Missed Paris Blockchain Week Summit? Here are 5 key takeaways from the event

Binance

The event included commentary from CZ, Brad Garlinghouse and Paolo Ardoino on topics of crypto regulation, the SEC lawsuit and European nations adopting digital assets.

The city of Paris — the capital of France, renowned for its affinity for romanticism, historical architecture and acquired palate for culinary delicacies — played host to the two-day Paris Blockchain Week Summit this week. The event saw the participation of the industry’s leading figureheads and over 3,000 crypto enthusiasts.

Held at the Palais Brongniart, the former home of the Paris stock exchange and once synonymous with its exchange of wheat grain, the newly transformed conference center saw keynote speeches and fireside chats from experts such as Binance’s Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Tether’s Paolo Ardoino and Digital Currency Group’s Rumi Morales, among many others.

If you missed the action, here’s a literary highlight reel of all the most important moments from the summit. And you might see some familiar faces from Cointelegraph along the way!

Binance to invest 100 million euros into the French crypto ecosystem

Delivering the opening keynote speech on stage, Binance CEO CZ spoke about a “great shift of attitude” by policymakers and legislators over the past 12 months before stating that France is “uniquely positioned” in terms of regulations, talent and expertise and has the potential to become a leading crypto hub in Europe.

CZ also announced Binance’s recent decision to invest 100 million euros in French startup firms within the Web3 space in partnership with incubator Station F.

“I think France has one of the most progressive and open-minded governments that could help in developing pro-crypto regulations.”

Following this, CZ sat down with Cointelegraph’s Joseph Hall to share his views on regulation and business operation, in addition to his expectations for the remainder of 2022.

Tether's chief technology officer reveals adoption plans for pro-crypto city of Lugano

Back in March, the southern Swiss city of Lugano announced it would adopt Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) as de facto legal tender in a partnership with Tether. Since then, it has received broad interest from the crypto community as a result of its progressive policies.

Ardoino, Tether’s chief technology officer, shared some statistical insights in an interview with Cointelegraph, stating that “We have been able to start onboarding 25 to 30 different companies and startups, [...] which between the company’s assets and private wealth are valued between 300 to 400 million Swiss francs.”

Alongside this, Ardoino noted Tether’s intention to develop educational programs for university students in the region, as well as fund their tuition fees.

Bybit’s Lawrence Tan analyzes the mechanism of the Ronin bridge hack

Lawrence Tan, Bybit’s spot business development director, shared his assessment of decentralized finance’s security landscape on stage during the “DeFi Security: the Risks Behind the Yield and Mitigation” session. He stated that four major vulnerabilities are responsible for the majority of security breaches in the space: administrator key compromises, coding flaws, rug pulls and flash loan attacks.

Referencing the historic Ronin bridge hack as a prime example, Tan advocated for greater educational security resources within the space following a year of numerous exploits and hacks.

Ripple’s CEO is optimistic on the future of the SEC case

In a fireside chat on cryptocurrency regulations, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared his optimism surrounding the ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission case regarding it carried out an unregistered securities sale by selling XRP, stating that “The lawsuit has gone exceedingly well, and much better than I could have hoped when it began about 15 months ago.”

Blockchain.com’s Nicolas Cary reflects on a decade in crypto

Blockchain.com co-founder Nicolas Cary and Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Cornèr assessed the evolution of the crypto industry following 10 years in business, with Blockchain.com founded in 2011 and Cointelegraph set to reach the landmark figure next year.

During the conversation, the two also spoke on the nature of anonymity in the space and the vision for democratization that blockchain instills, with Cary stating that “We are building fabrics of the internet that would allow anyone regardless of their circumstances to trade, exchange, save, earn rewards of different types of digital wealth.”

And lastly, a final goodbye from us. See you next year!

Pictured from left to right: Alex Cohen, managing editor; Jackson DuMont, head of video; Kristina Cornèr, editor-in-chief; Anna Shakola, NFT project manager; Joseph Hall, European news reporter; and Max Kuivenhoven, community manager.

Stablecoins are the perfect trojan horse for Bitcoin, says Tether CTO

Bitcoin Lugano

Bitfinex and Tether CTO, Paolo Ardoino spoke to Cointelegraph about cryptocurrency adoption in Europe.

As one of a number of Cointelegraph representatives attending the Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS) at the historic Palais Brongniart — a neoclassical building previously serving as the headquarters for the Parisian stock exchange from 1826 to 1987 — European news reporter, Joe Hall sat down for an in-depth interview with the Chief technology officer of Bitfinex and Tether, Paolo Ardoino.

Previously ranked 88th in Cointelegraph’s prestigious Top 100 2021 for his influential impact on the growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, Ardoino spoke on an array of topics including the adoption of Bitcoin and Tether as legal tender in the Swiss city of Lugano, the scalability concerns of popular blockchain networks, as well as the potential for new countries to accept Bitcoin in the future.

In early March, the Swiss city of Lugano — which is also a major financial hub in Switzerland — formed a collaborative partnership with stablecoin operator Tether to launch a 3 million-Swiss franc initiative designed to encourage the adoption of blockchain technologies and the use of digital assets.

Utilizing Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT) and the native citizen loyalty token LVGA Points, the assets can be transacted by locals in activities such as taxation and purchasing of public goods and services.

In addition, the project has also pledged to create educational scholarship programs within the three universities of Lugano, a blockchain summer camp, and a maximum-valued 100 million Swiss franc ($107.2 million) pot to foster the growth of blockchain start-ups:

“In just one month since the announcement, working with the city we have set up a working group that includes tax, legal and relocation advisors […] and we have been able to start onboarding 25-30 different companies and startups" [...] which "between the company’s assets and private wealth" are valued "between 300 to 400 million Swiss Franc.”

Ardoino noted that these company's relocated their operations from both within Switzerland, as well as from countries such as India and Singapore. He stated that their intention is to "use these few startups as a template” to pave the path for others in the future.

Referencing his tweeted picture of an Lugano newspaper article with the headline 'Cittá affamata di bitcoin,” translating to “City hungry for Bitcoin,” Ardoino said that "stablecoins are the perfect trojan horse for Bitcoin" in that they can serve as the initial mechanism for adoption before exploration into more complex, regulatory-stringent cryptocurrencies.

GM pic.twitter.com/oOFZpZ8qkW
— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) March 4, 2022

When questioned on the possibilities of new European country's adopting Bitcoin, Ardoino said that "we're looking at different other jurisdictions", and that some people within "the parliament are interested to talk to us as they would like to educate themselves to create a case for internal adoption."

Though in saying this, he was keen to stress the importance that the vision of wide-scale Bitcoin adoption throughout Europe would not be achieved overnight, but through a bottom-up, community-first approach, such as witnessed in Lugano.

PBWS