Hong Kong, 11 November 2021 – Bitcoin & Beyond, the half-day virtual summit co-hosted by AAX and Forecast.News, brought together some of the most influential voices in crypto. They discussed how to chart a course for a new digital economy in great depth, after experiencing a historic year for digital assets.
Visionaries and innovators speaking at the virtual event discussed everything from the adoption of Bitcoin by countries, the popularity of Bitcoin versus altcoins, the debate about mining and energy use to the role of Bitcoin in space. The event focused on how Bitcoin is driving innovation and social change forward.
In the keynote Q&A, Don Tapscott, Executive Chairman of the Blockchain Research Institute, said, “This technology can take us to where we can create a sovereign identity virtually on our own. Medication, diagnosis and more traces of records, all created by you are captured at digital conglomerates. You can then use the data to plan your life. Our privacy is undermined, but it’s foolish to say privacy is dead. Privacy is the foundation of freedom, we need to get our identities back and own them, not just to access but own them so we can manage them responsibly for our own benefit.”
Discussing maximalism versus diversification and when asked whether other protocols were competing with Bitcoin with the goal to outperform it, Raoul Pal, CEO and Co-Founder of Real Vision, responded, “Does it matter? Not at all. I just don’t get the argument.”
“It is like seeing an Olympic sprinter competing with the javelin thrower. It is madness this whole way. Bitcoin is perfect for what it does. If our goal here is to change the outcome for humanity, then the stupidest thing to do is to fight with each other. Because what you do is fracture, analyze everybody and you marginalize the mission that everybody is trying to achieve. It makes no sense.” Pal continued.
Speaking on a panel about advocacy and activism, Sam Bankman-Fried, Founder & CEO of FTX, commented on the importance of collaborating together in the crypto industry to reach an end goal. He said, “In general, it is really important to set a tone, an expectation, and a norm in these conversations so that both side’s goal is to come together and find out what the right thing to do is, rather than that each side coming from an opposite perspective and arguing for as much as they can from that side. That is just a recipe for destruction and for negative-sum behavior.”
Towards the last panel discussion on “Future of the Global Economy”, Caroline Malcolm, Senior Advisor on blockchain and tax of OECD, commented, “From a regulator’s perspective, over the next years there will be appreciation on setting up a certain policy objective. There will still be a desire to tackle money laundering, to make sure people are compliant in terms of their tax obligations when working in the DeFi sector. I think that is where the industry should step up to think about.”
Bitcoin and Beyond seeks to unpack the implications of this new asset class and aims to direct this creative energy towards useful and socially beneficial goals. Ben Caselin, Head of Research & Strategy at AAX and co-host at the summit, wrapped up the summit by saying:
“Rather than seeing Bitcoin as a medicine for all ills in society, it is better seen as a vehicle and common denominator that fosters unified action that targets a range of social ills. Today’s summit brought together different voices from across the industry, from politicians and policymakers to entrepreneurs and macro investors. It was great to take a step back and reflect on what’s really happening as opposed to simply speculating on price — especially as we find ourselves mid-bull market, it’s good to remember what it’s all really about.”
About AAX
Favored by more than a million users in over 100 countries, AAX is the world’s first cryptocurrency exchange powered by LSEG Technology, and the first to make the switch to the Satoshi Standard (SATS) to drive the adoption of Bitcoin.
Connecting traders, innovators, NFT-artists, high-net-worth investors as well as the unbanked, AAX’s mission is to help ground digital assets in the real world and bring the benefits of sound money to everyone.
About Forkast
Founded in 2018, Forkast.News is a digital media platform covering all things blockchain and emerging technology at the intersection of business, economy, and finance — from Asia, to the world. Forkast.News reaches a global aggregate audience of 30M+ across distribution partners such as Dow Jones Factiva, LexisNexis, Moody’s, CoinDesk, and more.