The European Blockchain Convention, held in Barcelona on 25-26 October 2023, was a celebration of Web3 innovation, attracting passionate individuals and organizations eager to shape the digital future. As an attendee, I had the pleasure of meeting numerous Web3 projects and industry experts who expressed genuine enthusiasm about Partisia Blockchain’s revolutionary applications of secure multiparty computation technology (MPC) and hybrid blockchains.
It was heartening to see how they not only appreciated our contributions to privacy-enhancing technologies and blockchain infrastructure but also wanted to continue the conversation, with the aim of becoming builders within our ecosystem.
The convention served as a testament to the collaborative spirit and shared vision of creating a more decentralized, user-centric digital world. Over these two days, attendees were treated to enlightening talks from some of the industry’s finest minds and exposed to game-changing topics such as privacy, secure infrastructure, Real World Assets (RWA), digital identity, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles, and interoperability. In this recap, we will delve into the highlights of this groundbreaking convention and the key takeaways that promise to shape the future of Web3.
Privacy has always been a concern in the digital age, and the Web3 movement is no exception. At the European Blockchain Convention, it became clear that privacy is a fundamental pillar of the Web3 ecosystem. Discussions revolved around how blockchain technology and state-of-the-art cryptography such as MPC and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) can offer users and businesses greater control over their data, preserve privacy and comply with regulations, while still being able to compute on it. Solutions that ensure data sovereignty while enabling secure and private computation were showcased, setting the stage for a future where privacy is not compromised for convenience.
Web3 is all about decentralization and putting control back in the hands of users. Building secure infrastructure is essential to achieving this goal. The convention brought together a diverse group of experts, infrastructure builders, and enterprises dedicated to creating scalable and decentralized networks with high performance and interpretability to other ecosystems. The discussions highlighted the vital role of infrastructure in the success of Web3 projects and the importance of continuous innovation in this field.
Web3’s potential goes far beyond digital currencies and non-fungible tokens. Real World Assets (RWA) are making their presence known, bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds. Several projects showcased at the convention are pioneering solutions that enable the representation and transfer of real-world assets on blockchain networks. This innovation is set to revolutionize industries such as real estate, finance, and supply chain management by tokenizing assets and unlocking new opportunities for global trade and investment.
Digital identity is at the core of Web3’s promise to empower individuals in the digital space. Convention attendees learned how blockchain technology is redefining digital identity, putting users in control of their personal information. Projects focused on self-sovereign identity and decentralized identity management solutions are emerging as key players in the Web3 ecosystem. The discussions at the event explored the importance of identity ownership, the elimination of central authorities, and the protection of user data. Several identity projects showed great interest in the prospect of Partisia Blockchain’s MPC technology that can enhance digital identity with self-sovereign storage and private computation.
A significant addition to the conversations at the convention was the integration of ESG principles into Web3 technologies. Environmental, Social, and Governance factors are increasingly seen as essential components of sustainable and responsible business practices. Many Web3 projects and enterprises are actively incorporating ESG considerations into their strategies. This commitment to sustainability and ethical governance aligns with the broader global movement towards a more environmentally friendly, equitable, and responsible future.
One groundbreaking topic that garnered significant attention was the tokenization of carbon credits. Several Web3 projects are pioneering the digitization of carbon credits, which allows for more accessible and efficient trading and tracking of carbon emissions. By incorporating blockchain technology, Web3 is poised to revolutionize the way we combat climate change. This innovative approach facilitates transparency in carbon trading, encourages environmental responsibility, and furthers the cause of reducing carbon footprints.
Interoperability emerged as a pivotal theme at the convention, underscoring the need for different blockchain networks and Web3 projects to work seamlessly together. The Web3 ecosystem thrives when disparate platforms can communicate and transact with one another. Projects showcased solutions for cross-chain interoperability, allowing assets and data to flow freely between different blockchains. This interconnected Web3 infrastructure promises to unlock new levels of innovation and efficiency by fostering collaboration across the ecosystem.
The European Blockchain Convention in Barcelona was a testament to the growing momentum of the Web3 movement. With a keen focus on privacy, secure infrastructure, Real World Assets (RWA), digital identity, ESG principles, and interoperability, the event provided a snapshot of the innovations and solutions that are shaping the future of Web3.
