And so it begins: D1Conf at Prague Blockchain Week 2018
It’s been a cold day today, but 48 hours before halloween the hot topic at D1Conf was the scary world of insurance. Along with terminology that is becoming standard at blockchain conferences, such as token models, decentralisation and DAOs, some key terms more specific to the insurance-blockchain marriage were in full flow, namely, oracles and automated claims.
There are some fascinating announcements to come at this years Blockchain Week here in Prague, and D1Conf was no exception.
One of the first up was Nexus Mutual, speaking of the challenges of allowing people to share risk without the need for insurance companies all-together. It’s a bold start! Rei Melbardis inspired the room with the power of such systems, but admitted there was a long way to go.
We then heard from Coinfund, a cryptoasset-focussed investment and research firm looking to support decentralised networks by redefining the role of the investor within those networks. You can learn more about them here: https://coinfund.io/
An interesting collaboration included Aon and Etherisc in the area of micro-payments for small-hold farmers, who often lack the capital to afford catastrophe risk insurance premiums. Greg Case, Chief of Aon, stated in an FT.com article that property and casualty insurance losses as a proportion of US gross domestic product have almost halved since the 1980’s saying “we’re becoming less relevant”. Aon see blockchain solutions in insurance as a way of ensuring ongoing innovation. Watch this space.
Oracles featured at length in a panel that not only included our very own Flyingcarpet CEO Julien Bouteloup but projects such as Augur, a decentralised oracle and prediction market, and Thomas Bertani of Oraclize. The concept of oracles is to provide a way to funnel real-world, validated data into smart contracts to progress the operation of Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) (to name but one application).
Stay tuned for more fascinating projects in the world of Ethereum as Prague Blockchain Week 2018 charges on.
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