PENTA Talks at CryptoWorld Conference on the Application of Blockchain Technology
PENTA Talks at CryptoWorld Conference on the Application of Blockchain Technology
NEW YORK, March 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On March 22, 2018 CryptoWorld hosted a conference on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. CryptoWorld's partners included Rutgers University and White Park Capital. Speakers and panelists at the event came from a variety of different backgrounds, including hedge fund managers, journalists, regulators, and industry leaders. The keynote speeches were delivered by Cristina Dolan, Co-Founder and CEO of iXLedger and almumna of MIT Media Labs, David Ritter, CEO of the PENTA Global Foundation, and Michael Casey, Chairman of the Coin Desk Advisory Board. Among those industry leaders present were representatives of Ripple, Ethereum, Decred, and PENTA. From the world of traditional finance came a number of high profile panelists.
One of the panels, Crytocurrency Funds and ETFs, discussed the involvement of hedge funds and Wall Street investment banks in the crypto space. Joining the panel were David Young, President of Gemini Hedge Fund Services, Jack Tatar, Owner of Doyle Capital Management, Michael McGlone, Bloomberg Intelligence, and Jan Van Eck, CEO of Van Eck Securities. Some of the debate in this panel centered around why there has not been more involvement from Wall Street and traditional financial players in the crypto space. Most panelists agreed crypto is still too small at this stage for large hedge funds and investment firms to get involved in the crypto markets. The panel noted, however, that there are Wall Street firms entering the industry in other ways, sometimes behind the scenes. For instance, some Wall Street funds have taken investment positions in crypto-facing VC funds or in pre-ICO private sales. Others, including some exchanges, are already backing crypto exchange platforms. Despite the fact that Wall Street is not yet pouring capital into the crypto markets via external exchanges, all the financial firms are studying the market and paying close attention to the industry. One couldn't help but sense the Wall Street tigers are waiting to pounce. Said one of the panelists, "Wall Street just hasn't figured out how to make money yet in crypto. But when they do, they will get into the crypto markets fast."
The CBOE and CME futures markets, which started trading bitcoin futures in December 2017, were also represented at the conference. Tim McCourt, Managing Director at CME Group joined Dave Schultz, Director of the CBOE Futures Exchange, and Peter Earle, Owner of Intangible Economics, on a panel called Taking Cryptocurrencies Mainstream with the Start of Futures Trading.
Elsewhere in the conference, one panel focused on emerging regulations from the Securities (SEC) and Exchange Commission. Sitting on the panel were Richie Hecker, Co-Founder and Director of The Crypto Working Group, Frances Newton Stacy, Director of Portfolio Strategy Optimal Capital Advisors (and a Fox Business News commentator), and Jeffrey Bandman, Bandman Advisors. The panel was mostly agreed that the SEC, through its recent enforcement actions, is indicating that it regards cryptocurrencies as securities. Thus, anyone desiring to launch an ICO in the United States would need to register it as a security offering. The panel dug deeper into the legalese and engaged in a lively debate about whether crypto will ultimately be considered a currency, an asset, or a security. Noted Mr. Bandman, in order to be considered a currency based on U.S. law, the asset must be backed by a sovereign power. In the case of cryptocurrencies, no sovereign exists, and thus U.S. law would never regard cryptos as actual currencies. Another panelist hinted that the U.S. government may choose winners amongst crypto platforms at some point in the future.
Mr. Ritter, CEO of PENTA, a public blockchain platform based in Singapore, spoke convincingly about the application of blockchain technology. Citing an impressive amount of blockchain projects that the PENTA team has already rolled out in spaces as diverse as financial services, food security, and entertainment, Mr. Ritter made the case for a future Blockchain Economy. In the Blockchain Economy, Mr. Ritter noted that anything of value can and will go on the blockchain and be exchanged for other things of value, including goods and services. Mr. Ritter pointed to the fact that existing blockchain platforms are not yet able to due this, due to the problems of interoperability and scalability. To move blockchain into practical use, Mr. Ritter said, will require next generation blockchains, such as PENTA. Describing PENTA as the first blockchain designed to be a productivity tool, Mr. Ritter expanded, "You will be able to see how PENTA is not just adding value and productivity to your life, but how PENTA is protecting the value and productivity that you contribute to the world."
Many of the speakers, including Mr. Ritter, poked fun at Facebook. The day before the Cryptoworld conference, Facebook landed on the front page of the New York Times in connection with the Cambridge Analytica scandal. According to media reports, during the 2016 presidential election in the United States Cambridge Analytica stole data from over 50 million Facebook users and profited by selling that data to political organizations connected with Donald Trump's presidential campaign. In his speech, Mr. Ritter remarked that, "In the Blockchain Economy you control your content and your data - not Google, not Facebook, not Apple, not Equifax, and not Cambridge Analytica. You control and manage your own data, and guess what? Data has value." The crowd responded with murmurs of assent.
The CryptoWorld conference was a day packed with perspectives from different corners of the crypto space. Attendees had the chance to hear from not only industry insiders, but also regulators, legal experts, futures trading platforms, Wall Street hedge funds, and journalists. It will be interesting to see how recent SEC actions in the cryptosphere impact events going forward in the U.S. Government actions notwithstanding, there was no shortage of people planning to launch ICOs in attendance at the CryptoWorld conference.
CONTACT: Keke Tao, +86-17751427661, keke.tao@penta.global
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SOURCE PENTA GLOBAL FOUNDATION
