Future Blockchain Summit and Fintech Surge continued today at Dubai Harbor, bringing together industry pioneers from around the world to discuss the latest advancements in web3, crypto, banking and decentralized finance.
Innovations in DeFi Highlighted on Day 2 of Future Blockchain Summit:
On the second day of the summit, the Future Blockchain Stage hosted a series of insightful sessions focused on the theme of “DeFi Evolution, Innovations & mass adoption.”
During the opening keynote, Brian Rose, Founder & Host, London Real, United Kingdom, spoke about ‘Mindsets to Thrive in the Highly Competitive Blockchain Market’, highlighting the importance of ownership, discipline and leadership in personal and professional growth.
“I love this concept of ‘extreme ownership’ – it means that everything in the world is your fault. Which means everything in the world is under your control, and that, in turn means, that you can take ownership and fix it. If you own a problem, then you own the solution,” said Rose.
Meanwhile industry leaders Mandy Naidoo, Chief Compliance Officer, Yellow Card, South Africa; John Le Blanc, Chief Legal Officer, Figment Inc, USA; and Mickey Graham, Co-Founder & General Partner, Metalayer Ventures/ Former Head of Growth, Chainlink Labs, USA, joined a panel focused on‘Cross-Industry DeFi Applications & Innovations: Utilising AI to Expand the Scope’. Cross-chain transactions now make up 20% of all DeFi activity, highlighting the critical role of interoperability. The panelists discussed real-world applications like decentralised insurance, tokenised real estate, and blockchain-based voting systems, illustrating the innovative use cases driving the evolution of blockchain technology.
On this, Mandy Naidu commented, “If we are actually looking to bring and leverage blockchain across Africa and the world, we need to step away from our PR thinking and look at how we are actually going to use AI and blockchain to solve real world problems. Across Africa, peer to peer transactions have increased dramatically – the question is how do we identify them? If people are sitting in less technologically advanced areas, how do we assist them and aid payments. What we are looking at across the industry is an innovative way to step away from the old-world banking and way of thinking, to develop real-world real-time solutions.”
Spotlight on Digital Banking and Finance at Fintech Surge:
Day two of Fintech Surge’s agenda at the Future of Money stage (Hall 10) focused on digital banking and finance. The day kicked off with a ‘Visionary Dialogue: The Future of Money’, discussing the realities of fintech and emerging technologies with Ronit Ghose, Global Head, Future of Finance, at Citi. As he explored the rapidly changing world of money, he said: “The future of money is going to be driven by a mixture of artificial intelligence, tokenisation and a mixed reality world, where what we used to call the metaverse or extended reality is going to become the next platform for commerce.”
Ghose also highlighted how semi-autonomous and autonomous agents will revolutionise consumer and small business finance on a five-to-seven-year horizon.
In addition, a conversation between experts, ’From ‘Next Wave’ to ‘Tide’—The Case for Embedded Finance’, looked at whether embedded finance is poised to redefine traditional banking. With the fintech landscape exploding, panellists discussed whether they think regulators can keep up.
Sailesh Malhotra, General Manager – GCC Region at Geidea, said: “You’ve got hundreds of thousands of fintechs all over the world innovating or coming up with one new product every minute. Regulators, at the end of the day will be outpaced, but the principles of the regulators stand good, meaning that regulators are not unrealistic or asking for anything which is not justified, or slowing down the growth. What they are simply saying is to keep within the parameters of the set framework, and then do whatever you want to do. However, fintechs are fintechs, and they will always figure out a way to breach it.”
During the session, Kelvin Tan, CEO of audax, also commented: “Everyone talks embedded finance, and Synapse as an example, and they’re all very Western-focused, however the world’s largest embedded finance player is WeBank in China, with 490 million customers and hardly any instances of fraud. The regulatory constraints around WeBank’s execution are massively comprehensive, so why is it that we don’t showcase something like that and have it as a reference point in conversations around scalability and how embedded finance can be instituted across, not just individuals, but SME’s and multiple product sets?”
About Future Blockchain Summit:
Future Blockchain Summit is the leading blockchain exhibition and MENA region’s most immersive large-scale blockchain event. Capitalising on Dubai’s status as a global Web3 hub, the event will unite the entire blockchain and crypto ecosystem and provide a leading platform to foster collaboration.
Powered by GITEX Global, the seventh edition of Future Blockchain Summit will bring together more than 1200 investors, 150 exhibitors, and 120 speakers from across countries at the iconic Dubai Harbour, from 13-16 October 2024. It will take place alongside GITEX Impact, Expand North Star, FinTech Surge and Marketing Mania.
About Fintech Surge:
Fintech Surge is the most sought after gathering for the global fintech industry. Capitalising on Dubai’s pioneering status as a leading location for fintechs, it is the foremost platform where international finance and technology players meet to create limitless opportunities. More than 1,200 investors, 150 exhibitors and more than 100 speakers from more than 70 countries will gather to chart the way forward and inspire industry-wide transformation. The fourth edition of Fintech Surge will take place from 13-16 October 2024 alongside GITEX GLOBAL, uniting the global community at the iconic Dubai Harbour. It is co-located with GITEX IMPACT, Expand North Star, Future Blockchain Summit and Marketing Mania.
Expand North Star:
Expand North Star 2024, the world’s largest event for start-ups and investors, will bring together leading founders, VCs, tech innovators, and ecosystem enablers to the Dubai Harbour, taking place from 13-16 October 2024. Hosted by the Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy and organised by Dubai World Trade Centre, Expand North Star features four co-located events: GITEX IMPACT, Fintech Surge, Future Blockchain Summit, and Marketing Mania. This 9th edition will welcome over 1,800 global startup exhibitors, 1,200 investors, and 250 speakers from 100 countries. The show is inspired by the world largest tech show, GITEX GLOBAL, which will take place from 14-18 October 2024, at Dubai World Trade Centre.
