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Paris Blockchain Week 2023: A net positive for the entire crypto industry

The theme of PBW revolved around the evolution of Web3 in the mainstream, the past, present and future of the crypto industry.

The major yearly blockchain event, Paris Blockchain Week, brought together some of the biggest names in the blockchain and crypto industry in 2023. The three-day event starting on March 21 turned out to be a net positive for the crypto industry as prominent industry players came together to discuss and share their thoughts on the past, present and future of the decentralized ecosystem.

The Cointelegraph team was present on the ground to bring readers some of the behind-the-scenes, exclusive interviews, insightful video bites from industry experts and more. Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, head of video Jackson DuMont and reporter Joseph Hall were tasked with the duty to bring readers a bird's eye view of the event.

The Cointelegraph team making sure you get the best angle.

Father of the metaverse reflect on the industry today

Even before the main event kicked off on March 21st, the Cointelegraph team got in touch with Neal Stephenson, an American author who coined the term metaverse in the 1990s. Cointelegraph editor-in-chief sat down with Stephenson to reflect on the meaning of the word in today’s world.

Stephenson said that the meaning of the word has definitely changed in today’s terms. While reflecting on the failure of the metaverse to see mass adoption and very few takers in the bear market, he said that people and companies are skipping the important steps of building an economy first.

The first day of the event kicked off on March 21 and turned out to be quite an eventful one. The opening keynote speech by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin reflected on the growing demand for Web3-based payment infrastructure and the need for a decentralized solution in the traditional financial ecosystem.

Industry experts discuss the potential impact of MiCA

Among numerous expert panels throughout the day, the one that caught everyone’s attention was a discussion on the implications and potential impacts of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA).

Experts on the panel unanimously agreed that the upcoming regulations would be an overall help for the EU crypto industry. It would set a certain standard that could be potentially used by other nations in the future. Janet Ho, head of EU policy at Chainalysis stressed the need for a review of the implementation and obligations of the law, and consider feedback from government supervisors and industry participants.

Tim Draper has a poem on the current banking crisis with a Bitcoin kick

The American venture capital investor Tim Draper took the stage at Paris Blockchain Week 2023 to talk about decentralization and the future of money. Draper addressed the ongoing banking crisis and promoted Bitcoin to be the true capital hedge. An excerpt from his keynote speech:

“They have shaken our confidence in the banking system. [...] What a really strong leader would do is build that trust back. Trust the banks that now remain and set them free.”

He also sang a Bitcoin song that he had written four years ago but believe was more relevant in today’s time.

No shortage of passion in the Parisian people despite an ongoing nationwide protest

The PBW 2023 had no shortage of enthusiasm or energy despite the host seeing nationwide protests following the government pushing the national retirement age from 62 to 64. Cointelegraph reported Joesph Hall talked to the CEO of Animoca Brands Robby Yung.

Yung said that the local government had provided a “warm embrace” for crypto and blockchain enthusiasts amid a sea of protests. He told Cointelegraph:

“All of that stuff happening out there is why we’re here, to begin with [...] The reason that we decided that decentralization was a better way to do things was precise because of our concern as to what might happen in the financial sector, which continues to be borne out.”

The second day of the event was equally packed and full of energy with the Cointelegraph team up on the front line bringing the latest update. The first major panel discussion revolved around the complicated relationship of ethics in Web3. The industry experts took to the stage to discuss how current innovations will shape the future of ethics in Web3. Loic Brotons, CEO of Galeon, said that mixing innovation and ethics is a bit complicated and explained:

“Usually, innovation comes first and sometimes we have really bad things happen. After comes the ethics because we look at what the innovation has done.”

The collapse of banks is a ‘crash course to Bitcoin’

Cointelegraph journalist Hall sat down with Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier to get his view on what the current banking crisis teaches us. He said that the recent series of events show how BTC can be a safe haven against the threat of central authorities.

Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier sits down with Cointelegraph at the Paris Blockchain Week 2023

“Bitcoin was designed in reaction to Lehman Brothers in the 2008 crisis. It was designed because you can’t trust central authorities. And it’s designed because it’s clear that central authorities will fail. It’s not a question of if. It’s more a question of when.” Gauthier added.

Don’t trust anyone, verify: 1Inch co-founder

In another exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, 1inch Network co-founder Sergej Kunz reflected on the need for self-custody. He said that the FTX saga helped people understand the importance of self-custody, and the current banking crisis only highlights the importance even further.

He also talked about the reasons behind a curtailed mass adoption of crypto and said that people’s understanding and education would be the key to achieving this.

Magazine: US enforcement agencies are turning up the heat on crypto-related crime

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EC launches blockchain regulatory sandbox for 20 projects annually through 2026

The sandbox will match up public and private sector projects with the appropriate participating regulators for assessments and consultations.

The European Commission announced the launch of the European Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox on Feb. 15. The sandbox will provide a space for regulatory dialog for 20 projects per year through 2026.

