The value of blockchain is being seen, well outside of its original bitcoin basis. Mainstream banks, the medical industry and many others are now recognising the benefits of this technology. Next month’s Global Blockchain Summit will provide an opportunity to learn more.
Industry gurus such as Nick Szabo and Vitalik Buterin have confirmed their presence at the upcoming 3rd Global Blockchain Summit planned for 14th-16thSeptember 2017 in Shanghai, China.
Global Blockchain Summit, initiated by Wanxiang Blockchain Labs in 2015 and held every autumn since then, is one of the biggest global events in the industry. The summit aims to provide an international platform where industry vanguards exchange ideas and views, while start-ups showcase their innovative products and ideas to investors and experts.
The first summit held in 2015 attracted over 300 people. Under the theme “Blockchain: Blueprint for a New Economy”, tech geeks, industry experts, entrepreneur elites, investors and regulators shared their views. Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum and Chief Scientist of Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, delivered a mesmerizing speech.
Wanxiang Group announced on the summit that they were setting up a fifty-million dollar Distributed Fund to invest in promising projects. Up to now, more than 40 blockchain teams from all over the world have received money from the fund. The summit was recognized as a landmark for the blockchain industry in China and thanks to that, the year 2015 was remembered as the beginning of China’s blockchain era.
First Blockchain Week held in 2016
In September 2016, Wanxiang Blockchain Labs and the Ethereum Foundation hosted a 6-day International Blockchain Week, which included Ethereum Devcon2, Demo Day and the 2nd Global Blockchain Summit. The event was a huge success with more than 1000 participants. As many as 31 innovative projects were demonstrated by blockchain start-ups to the public on Demo Day, including 17 Ethereum projects. The biggest prize, an amount of RMB20,000, went to the team “uPort”. But the real highlight of the event was that all presented projects were offered professional guidance and some of them even won start-up money from investors.
At the same event, Wanxiang Holdings announced that together with Fenbushi Capital they were investing RMB150 million in a new blockchain company named Juzix, marking the biggest single blockchain investment ever in the country, boosting market confidence in the blockchain.
Rapid blockchain development
In 2017, blockchain technology has been developing so rapidly that it has penetrated into many areas such as supply chain finance, trade finance, and Intelligent medical. The climax was reached when Wanxiang Holdings announced that it would offer RMB200 billion to build a smart city driven by blockchain technology in Hangzhou, China, by forming an alliance with other innovative blockchain enterprises and institutions. The smart city will provide living and working opportunities for a population of 90,000. If this plan were to follow through, it would become the biggest blockchain application that we have known.
The 3rd Global Blockchain Summit is taking place against this backdrop and has therefore chosen “Blockchain: New Economy-Breaking Dawn” as its theme, focusing on the topics of “Blockchain Application Cases”, “Blockchain Leading-edge Technology”, “The Future of Blockchain Alliance” etc. The event will also be composed by Demo Day (14th Sept) and Summit Days (15th -16th Sept).
Blockchain Summit demo day a “must-go”
For start-up teams that want attention and early successes, the Demo Day is a must-go. Each team will have fifteen minutes to demonstrate to investors, experts and media, followed by comments from the jury. All participating teams will have the opportunity to win a prize of up to USD10,000, besides 2 tickets to the summit days. Plus, two team members will be invited to the dinner party on Demo Day, where they are free to talk with investors and sponsors face-to-face. Authorized media will release press reports on the teams and their projects in real time.
In the May of this year, Wanxiang Holdings launched a recruitment program, inviting blockchain teams worldwide to bid for the design of the smart city. It has attracted several teams on the Consensus 2017 in New York. All recruited teams will be invited to the 3rd summit to present their proposals.
Learn advanced blockchain theory
Also be ready to hear our special guests sharing their insights on blockchain: Vitalik Buterin, founder of the Ethereum and Chief Scientist of Wanxiang Blockchain Labs; Brendan Blumer, CEO of EOS; Patrick Bryne, founder and CEO of Overstock; Bai Shuo, former chief engineer of SSE and chairman of the technical committee of ChinaLedger; Nick Szabo, the creator of the phrase and concept of ‘smart contract’, and some other significant experts have confirmed their attendances to the summit. The guest list is still being updated. This is a great chance for players to learn the most advanced theories about blockchain and interact with one another.
With 1200 participants including investors and blockchain big names from the world, we have every reason to expect the 3rd summit to successfully open doors for those players looking for an entry into the Chinese market. And what other sparks will we have at this summit? Come and join us, see for yourself!
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