UTRUST’s guide to Blockshow Europe 2018: the talks we won’t be missing and you shouldn’t either

As Blockshow Europe 2018 gears up to be the most exciting blockchain conference in Europe, the UTRUST Team will be there, in Germany, from May 28th until the 29th, showcasing our latest achievements. At this year’s edition, we’re looking forward to hearing about new and ongoing governmental initiatives, central banks insights, along with the latest updates on worldwide blockchain regulations, as we expect 2018 to be a year of increased activity in the cryptoworld’s public and private institutions. But that’s not all: a substantial part of the conference will also be covering trending topics within blockchain technology, such as gaming, social causes, marketing, AI, trade finance, privacy and cybersecurity, as we begin to see applications ready for mainstream market, ready to change our everyday lives.

We’re looking forward to two days jam packed with promising talks, sessions tackling new and interesting solutions and exciting panel discussions led by some of the most innovative minds in this field.

On our list of speakers you should all be listening closely to are: Bobby Lee, BTCC Co-founder and Bitcoin Foundation Board Member; Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia; Plamen Russev, Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit.Foundation & Global Webit Congress; Benny Giang, Co-founder of CryptoKitties and Product Manager at Axiom Zen; Mike Butcher, Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch; Llew Claasen, Executive Director at Bitcoin Foundation; Ivan Liljeqvist, Blockchain Consultant and Crypto Youtuber; and, of course, our own Filipe Castro, CIO & Co-Founder at UTRUST.

With this all-star lineup in mind, and so many more, we’ve created our own guide to help you navigate the two-day Blockshow Conference and so you know exactly where to find us:

DAY 1 (May 28)

10:00 AM (Second Stage)

Panel Discussion: 2018 as the Year of Blockchain Education

The first day kicks off with a great group of minds that will be discussing current blockchain education: Marco Favia (Business Development Expert & Innovator, Co-Founder at B3 - Blockchain Business Board), Christine Bamford (Co-Founder of Women's Coin Education Foundation, top 10 global Women Fintech Leaders); and Max Kordek (Angel Investor, Co-Founder & President of the Lisk Foundation, Director at Lightcurve) will have a lot to say on this topic we’re sure! Ivan Liljeqvist, Blockchain Consultant and Developer, a.k.a famous Blockchain Youtuber, will be moderating.

1:10 PM (Main Stage)

Future of payments with cryptocurrencies: why current solutions fail

Completely unmissable, not only because Filipe Castro is one of the founders of UTRUST, but because being a long time blockchain tech evangelist, everyone should tune in to his insider look at the future of cryptocurrency payments. Be sure to check it out!

3:35 PM (Main Stage)

Mike Butcher – Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch

Writer, broadcaster & blogger, Mike Butcher is also the Editor-At-Large at TechCrunch, which means that we can expect a whole lot from his talk. After all, we are talking about one of the most influential people in European technology: one that has not only advised the UK government on tech startup policy, but founded the Europas Awards as well. Before we have him join us at CryptoValley of Zug (UTRUST HQ), later in July, for TC Sessions: Blockchain 2018, we can’t wait to hear what this renowned Internet journalist will bring to this year’s edition of Blockshow.

3:35 PM (Second Stage)

Solution Session: Will Blockchain Drive the Evolution of the Game Industry?

At the same time, our eyes and ears will also be on this solution session that will be focusing on blockchain and the game industry. After seeing so many projects being launched in this field, our ears are focused on Matej Michalko (Founder, CEO & President at DECENT platform, listed in "30 under 30" by Forbes Slovakia), Manon Burgel (COO at B2Expand, created 1st French cross gaming ecosystem on Blockchain), Willy Wong (Augment & Virtual Reality Expert, Co-Founder of DATAVLT & Kaiju Den VR Game Studio) and Benny Giang (Co-founder of CryptoKitties, Product Manager at Axiom Zen) discussing this dynamic duo and their foreseeable evolution. Journalist and blockchain specialist, Rachel Wolfson, will be moderating. An exciting session for sure!

4:20 PM (Main Stage)

Up or Down: What Awaits the Fundraising Scene in 2018

Back on the main stage, we’re looking forward to hearing what Llew Claasen has to say about the current fundraising scene. 2018 is already full of news and reports pointing to more activity in traditional funds, new geographies becoming relevant, and more compliant ICOs. We’re positive that coming from this Bitcoin evangelist, venture capitalist and Executive Director at Bitcoin Foundation, it’s going to be a whole lot… and we’re ready to discover what’s going up and what’s coming down!