The sandbox was first announced in 2020 and is being facilitated by a number of private firms that won tenders in 2022. Funding will come from the Digital Europe Programme. Projects will be chosen by an independent panel of academic experts on a competitive basis from public and private sector use cases of “Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies.”

Public sector projects on the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) will be considered among the applicants. The EBSI is a pan-European blockchain run by a partnership of the EU countries with Norway and Lichtenstein.

Members of the annual sandbox cohort will be matched with national and European Union regulators to receive confidential legal advice and regulatory guidance, while regulators will have the opportunity to acquaint themselves with new blockchain technology.

The application deadline for the first cohort of projects is April 14. Projects must have a proof of concept validated according to specifications and have a cross-border dimension.

Projects already chosen by public officials for deployment will have priority. Companies should be based in the European Economic Area (EEA). Those companies operate in consortium with companies outside of the EEA, as long as the beneficiary of the project is the EEA-based company. Participants will not be reimbursed for their expenses.

Projects selected will receive a written legal assessment followed by two virtual meetings with participating regulators. The EBSI Early Adopters incubator program is also accepting applications for its third cohort.

A similar sandbox program was proposed in United States Rep. Patrick McHenry’s Financial Services Innovation bill. The United Kingdom may also get a comparable sandbox program in the next round of its financial services reforms.

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Paris Blockchain Week, April 14: Latest updates from the Cointelegraph team on the ground

The second day of the year's biggest blockchain event would see the likes of Eric Anziani, Greg Scullard, Paolo Ardoino and many other significant figures on the stage.

This article is updated all day long. All time codes are in the UTC time zone, updates in reverse order (the latest update is placed at the top). Check the first-day coverage here.

Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS) hosts multiple thought leaders from the crypto and blockchain universe on its second day, and the Cointelegraph ground team is at the venue to deliver the most recent developments from the event.

Paris NFT Day, the prequel event to the PBWS, saw the announcement of Cointelegraph France. On Wednesday, the Cointelegraph team delivered the important tidbits from sessions, as well as quotes from exclusive interviews, in a near real-time manner. CT reporters had the chance to interview key people from the crypto ecosystem, including Binance CEO CZ, Tether chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino and Binance's NFT platform lead Helen Hai.

Don’t forget to check this article regularly to get notified about the most recent announcements from the event.

Near Foundation CEO Marieke Flament told Cointelegraph: "The industry has a substantial positive impact at the local level — in terms of communities and networks. Here in France, for example, the French community is tight-knit and growing."

8:20 “El Salvador is set to pass a new law that would cover all the needs of additional asset service providers and offer a government license to operate in the country. Bitfinex has built a new fundraising platform in light of the upcoming license and it would allow the government to raise funds for their volcanic bond,” adds Paolo Ardoino.

8:10 — “Crypto use cases for remittance and even paying wages have seen a surge in Latin America and Central Africa. Nigeria at the moment is the most underrated crypto hotspot with a vibrant crypto economy,” says ZenGo CEO Ouriel Ohayon.

Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino noted that Tether (USDT), a stablecoin, is seen as a reserve asset in Turkey, Venezuela, Argentina and other similar countries. It’s sad because it should be supposed to work as an FX currency, he added:

“Bitcoin, DEX and CEX are financial solutions for nearly 2 billion unbanked population around the world.”

8:00 — The second day kicked off with The Future of Crypto Exchanges in Emerging Markets session.

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Korean blockchain experts seek the government’s help for digital asset market

The Korea Digital Asset Industry Committee meeting discussed crypto tax, DeFi markets, nonfungible tokens and metaverse during their meeting on Thursday.

The Korea Digital Asset Industry Committee comprising of leading Blockchain experts in South Korea has called for the formation of a government committee dedicated to helping and advancing digital asset businesses in the country.

The group of experts gathered on Thursday to discuss various ways in which Korea could become a leading digital asset market and what role the should government play to achieve that. The experts believed that blockchain and cryptocurrencies would become pivotal tools for the fourth industrial revolution.

The blockchain experts called upon the government to support the nascent cryptocurrency industry along with other emerging use cases such as decentralized finance, decentralized autonomous organizations nonfungible tokens, and the metaverse.

South Korea’s crypto regulations are seen as one of the toughest, given nearly 200 small to medium-sized crypto exchanges had to shut their operations after regulators mandatory for crypto exchanges to form real-name bank accounts for users.

Related: KB Bank to launch South Korea’s first crypto investment fund

The Financial Conduct Authority, the chief regulator in the country has also prohibited exchanges from facilitating anonymous transactions and barred the use of privacy wallets. The regulators had earlier proposed a 20% tax on crypto gains, but the proposal was postponed amid a lack of clarity on crypto regulations. While regulators have shown a strict stance towards the virtual asset market, they seem quite bullish on metaverse as the country announced a $187 million investment in the national metaverse project.

South Korea’s crypto market has thrived despite the regulatory hurdles and rose to become a $45.9 billion industry in 2021.

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