Ethereal 2020

May 8

Elon Musk as Dave in 2001: A Space Odyssey (Image: YouTube)

Can blockchain save us from deepfakes?

As a speaker at Ethereal Virtual Summit gave her presentation today on deepfakes—AI-generated fake videos—suddenly, the Youtube livestream went dark. Her talk featured a screenshot of a deepfake video, which Youtube’s algorithms apparently didn’t like. Here is the irony: Kathryn Harrison, as the founder of DeepTrust Alliance, a coalition fighting against digital misinformation, is actually on a mission to fight deepfakes. That was the entire point of her talk. That, and how blockchain could he...

Does the EEA need separate standards? Image: Shutterstock

Is it time to drop the "enterprise" from enterprise Ethereum?

If a panel today at Ethereal Summit is any indication, the lines between Ethereum and enterprise Ethereum are dissolving. The panel—John Wolpert of ConsenSys, Yorke Rhodes of Microsoft, and Aya Miyaguchi and Tas Dienes of Ethereum Foundation—agreed that our old, coded way of talking about public, versus permissioned blockchains, needs a reboot. While the plugins and consensus mechanisms might vary, "it is the same technology," said Rhodes, who co-founded Blockchain @Microsoft. "It's just how you...

Hacks remain common in DeFi. Image: Shutterstock

How to prevent the next DeFi hack: Experts at Ethereal weigh in

How do we handle a problem like security in DeFi? In the world of decentralized finance, the issue is far from settled. Multiple influential speakers weighed in on the matter at the Ethereal Virtual Summit on Thursday, offering their views on code vulnerability, how much security is enough, and who’s ultimately responsible for the security of users on decentralized platforms. Perhaps the most pressing issue in terms of DeFi and security is the recent spat of high-profile hacks and exploits. Seve...

For crypto to grow, the seed phrase may have to go

In the leadup to Dr. Karl Kreder's talk at Ethereal Summit on "Killing the Seed Phrase: Crypto's Biggest UX Challenge," the previous speaker made the point for him. For years, people have been told not to write down their passwords for security reasons, Itamar Lesuisse, CEO of the Ethereum wallet Argent, pointed out. Now, many crypto companies are telling people to write down their seed phrases—a combination of random words that can be used to recover access to funds. That's kind of bonkers, ag...

A pile of Ethereum coins. Image: Shutterstock.

How much you might earn staking on Ethereum 2.0

“What kind of economic returns can stakers expect to make?” was, perhaps, the most anticipated question during today’s “Ethereum 2.0 Staking Panel” at Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020—at least from a retail investor’s perspective. The answer, however, is far from simple, according to Collin Myers, global product strategy at ConsenSys (which funds an editorially independent Decrypt). Ethereum 2.0 is a massive network upgrade that will bring many improvements to the current blockchain, starting with “...

Staking is coming to Ethereum. Image: Shutterstock

Ethereum on track to offer staking in Q3 2020

The proof-of-stake aspect of the much anticipated Ethereum 2.0 network upgrade could be live as early as July 2020, according to Ben Edgington of Teku—an Eth 2.0 client operator—who spoke at the Ethereal Virtual Summit today. “Beacon is the beginning of the road. It’s a proof-of-stake chain that sustains itself. It could arrive in weeks to months… But I am 80-90 percent confident it will go live by Q3,” Edgington said, speaking in a group panel moderated by Evan Van Ness, of Week in Ethereum New...

DeFi needs better loans to see mass adoption, say experts

Decentralized Finance (DeFi) projects will need to overcome the limitations of over-collateralized loans to achieve broad adoption, said experts at an Ethereal Virtual Summit panel today. The panel consisted of CEO and founder of Fabrx Ryan Berkun, co-founder of ElDorado.io Jana Petkanic, and Rafaella Baraldo, who is working on a project named Pods, about on-chain derivatives. The focus of the talk was on undercollateralized DeFi loans. WATCH NOW: Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020 Live Stream DeFi re...

Immutable X is a decentralized exchange for NFTs. Image: Immutable X.

Gods Unchained plans to go mainstream—without crashing Ethereum

Today, Immutable, the developer of popular blockchain-based trading card game (TCG) Gods Unchained, and software company StarkWare have announced their joint project—Immutable X. Immutable X is a decentralized non-custodial exchange. It’s designed to support a high number of trades for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) while taking the load off the main Ethereum blockchain. NFTs are unique blockchain tokens, like virtual trading cards. WATCH NOW: Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020 Live Stream As happened in...

May 7

Novogratz is a former Goldman Sachs partner. IMAGE: Shutterstock.

Web 3 technology not quite ready for primetime: Mike Novogratz

With Bitcoin just over a decade into its existence and Ethereum not yet five years old, it may seem improbable that anyone would look to blockchain as a replacement for our current economic systems. But the economic crisis spawned by COVID-19 seems to be what cryptocurrency was invented to address. Did it come too soon? In a "fireside chat" (read: video conference) with ConsenSys founder and CEO Joseph Lubin and Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz at today's Ethereal Summit, moderator...

