Review of the Paris Blockchain Week Summit: What did the industry "bigwigs" say?

The French capital of Paris — known for its romanticism, rich historical architecture and gastronomy — hosted the two-day Paris Blockchain Week Summit this week (April 12-14), with free champagne, stunning views, and the event attracted industry luminaries and more than 3,000 crypto enthusiasts.

Paris Blockchain Week focuses on topics such as NFT, multi-chain future, and crypto adoption. It is held in the newly renovated conference center at Palais Brongniart, the former site of the Paris Stock Exchange. Participants include Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and other industry mainstays.

Here are some highlights from the summit:

1. Binance invests 100 million euros in the French crypto ecosystem

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) spoke of the “significant shift in attitudes” among policymakers and lawmakers over the past 12 months in his opening speech, saying France is “uniquely positioned” in terms of regulations, talent, and expertise to become Europe’s leading cryptocurrency hub.

CZ also announced Binance’s decision to partner with incubator Station F to invest €100 million in French startups in the Web3 space.

“I think France has one of the most progressive and open-minded governments and can help develop regulations that support cryptocurrencies,” he said.

Before Zhao Changpeng took the stage, the event host also quoted the crypto slang "wagmi" (We All Gonna Make It) and said: "Honestly, I feel like we did it. During the Russo-Ukrainian war, cryptocurrency was a lifeline for some Ukrainian people."

Crypto still has some way to go before it reaches widespread adoption, and the fate of the industry depends largely on the approach that different regulators around the world will take. Binance now has licenses in Bahrain and Dubai, and has received provisional approval in Abu Dhabi. In Europe, it is regulated by the Lithuanian Anti-Money Laundering Regulator and is seeking to register with the Swedish Financial Services Regulator.

2. Tether CTO reveals adoption plans for crypto-friendly city Lugano

Back in March, the southern Swiss city of Lugano announced that it would partner with Tether to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) as legal tender. Since then, it has attracted widespread interest from the crypto community due to its open policy.

“We’ve been able to start working with 25 to 30 different companies and startups, [...] with between 300 and 400 million Swiss francs in assets and private wealth,” said Tether CTO Ardoino.

Among other things, Ardoino noted that Tether intends to develop educational programs for college students in the region and finance their tuition.

3. Bybit Spot Business Development Director Lawrence Tan analyzes the Ronin hacker attack mechanism

Lawrence Tan, Director of Spot Business Development at Bybit, shared his assessment of the DeFi security landscape at the “DeFi Security: Risks Behind Benefits and Mitigation” session. He said four major vulnerabilities are responsible for most security vulnerabilities in the space: administrator key leaks, code flaws, RugPull, and flash loan attacks.

Tan cited the Ronin Bridge hack as an example of a situation where he advocated for more educational security resources in related areas.

Tan said: "DeFi has disrupted the way people manage digital assets. It demonstrates the power of change in the real world. Not everyone can enjoy the privilege of global asset management and private banking. For ordinary investors, the real threshold is not the size of the assets, but the ability to embrace growth opportunities while being risk-aware."

According to CoinMarketCap data, Bybit spot exchange started in July 2021 and by early 2022 had ranked among the top five in the world.

4. Ripple CEO is optimistic about the future of the SEC lawsuit

In a fireside chat about cryptocurrency regulation, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse shared his optimism about the ongoing court case against U.S. regulators that Ripple’s sale of XRP constituted an unregistered sale of securities, saying: “The litigation is going very well and much better than I had hoped when it began about 15 months ago.”

Garlinghouse also said: "When I give advice to entrepreneurs who are considering building a crypto or blockchain company, I tell them not to register in the United States. The lack of clarity and certainty means you are at risk of a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)."

Ripple is even considering moving its headquarters abroad, with London and Singapore among potential candidates. Garlinghouse revealed that Ripple will hire more than 300 people this year, more than half of whom will be outside the United States.

5. Blockchain.com co-founder Nicolas Cary looks back on a decade in crypto

Nicolas Cary, co-founder of Blockchain.com, evaluated the 10-year development of the crypto industry. Blockchain.com was founded in 2011 and is a witness to the booming crypto industry. Cary said that the regulatory environment around the world is rapidly accelerating, and governments want to promote innovation around financial markets and the next generation of the Internet (Web3).

Cary is optimistic about the regulatory environment in the UK, saying: “The UK could be a dark horse in this whole situation… After Brexit, they need to make a policy decision and a strategic decision, do they rebuild Brussels in London, or do they become the Singapore of the West, inviting all this innovation, technology and wealth creation, and really owning the future of the network?”

But governments are also wary of the industry’s dark side, including money laundering and other illegal transactions, as well as the environmental impact of energy-intensive Bitcoin mining. Yet illegal activity accounted for less than 0.2% of digital currency transactions in 2021, according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis.

“We are building the structure of the internet to allow anyone, anywhere to trade, exchange, save, and earn rewards for different types of digital wealth,” Cary said.

Finally, see you next year!