk to those in the mainstream world:
“We don’t have to live in a bubble to include, embrace, empower all these people from the outside. They have no idea what blockchain is. So our goal is to use different and different terminology so we can include them all in the conversation .”
Cointelegraph interviewed some of the protesters at the event; very few were aware of crypto and some had not heard the word “Bitcoin” before.
The streets of Paris saw fires, rubbish and fire-fighting liquid – an apocalyptic scene for many of the tourists visiting France – but Parisians were unperturbed and some called for calm. Gauthier, a Parisian through and through, shrugged off the protests. It is part of French culture to go out into the streets, he explained.
Another central theme throughout the event was the risk that Web2 companies, including Google, Nasdaq and Facebook, and traditional brands, such as LVMH and Gucci, could collaborate with the Web3 vision. The headliners at PBW included established brand managers from the likes of Diesel and Fiat. What are established retail brands doing at a crypto conference? Animoca Brands CEO Robby Yung wades in:
“The reason there’s a place for them in Web3 is because brands themselves have power. You know, they resonate with consumers, whether it’s gaming brands or, you know, handbag and luxury watch brands. Brands resonate with consumers.”
Web3 provides new ways to innovate, explained Yung. Ryan Nix, head of solution architecture at Coinbase, somewhat agreed. He said Web2 players want to get in on the action, but also need to “disguise difficulties from users.” Ultimately, Nix continued, to gain access to a larger audience, and simplifying the somewhat complicated crypto and blockchain tools could help.
An interesting omission for the 2023 iteration was the notable absence of crypto exchange Binance. In 2022, Binance funded the largest booth at the conference, and Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the crypto exchange, gave a keynote speech. This year, the world’s largest stock exchange is caught up in a lawsuit in the US while the crypto bear market rages on.
Related: BUSD deposits and withdrawals via OCBS suspended on Binance.US
As the industry evolves, events like PBW 2023 will play an increasingly important role in bringing together key players and driving innovation. However, the crypto space needs to start addressing more real-world use cases to reach the mainstream and catch the eyes of the common people who take to the streets of Paris.
