The blockchain and crypto industry has never stood still including during the prolonged lean period known as the crypto winter, asserted Michael Amar, co-founder of the Paris Blockchain Week Summit. Amar believes the resilience shown by market participants during this period demonstrates a new level of maturity in the industry.
Blockchain Space Continues to Evolve Even During Lean Periods, Says Michael Amar
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Engagement Between Startups and Developers
In written responses to Bitcoin.com News, Amar stated that progress on issues such as legislation should be the next step, now that bullish sentiment has returned. As for the key themes at this year’s Paris Blockchain Week Summit, Amar identified the real-world utility of blockchain, the tokenization of real-world assets, and the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DEPIN) as some of the main topics to be discussed.
When asked to name the likely key developments in the blockchain space in 2024 and beyond, Amar expressed particular excitement about “progression and implementation within the healthcare and energy sectors.” Regarding the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, scheduled for April 9 to 11, Amar said he hopes to see startups and developers using this event as an engagement platform.
The co-founder said such engagements are necessary because they act as “the building blocks for continuing to build on what has already been achieved remarkably within our industry.” The following are Amar’s responses to all the questions posed.
Bitcoin.com News (BCN): Could you explain to our readers what Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) is? Once it is fully implemented, how do you think it will influence the competitive landscape in Europe and the pace of cryptocurrency adoption in France?
Michael Amar (MA): So, MiCA stands for Markets in Crypto-Asset Regulation and is an essential initiative or even indeed a regulatory framework that can help establish new rulings for pretty much all aspects of crypto use within the European Union (EU). This can include the aspects of trading, how services are offered to businesses and the general public, as well as many other applications including even digital assets.
This initiative grew in stature substantially last year and by the end of this year, we will see the application of these regulations into force. I think institutionally as well as at enterprise and small business levels there is much more to learn and embrace with blockchain and cryptography, we will see perhaps further pushes in the right direction when we see MiCA 2.0 come into fruition down the line, but for now, as an industry, we should aim to embrace and work with the regulators to grow together.
Most countries within the EU, including here in France, will see significant education and practice of these new regulations and I like to think France is taking great steps to be a regional leader on this topic and encourage the progress of MiCA. Overall this is majorly important for the wider operation of cross-border abilities when it comes to this new age of finance and no doubt other continents around the world will be achieving similar progress if not already.
BCN: Now that the bearish sentiment has seemingly vanished from the crypto market, how do you expect the upcoming Paris Blockchain Week summit next month to be different from the 2023 edition? What are the key themes this year and what sort of influence do you see it having on the European and global crypto landscape?
MA: With markets on the rise, there is always an additional buzz, however aside from market moves, we will all celebrate the amazing achievements and developments of the industry. The space does not stand still because of a winter market, it shows the maturity level we are entering as an industry and the amazing progression of things like legislation and real-world utility. The merging of businesses, worldwide understanding of blockchain and what it can do to help their businesses, as well as general public utility as well, I think will be key to the themes of this year.
DEPIN, Real World Assets, or the tokenization of them for sure. In addition, I think we will see great eco-system progression with the various chains too, this is very exciting. Year after year we see progression, something new! With our event, we know that having the best leaders, developers, start-ups etc. all under one roof, puts Paris further on the map for Blockchain and generates the feeling of a central hub within Europe that we can all be proud of.
BCN: What do you feel are the major developments in the blockchain space recently and the thing are most excited about in 2024 and onwards?
MA: Well, the journey has been very exciting, I think everyone in space will agree. There are so many narratives out there now but we should really hone in on how these can be so advantageous to the Real World. Sure, we can talk about market price and bull runs etc. but ultimately what is truly incredible is the application to our society, economy and arguably the improvement of our lives.
Blockchain has the ability to integrate into pretty much all industries and sectors, I am particularly excited about the progression and implementation within the Healthcare and Energy sectors, two very large sectors that affect everyone. Globally, we can improve along with artificial intelligence (AI), the ability to hold data, use data for the greater good and better health or improve energy efficiency and costs. We also have the strong topics of DEPIN, where we can really harness the potential of physical infrastructure in our existing World and digitalize it completely using Web3 capabilities.
There are so many amazing case studies right now, but what I love is that the application is now a reality, in our lifetime, isn’t that amazing to witness this kind of revolution, the excitement and the opportunity to improve so many things, in this space we are all a part of that!
BCN: Besides the usual panel discussions, side events, etc., how can international builders coming to the Paris Blockchain Week get maximum exposure to the local crypto ecosystem?
MA: Well, our event this year is bigger than ever before and is attracting the highest level of blockchain companies and people from around the World within the Web3/ Blockchain industry. On top of this, we have the incredible Hackathon event, bringing the brightest minds under one roof, with industry-leading mentors and the opportunity to engage with other areas of blockchain.
For me, the event will be fantastic of course, but what I really love to see is the opportunity for start-ups and developers to engage as much as possible as these are the building blocks to keep building on what has already been achieved incredibly within our industry. Learning of incredible industry leaders and the companies that they all work for, it is really satisfying to see this kind of exposure and an opportunity to learn, achieve more and collaborate to further blockchain capabilities as well as accelerate it’s implementation into the Real World.
BCN: Web3 is said to be more about decentralized finance ( defi) or gaming. As the technology matures, do you see it transforming government and other services? If yes, is Europe well-placed to lead the transition?
MA: As I see it, eventually we will as a space need to move away from market trends and purely focus on the utility aspect, or what blockchain is designed for. If you look at how the world works, of course, economies and markets can dictate play, however, there are not many examples like with the Crypto markets where companies should start or stop developing because the token or share price is not moving.
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