4:40 PM (Main Stage)

Panel Discussion: Governmental Blockchain Initiatives Within EU (and beyond)

As we see almost all governments looking into all aspects of blockchain and the crypto industry, we could not be more in tune with what is next on the Main Stage, namely the panel with Viktor Prokopenya (Founder & Executive Director at VP Capital, Founder of exp (capital) and Plamen Russev (Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit.Foundation & Global Webit Congress, Investor, Blockchain advisor). It will be moderated by Naeem Aslam, CMA at ThinkMarkets and Columnist at Forbes, and we’re stoked to hear every single thing they have to say about current blockchain initiatives, as government comments, coming from countries such as Malta, Lithuania, France and others, pop up every other day on the news.

DAY 2 (May 29)

10:10 AM (Main Stage)

Jimmy Wales — Wikipedia Founder

What can Wikipedia teach us about blockchain? A lot, as its success came from a decentralized ability to add open and public information, much like blockchain is doing. The second day of Blockshow kicks off with a talk by Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, Internet entrepreneur, wiki pioneer and technology visionary. Considered one of the “100 Most Influential People”, according to TIME Magazine, we’re sure that whatever talk he brings onstage is bound to be a good one.

1:10 PM (Second Stage)

Panel: How Blockchain Changed the Concept of Privacy & Where It Leads Us

With GDPR knocking on Europe’s door, and the Cambridge Analytics scandal, privacy “versus” blockchain is the hot topic of the moment. Moderated by Catherine Ross (Assistant Editor in Chief & Chief Brand Officer at Cointelegraph), this panel brings together Pavel Kravchenko (Information Security PhD, Software Engineer, Founder @ Distributed Lab), Jörn Leogrande (Payments Innovator, Executive VP — Mobile Services & Innovation Labs at Wirecard AG), Aaron Koenig (Blockchain advocate since 2011, Founder at Bitfilm, a Blockchain-oriented video company), Samantha Zirkin (CEO & Founder of Point 93, Retail Personalization Expert) and Hartej Sawhney (Co-Founder at Hosho Group, Global Blockchain Security Leader, Pink Sky Capital Advisor). We’re excited to see the different views on this one!

4:35 PM (Main Stage)

Bobby Lee — Co-founder of BTCC

And you definitely don’t want to miss out on this one! Co-founder of BTCC, the first and largest bitcoin exchange in China, we can’t wait to hear what Bobby Lee has to say about all things crypto, specially about what’s trending in the biggest blockchain mining country. Besides being a Board Member of the Bitcoin Foundation, Bobby has an impressive career which includes roles such as VP of Technology for Walmart’s e-commerce business in China, CTO of SMG BesTV New Media (the largest IPTV operator in China) and Director of Software Engineering at EMC’s China Center of Excellence. In such a decentralized global economy, it is key to understand how big national players, like China, can impact this industry in the years to come!

6:00 PM (Main Stage)

Panel: Global Blockchain Regulations: What Changes are Coming?

At the end of the day, we’ll be settling down to listen to what Dr. Mattia L. Rattaggi (Advisor at SmartOne, ex-Head Regulatory Relations at UBS), Dr. Daniel Diemers (Blockchain Expert, Partner at Strategy&, PwC’s strategy consulting group, Honeywell Futurist Award Europe Winner), Cris Duy Tran (Director at QRC Group, the world’s largest Blockchain/RegTech Investment Сompany) and Patrick Purcell (BizDev, Product Manager at GECKO Governance, Founding Member at International RegTech Association) have to say about global blockchain regulations and hopefully get up to speed on the changes that are coming our way. Sterlin Lujan (Communications Ambassador & Editor at one of the biggest digital currency media) will be the moderator. We already see a shift to more compliant projects in 2018, but what is still being regulated can define most of the future of this industry!

6:05 PM (Second Stage)

Solution Session: Blockchain & Cybersecurity

Unfortunately, the news are full of cyber attacks that compromise ICOs, projects and exchanges. We believe all the security available is never enough, so the key is to be always one step ahead of what attackers may be doing. At around the same time, over on the Second Stage, a great discussion about blockchain and cybersecurity will be on the table with Stewart Rogers (Director of Marketing Technology & Analyst-at-large at VentureBeat) moderating 5 guests: Paul Puey (CEO & Co-founder at Edge, one of “top 3 mobile apps for blockchain”), Mikhail Savchenko (CTO at Chronobank, IT Project Management Expert), Alex Batlin (Founder & CEO of Trustology), Arianna Simpson (Founder of Autonomous Partners, Co-founder of Crystal Towers Capital) and (our own!) Rodrigo Russell (COO at UTRUST).

In between talks and panels, they’ll be plenty of time for networking and checking out the BlockShow exhibition where it’ll be possible to discover and get in touch with new and exciting blockchain-powered projects such as:

Blockshow Europe here we come! Will we see you there? We sure hope so!

Be sure to come by our spot and say hi to Nuno, Filipe, Artur, Miguel, Rodrigo, Daniel and Jorge. Our team will be ready and waiting for you to drop by and experience the UTRUST Payment Platform MVP: everyone who tests it out will receive a complimentary souvenir. See you soon!