As we move forward, these discussions and projects will continue to play a pivotal role in building a decentralized, user-centric digital world that addresses the challenges of today and paves the way for a brighter tomorrow. We were honored to witness the strong interest in Partisia Blockchain’s MPC technology and the desire of many projects to join our ecosystem, and we look forward to forging new alliances and innovations in the Web3 landscape.
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During the month of September 2023, I will be traveling to a few conferences, and doing a few speaking engagements. As a part of the conference going, I will be providing a few thoughts on what I have seen, people and projects I have met and the changes and trends emerging in the last year or so in the industry.
From Zug, I traveled south to not only take part in the first large Web3 conference in Milan, but also the privilege to take part in a panel discussion about DAOs. This felt more like a standard Web3 conference with a lot of your usual projects. And the theme was similar, with ZK, DAOs, offramp/onramp and a few DeFi projects. And everyone I spoke with knew or heard about MPC.
The panel was about DAO governance, where we discussed a range of topics including leadership, legal frameworks and of course, the need for privacy. It was enlightening to hear about how DAO’s were maturing. I was honored to be included in quite a list of distinguished panelists, with lawyers, researchers and the BD from MIDAO (Marshall Island DAO).
I also got a chance to meet with one of our projects building on our chain, MetaNames. They are building a naming service on our chain, allowing for the name to support all BYOC assets and not just MPC. With them very close to launching in mainnet, it was the perfect time to discuss next steps.
This wrapped up my conference tours for the month of September. It will be good to get back to my desk and begin exploring the leads we were able to find and also get back to actually getting some work done!
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During the month of September 2023, I will be traveling to a few conferences, and doing a few speaking engagements. As a part of the conference going, I will be providing a few thoughts on what I have seen, people and projects I have met and the changes and trends emerging in the last year or so in the industry.
My first time in Singapore! The second week of my event experience was at Token2049 in Singapore where I got my first taste of a city I heard so much about but never experienced. I expected it to be a very high end place with expensive cars and high rises. To my surprise it was more like a mix between Hong Kong and Miami. A very laid back Hong Kong maybe? Either way it is an amazing place and I am wishing I could stay a bit longer
The week was far more busy than Korea Blockchain Week (KBW) where there was a significant event every day.
Monday: Eth Singapore — The event was co-hosted by AngelHack who is a good friend of ours. Ryan, the CEO, helped us feel at home and we discussed our potential future collaboration. It was once again devoid of L1 but I did see quite a number of cloud computing providers selling their services. From Google to Huawei, more and more cloud service providers were looking to help build nodes on blockchains.
Tuesday: Decompute (MPC conference) — On Tuesday, I visited a specifically MPC based conference called Decompute. Yes, an actual MPC dedicated conference in a blockchain week. It was amazing to see a ton of MPC focused blockchains coming up and to me it showed the continued emergence of privacy solutions in blockchains. From Nillion to Aptos to other various smaller names, a lot of folks were working on MPC solutions. In fact, during the Q&A session with Aptos, someone raised a question asking “how does this compare to Partisia Blockchain’s preprocessing method?” 0_o Wow, someone who actually has heard of us! I made sure I got his contact and will be following up with him in the future.
Wednesday: IoTex side event (where we were one of the sponsors) —Wednesday was the big event for us where we had Brian Gallagher, one of our Co-Founders, speak in a large side event held by IoTex (one of our future integration partners) and we presented our interoperability model. We also showcased our new banners which we think are much cleaner than our old ones. While I grayed out the new logo here on these pictures, we will be revealing this soon. With Vinny Leow and Markus Spillmann with us, we made sure our presence was felt!
Thursday: Token2049 —Thursday was the visit to the main conference. And there was a huge difference between KBW and Token2049. It was two full floors filled with booths to the brim. There was absolutely no way you could visit them all and all I got was just a very small sample of the different projects that were on display there. It certainly did not feel like a bear market at all.
With that said, like in KBW, the main theme was in ZKP, interoperability, NFT and a lot of service providers.
I met up with a ton of potential leads, which we will combine with the KBW and beginning next week, we will begin following up on them.
My next stop will be in Zug to attend the CV Summit with a larger Partisia Blockchain team in early October and then off to Milan for a speaking engagement at EthMilan. If you are around the area, please let me know.
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