Our First Town Hall: Opening Discussion on Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain and FinTech

The Start

On November 27th, we kicked off our first (of many) monthly Town Hall events at Michigan Ross by opening the discussion on cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology, and FinTech. Co-hosted by Wolverine Crypto Trading and Michigan FinTech, the event brought together over 200 members from both the University of Michigan and larger Ann Arbor communities. From undergraduates of all years and backgrounds, to MBAs, PhDs, professors, faculty, and even alumni, you could feel the diversity of thought, energy, and excitement in the room right from the get-go.

With an attendance of over 200, we are thrilled to create new learning and engagement experiences for our community

The Event

The event hosted the following guest speakers and topics of discussion:

• Professor Wu (Ross Professor): Beyond the buzzwords, an introduction to cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology and FinTech (Co-teaching TO 428: FinTech Innovations)
• Professor Adriaens (Ross Professor): FinTech solutions outside of blockchain (“CleanTech”)
• Sam Savant (CEO TwoScoreTwo): Starting a Blockchain company in Ann Arbor
• Open Q&A for all 3 speakers

Our speakers (from left to right): Professor Wu, Professor Adriaens, Sam Savant

Though we had to trim out the first speaker’s presentation due to confidential information regarding a new course, you can find a video of the introduction/last two speakers here.

Moving Forward

While this event marked the historic start of an exciting year to come, we have much to learn. We spoke with club members, teammates, and attendees to understand areas for improvement and interest. Moving forward, we are implementing the following feedback into our event structure:

• Speaking portion of events will be capped at 1 hour in length (remainder of time will be left for networking with peers/speakers)
• Events will host 1–2 speakers (if 2, we will ensure there is a unified theme)
• Event themes will be formed around questions and topics most relevant/applicable to students
• Q&A will be moderated using Slido, which enables live Q&A/polls and allows participants to vote for the questions they like the most

Have any additional ideas or feedback? We’d love to hear from you.

The event culminated in an open-floor Q&A

The level of engagement and excitement during our first event is a testament to the demand on campus for networks like WCT and MFT. We want to thank all of you for making this experience possible. The highly motivated, deeply curious and engaging students at Michigan will allow us to transform our University into a thought leader in this space.

Due to December being a busy time with final exams, our next event will be held in January. Sign up on the WCT/MFT websites and follow us on Facebook to be updated on upcoming events and opportunities to join our organizations.

In January, the team will be heading to the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami. If you’re interested, check out their website/Facebook Event Page and join us for a great experience.

Cheers to the future,

The WCT and MFT Teams