What to Watch at Consensus: Distributed – Mass Adoption

One of the biggest themes we’ll discuss at Consensus: Distributed is the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. 

From multinational corporations to governments, distributed tech is being used to provide greater transparency, reduce waste and transform their daily operations. 

Still, crypto is waiting for its “killer app” to emerge.

Here are our top picks for those interested in the new tools of financial inclusion, enterprise use cases and mass adoption. 

Mass adoption

Just before the 5 o’clock happy hour on Monday, from 4:10-5 p.m. ET, CoinDesk’s Leigh Cuen and Zack Seward will sit down with crypto luminaries including Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss of the Gemini exchange, Lolli’s Alex Adelman and CoinShare’s Meltem Demirors as well as celebrity guests Michelle Phan and Spencer Dinwiddie to discuss how close we are close to realizing the full potential of blockchain.

Then at 5:30 p.m., Michelle Phan and Alex Adelman will come back on to answer your questions in an “ask them anything” session.

The “Mass Adoption: Asia Edition” will go live Monday evening from 10:30-11:30 p.m.

CoinDesk Korea will host Jack Lee, managing partner at Foxconn-backed investment firm HCM Capital, LivenPay’s Mary Ma and Lambda256 CSO Kwunho (Blake) Jeong.

On Tuesday between 8-9 a.m., Avanti’s Caitlin Long, Tezos’ Kathleen Breitman and Blockstack’s Muneeb Ali will sit down with CoinDesk’s Joon Ian Wong to share their perspective in “The Breakdown: How We Future Now.” 

One of the chief use cases of crypto is to provide financial infrastructure for emerging markets and those excluded from the banking system. Wednesday, from 1-2 p.m., Carlos Acevedo, Karen Bhatia, Susan Oh and Tyrone Ross – all currently testing blockchain for social solutions in New York City – as the question does crypto fix this?

The new tools of financial inclusion

Anthony Sassano, Bradley Miles and Camila Russo take a DeFi Deep Dive Wednesday from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

At 2:00-4:30 p.m., crypto lawyers Jake Chervinsky, Jason Somensatto and Marta Belcher join the coders behind some of DeFi’s most notable projects for a regulation workshop. 

And Maker Foundation Head of Business Development Greg DiPrisco talks about the realities of using blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

Emerging markets

Akon, Christina Lomazzo and Ray Youssef will get on stage for a half-hour program beginning at 7:30 p.m. to discuss how crypto is being used and how it can be employed across emerging markets. 

Tuesday at 3:00 a.m. Ajit Tripathi, Sunny Ray and Rune Christensen, among other heavy hitters, will stream a discussion centered on India’s beginning blockchain boom. A country of 1.4 billion coming on chain would revolutionize the industry. 

Thursday from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. the World Economic Forum will host a panel discussion focused on the bare minimum needed to build, and the benefits of, a decentralized future. Brian Behlendorf, Meltem Demirors and Sheila Warren are among the many knowledgeable speakers who’ve signed on. 

Enterprising uses

Monday at 8:00 p.m., EY’s head of blockchain, Paul Brody, will discuss how and why some of the largest corporations are turning to public – rather than private – blockchains for their enterprise efforts. 

“Enterprise Blockchain Isn’t Dead” will feature some of the most serious thinkers in the space. Former Merrill Lynch banker Guido Molinari and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development blockchain lead Caroline Malcolm are among those who can tell us why, beginning Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. 

Then from 2:00-4:30 p.m., hear from Brian Behlendorf, Yuichiro Yoshinari and Srinivasan Sriram among others about exactly what enterprise blockchain has in store. 

Last but not least, be sure to catch “Enterprise Blockchain: The Path to Monetization,” a three-hour session on Thursday with Salesforce’s Adam Caplan, Prysm Group’s Cathy Barrera Tradelens’ Daniel Wilson among others.