Paris Blockchain Week (PBW) kicks off its fourth year as one of the world’s largest conferences dealing with all things blockchain, crypto and Web3. The event hosted more than 10,000 attendees and sold out last year.
After two days packed with hackathons, talent fairs and investor demos, the main event of the week, the Summit, kicks off on March 22.
The Cointelegraph team is stationed in Paris to bring you the latest news from the ground. The latest news is displayed below in ascending order (latest stories at the top).
Investor Panel: What are the best investment opportunities in Web3?
In the next panel discussion about investment opportunities in Web 3, Marguerite de Tarvenost, a Web3 investor said that the bear market is the best time to build in the crypto market. He added that bear markets offer more time for investors and innovators to build their reputation.
Fabric VC co-founder talks Bitcoin, bank crisis
Richard Muirhead, founder of Fabric VC, talks about the price of bitcoin, inflation, the bank crisis and the emerging role of Web3 in the middle of all this. He said that Bitcoin is the first use case of Web3 with its deflationary nature and can be a safe haven during a crisis. He added that Web3 is actively solving traditional financial problems but sometimes new use cases can take time because they are more than trivial software development.
An in-depth discussion of the gaming metaverse
With a metaverse focus, Neal Stephenson, American author and founder of the Lamina1 metaverse project, together with Paris Blockchain Week chairman Michael Amar discussed the concept of interoperability in metaverse games.
Neal Stephenson, who coined the term “metaverse” in the 1990s, talks to Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr about the evolution of the word. Read here.
Stephenson said the idea of interoperability is irritating for some game developers as many games are focused on building their own ecosystem for years, be it Fortnite or Minecraft. This point is all about dragging and dropping assets from one game to another.
Cointelegraph behind the scenes on day 2
The CT team started the second day of Paris Blockchain Week 2023 starting with a reflection on the depth of culture and history of the place:
Things in @ParisBlockWeek that just makes sense #PBW2023 pic.twitter.com/Sd8P6TxHJs
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) March 21, 2023
The main agenda of Web3 on the 1st day of the Summit
The main agenda of March 21 revolves around the current scope of Web3. The one-day event called Web3XP will focus on how brands and creators can generate value in the metaverse and how Web2 companies can transition to Web3. The event will see the participation of business professionals from consumer brands, games, collectibles, art and fashion in one place.
Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall attended the pre-summit event
The talent show is one of the pre-peak events at PBW 2023.
The Cointelegraph team arrived in Paris
Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, head of video Jackson DuMont and reporter Joseph Hall were deployed on the ground in Paris all week to deliver the latest developments from the conference.
Investor Day
Investor Day kicked off the week on March 20, bringing together investors interested in Web3, nonfungible tokens (NFT), metaverse and blockchain applications.
Stay tuned for continuous updates from PWB, including takeaways, highlights and behind-the-scenes footage.
Paris Blockchain Week begins
The 2023 edition of PBW features speakers from some of the biggest players in the industry, such as ConsenSys, Ledger, Animoca Brands, Algorand, Reddit and more. It includes major summits and Web3XP focused on Web3, and its main themes include public policy, corporate blockchain, open finance, Web3 art, and investment in Web3 culture and entertainment, among others.
PBW also has special events for investors, competitions for startups, hackathons and additional side events.
Last year’s event saw around 3,000 peak visitors and featured keynotes and fireside chats from some of the industry’s most prominent figures, such as Binance’s Changpeng Zhao and Tether’s Paolo Ardoino, among others.