Richard Branson’s private island in the Caribbean is set to host yet another blockchain-focused gathering, drawing a range of guests from around the world including the former prime minister of Haiti and a member of the European Union Parliament.
Among the approximately 40 people attending this year’s event is Marietje Schaake, the member of European Parliament who in March hosted an event with COALA (Coalition of Automated Legal Applications) and the Dynamic Coalition on Blockchain Technologies at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) to explore the prospect of coding regulation into a blockchain.
Also on the guest list are Beth Moses, engineer and astronaut for Branson’s aerospace firm Virgin Galactic; Laurent Lamothe, former prime minister of Haiti; Jim Newsome, former chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO of bitcoin startup BitPesa.
The event is being hosted by bitcoin mining firm BitFury and event group Mai Tai.
Now in its second year, little has changed about the Blockchain Summit hosted on Branson’s Necker Island in spite of controversy around last year’s gathering. While some argued the group of attendees was elitist in nature, the mix of education and leisure has proved productive in more than one way, according to past attendees.
BitFury CEO Valery Vavilov described the proceedings in a very similar terms as last year, though with a few tweaks, noting in a statement: "Our emphasis for this year’s gathering is to bring some of the world’s top thinkers from diverse backgrounds – civil society, [non-governmental organizations], business, technology, government – to this extremely special place known for free thinking and cutting edge innovation." On the island
From 3rd to 7th June, guests will attend panels dealing with the event’s three major themes: financial technology, security and global change.
But plenty of free time is also built into the agenda. While […]
