If you want to know the current state of the cryptocurrency world as well as where it is heading, Consensus 2019 conference, organised by CoinDesk, is an event for you. Since 2015, this event brings together thought leaders, developers, investors and other stakeholders in the blockchain and crypto universe. And this year, the organisers want to encourage participants to find answers to several critical questions.
A Foundational Question for the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency World
One of those critical questions is Is the freedom to transact a universal human right?
In order to find answers to this important question, Consensus 2019 will hold an open debate, covering topics such as censorship resistance, anonymity and de-platforming.
What is the price of creating a global, decentralized, digital money? Should the ability to pay, fund-raise, and otherwise engage in economic activity on a blockchain be enshrined as a human right? When is the common good more important than individual liberty?
These are just some of the questions the organisers are already posing, which is a pretty good indicator that The Consensus Debate: Is the Freedom to Transact a Universal Human Right? will be an interesting debate, to say the least.
The moderator of the debate will be Stephen Palley, a partner at Anderson Kill, a corporate law firm. Panellists include the following experts:
- Amber Baldet, CEO at Clovyr and board member at Zcash;
- Yaya Fanusie, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies;
- Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at Human Rights Foundation;
- Vinay Gupta, CEO at Mattereum.
A Closer Look at the Event Agenda
In addition to this main debate, there will be many other interesting discussions and speeches. For example, CoinDesk’s director of research will present an overview of the industry from their quarterly State of Blockchain report. The future of mainstream adoption will be discussed in the panels such as From Digital Gold to Contract Theory: The Economics of Mainstream Adoption
, Cat and Mouse? Securing Digital Assets and the Future of Adoption
, as well as Coordination Game: Can Global Bodies Spur Blockchain Adoption?
.
Speakers will also tackle topics such as mining, blockchain use cases in medicine and healthcare, stablecoins, and blockchain privacy.
By applying a holistic approach to the debates, the speakers will help attendees understand the big picture as well as the context of each topic.
In general, there are three main categories for this year’s event, and they are: markets, business, and technology. Let’s take a closer look at each of them.
1. Markets
The speakers in this section include cryptocurrency exchange managers, traders, institutional investors and regulators. They will approach sensitive and important topics such as:
- What are countries across the world doing to regulate cryptocurrencies? How will players on this market be affected by these decisions?
- How can blockchain technology coexist with traditional financial services?
- What is the cryptocurrency industry doing in order to support long-term growth and mass adoption?
2. Business
This stage will focus on use cases of cryptocurrency and blockchain in various industries. Also, representatives from various corporations will present innovative ways in which they plan to adopt and adapt blockchain technology. Some hot topics under debate will be:
- How can token offerings fit in the capital formation landscape? And how will new rules and guidelines influence this practice?
- How can gamification encourage mass adoption of cryptocurrency? What are the key players doing in this respect?
- Can the public sector become one of the key promoters of large-scale adoption of blockchain technology?
- What are the challenges to mass adoption and how can the industry overcome them?
3. Technology
If you want to meet the people who develop decentralised applications and infrastructure, this is the stage for you. Here, you will learn about:
- Why is privacy important and how does the blockchain help protect it?
- What will the cryptocurrency world look like in 10, 20 or even 50 years?
- How can blockchain technology create an open financial system?
- What are developers and regulators doing to define the roadmap for crypto mining in the future?
How to Attend Consensus 2019
The conference will take place in New York between 13 May and 15 May. Since there are so many things happening in such a short time, the organisers booked two venues: New York Hilton Midtown and Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. To make things easier for participants, the organisers have negotiated discounted prices for rooms in these hotels.
If you are interested, you can reserve your place here. If you recommend the event to someone from your network, they can benefit from a US$100 discount, and you also get a US$100 refund. The organisers accept payment with various credit cards, personal/corporate/travellers checks and of course Bitcoin.
