Slated for April 12, the Cornell Blockchain Conference will bring together business people, entrepreneurs and academics to speak on the evolution of the industry, future of blockchain and its potential revolutionary impacts on other fields.
Among those scheduled to speak are several members of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts, an initiative spearheaded by faculty at Cornell, University of California, Berkeley, and five other universities from across the world. The initiative was found to explore blockchain code and the science behind it.
IC3 Co-Directors Prof. Ari Juels and Prof. Emin Gun Sirer, both computer science, and IC3 Chief Scientific Officer Prof. Elaine Shi, computer science, will also be speaking at the conference, said Joseph Ferrara ’19, president of Cornell Blockchain.
Also featured will be several Cornell alum who have founded firms that take part in the cryptocurrency business, including Tendermint CEO and co-founder Jae Kwon ’05, Tezos CEO and co-founder Kathleen Breitman ’12, and co-chair of Blank Rome’s Blockchain Technology and Digital Cryptocurrencies Group Michelle Gitlitz ’98.
“The amount of networking opportunities that will be available for students who are interested in the blockchain industry is incredible,” said Lynette Ban ’19, head of Cornell Blockchain’s conference team. “It is motivating how many Cornell alumni are blockchain leaders.”
The conference will spotlight four central topics — platforms, regulation, security tokens, and growth and adoption — each tackling a different facet of the burgeoning blockchain industry, according to Ban.
Within the platform category, industry leaders will examine aspects such as developer experience, interoperability, and private data and private smart contracts, according to the event page.
The regulations category will incorporate discussions about intellectual property and the era of internet law. Meanwhile, the security tokens portion of the conference will feature experts discussing offerings of these assets and how they continue to evolve in the financial industry.
The final item on the agenda, growth and adoption, will highlight how “traditional firms and industries are embracing blockchain technology” — and the challenges faced when integrating blockchain and cases for its use — according to the event page.