I attended the Token2049 conference in Hong Kong that took place March 20th-21st. The lineup featured well known founders like Vinny Lingham (Civic), Max Kordek (Lisk), Martin Köppelmann (Gnosis), Charles Hoskinson (Cardano), Jimmy Song (Bitcoin Core contributor & Blockchain Capital), Jack Lu (Wanchain), Loi Luu (Kyber Network) and an AI Bot called Sophia. The forum also included several other speakers from different fields in the space. The venue was inside of the Kerry Hotel which is a more modern construction in the Kowloon region of Hong Kong. It overlooks Hong Kong island from across and is quite spectacular. I spent much of this time talking to leaders in the space and gaining insight into the future of Blockchain, and learning about emerging trends, I also heard quite a few ICO pitches given that I am investing in Blockchain projects.
Jimmy Song, Bitcoin Core contributor gave a presentation about “Antifragility” and why he believes Bitcoin has lasted the test of time, and will continue to grow stronger after each attack. He cited examples over the years of how Bitcoin “died” and how it re-emerged once again. It was an encouraging talk to those who believe Bitcoin has a future ahead of it.
Pavel Bains of Bluzelle gave a talk about his project and taking on giants like Google & Amazon for his decentralized file storage startup. I wrote an older post about Bluzelle here.
Simon Dixon of “BankToTheFuture” gave an inspiring talk on his future predictions of the market, which had a very positive spin. His company, calls itself the largest global online investment community of professional investors investing in financial innovation and technology. They also appear to have an endorsement from Sir Richard Branson, Billionaire and famous entrepreneur.
There was a panel discussion with Crypto hedge funds like Apex (Arij Nazir), Michael Bucella (BlockTower Capital), Alex Sunnarborg (Tetras Capital), Jen Wieczner (Fortune Magazine), and Lewis Fellas (Bletchley Park Asset Management) They discussed why all Tokens should be classified as securities, their takes on a variety of ICO projects launching, and how they see the market. Arij of Apex was quiet bullish stating that he potentially saw a multi Trillion market cap. I think that would definitely stir some enthusiasm with investors. Currently, the market has taken quite a hit from it’s ATH in December. We also saw some spikes in January and February. Fear struck with SEC warning shots being fired and the market seemed to tank. These conferences can inspire new enthusiasm but it’s up to the project founders to deliver their promises and grand visions. I believe that the future of Blockchain is bright, that ICO’s will continue to raise large sums but the dynamics will change. I think Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin still retain a high value around the globe and it will continue to do so. We will also see growth in other Cryptocurrencies in the coming years.