Thurs 29th Jan saw the third prescription of our monthly innovation event ‘Meet the Makers’ held at the Publicis Drugstore.
This time our focus was on the rise of digital currencies and their potential to disrupt traditional finance models, as well as an explanation of the more basic fundamentals – what actually is Bitcoin and what does it mean for us?
After a drinks reception in the amazing Ballroom space, the 100 strong crowd of Publicis staff, clients and agency friends settled down to listen to four presentations by the entrepreneurs currently transforming finance.
First up was Paul Gordon founder of Quantave, the company connecting traditional finance firms to digital currency liquidity pools. Paul gave a much-needed introduction to how Bitcoin and blockchain work, followed by an overview of the emerging digital currency start-up landscape.
Aleks Nowak COO at XBTerminal, the point of sale app that enables Bitcoin payments in stores, continued by explaining the relevance of Bitcoin in the offline world and how it can work for Bricks and Mortar merchants, particularly in the developing world. Ray da Silva then introduced PayWithBolt, whose mission it is to make revenue profitable by taking away the pain of managing lots of different types of payments.
We wrapped up with Robert Sams, CEO at fin tech start-up Kryptonomic, who looked at the future for a Decentralised Clearing Network, leading with the question if we can transfer digital currency on a blockchain, then why not transfer stocks, bonds and other assets on a blockchain too?
A really interesting and informative evening and a huge thank you to all of our speakers for taking part. Check out the video to see some of the highlights.
The next Meet the Makers will be taking place at the Drugstore on March 5th and will be all about food. Keep your eyes peeled for more details coming soon.