Page 14 - CSA Speaker Bulletin December 2017

Page 14 - CSA Speaker Bulletin December 2017 | CSA Celebrity Speakers

P. 14

TECHNOLOGY

Blockchain Technology
Has Become the Paradigm

Shift it Promised to Be

PETER VESSENES

CO-FOUNDER OF THE BITCOIN FOUNDATION

Peter Vessenes has a long as a bubble. Those in the know now taking a hard look at the
history in blockchain as the have no doubt about blockchain’s ICO arena—including backing
co-founder of the Bitcoin far-reaching impact: Entire companies ahead of planned ICOs.
Foundation and its first industries will change, economies
executive director and will decentralize, and the nature of Blockchain technology today
chairman. He launched transactions will transform. seems like the internet did in
the first Venture-backed 1992, poised to disrupt everything.
Bitcoin Company in 2011: Technology startups are already It is opening up a wealth of new
CoinLab, Inc. and has embracing the disruption. By possibilities in all sectors including
advised the Department of using blockchain technology and energy, finance, retail, banking,
Treasury, FinCEN and the US tokenized models, Cryptocurrency education and government.
Senate GAO, among others. startups raised $3.2 billion in And as the market scales, there
His newest enterprise, 2017 so far through Initial Coin are principles emerging that no
New Alchemy, provides Offerings (ICOs). It works like business should ignore. Those who
technology, token game this—companies planning to build view blockchain and tokenization
theory and ICO advisory to new services on the blockchain as hype will miss out on one of the
the world’s most innovative use tokens as a mechanism for the most powerful technological and
companies. New Alchemy has exchange of information and value economic shifts of this era. It will
been involved in over $2bn of within their product. They sell be their loss!
tokenization since its launch these tokens through ICOs early
14 months ago. in the evolution of the service, Speaking Topics:
to let token holders get in on the
The cryptocurrency market is action right at the start. With • Mobile Money
currently at $200 billion up from this new model of decentralized • Cryptocurrency
10 billion a year and a half ago. funding, entrepreneurs can fund • Emerging Trends in
When I started in this industry, their companies without ceding
the crypto-market was still only any ownership stakes to venture Technology
at $250,000. Since that time, capitalists. It’s a paradigm shift • Entrepreneurship
‘Blockchain’ has become a that is upending the $500 billion • Blockchain - Tapping the
misunderstood buzzword; used institution of venture capital
by enterprises as a stand-in for itself. And despite reservations Firestorm
innovation and trashed by many about legal, regulatory and • Bitcoin and Exponential
administrative issues, VCs are
Growth
• Venture Investing in the

Blockchain

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