Play-to-earn crypto games set for rapid growth, say Ethereum devs

During a panel discussion today at the Ethereal Virtual Summit, developers of Ethereum-based games discussed the possibilities and challenges ahead, including an expectation of significant growth for the blockchain gaming industry over the next 24 months. Moderated by Cecily Mak of ConsenSys, the panel featured a trio of active blockchain game developers: Peter Kieltyka of Horizon Blockchain Games (SkyWeaver), Ben Heidorn of Blockade Games (Neon District), and Jeffrey Zirlin (Axie Infinity).Zirl...

DeFi on the path to disrupt traditional finance

DeFi is a landscape still in its early stages, but ripe with potential to massively disrupt traditional financial systems, according to the founders at some of the most cutting-edge companies in the growing ecosystem. In a discussion today at the Ethereal Summit, the panelists—from asset management platform TokenSets, margin lending protocols dYdX and bZx, and Indian neo bank NOU—also helped to define decentralized finance and lay out their vision for its potential. “Once you have that first fo...

Vitalik Buterin defends DeFi despite $25 million dForce hack. Image: Shutterstock

Vitalik Buterin defends DeFi despite $25 million hack

Speaking at the ongoing Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020 conference today, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin touched on the subject of cryptocurrency hacks in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. Recently DeFi platforms have suffered several major hacks. In February, a trader used flash loans to siphon $1 million out of the DeFi ecosystem. Last month, open finance protocol dForce was hacked for $25 million—although the funds were later returned. WATCH NOW: Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020 Live Stre...

Vitalik Buterin: How Ethereum will help heal the world

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin appeared at Ethereal Summit 2020 today, where he discussed Ethereum’s possible role in a post-coronavirus future, and whether the current crisis would trigger an influx of users into cryptocurrency. Speaking to The Defiant’s Camila Russo, Buterin suggested Ethereum could be the glue that holds a fractured world together in the fallout from Covid-19. However, he stopped short of predicting a global influx to cryptocurrency at the present time. Vitalik Buterin s...

Binance is the world's biggest crypto exchange. Image: Shutterstock

If Bitcoin doesn’t have an office, why should Binance?

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao kicked off the Ethereal Virtual Summit today, in an interview with podcaster Laura Shin. The talk explored the wider ecosystem and Binance's roll in it before zeroing in on the class-action lawsuit the exchange is involved in as well as uncertainty over where Binance is officially and legally based. WATCH NOW: Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020 Live Stream Bitcoin doesn’t have an office Shin asked Zhao about Binance’s office in China which was shut down following a visit by...

WATCH NOW: Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020 Live Stream

This year, the Ethereal Summit has gone virtual for the first time, in response to the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown. Decrypt.co is an event partner and will be reporting on the latest news from Ethereal Summit throughout the two-day event. May 8, 9:55 a.m. — How much can you earn staking on Ethereum 2.0? Collin Myers, global product strategy at ConsenSys, fielded questions on what kind of returns stakers can expect to make on Ethereum 2.0. First and foremost, 2.0’s first—or ”ge...

May 6

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Image: Decrypt

All things Ethereum ready to stream at the Ethereal Summit

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao is slated to kick off the virtual Ethereal Virtual Summit at 7:15am EST Thursday. Zhao, aka "CZ" to his many fans, is the first of 100 speakers and panelists at the two-day conference. Anyone can attend, for free, via their computer, by registering here. Thus far, over 4,000 have registered for the Ethereal event, which has historically been sort of the Burning Man of Web3 confabs. This year, the conference will focus on everything from decentralized finance to Ethereu...

Argent is a software wallet that abstracts away concepts like seed phrases using smart contracts (Image: Argent)

Argent wants to bring DeFi to a billion people

Cryptocurrency is complicated. There’s no getting away from it; to even get your hands on some crypto, you need to familiarize yourself with concepts like private keys and seed phrases, which can be a daunting prospect. And that’s before you even start navigating the waters of decentralized finance (DeFi). If crypto really is the future of currency, it needs to be as simple to use as regular currency. That’s the future Argent is aiming for. It’s an Ethereum smartphone wallet that founder Itamar...

Apr 6

Ethereal Virtual Summit goes online in May. Image: Ethereal.

Vitalik Buterin to speak at Ethereal Virtual Summit in May

Despite the coronavirus' shutdown of the annual New York City Blockchain Week, several events, including the Ethereal Virtual Summit, will continue online, and free for everyone. Today, the Ethereal Virtual Summit has opened for registrations. You can register here. Vitalik Buterin speaking at Ethereal Tel Aviv in 2019. Image: Decrypt. The Ethereal Virtual Summit kicks off May 7-8, and will feature fireside chats, AMAs, and roundtable discussions, as well as virtual networking rooms. The keynot...

Mar 13

Ethereal crypto conference goes virtual in light of coronavirus

Ethereum-focused event Ethereal will be hosted virtually, as a result of the coronavirus. Ethereal is an annual event run by production studio ConsenSys, which funds an editorially independent Decrypt. In a statement, ConsenSys said, "We’ve decided to postpone the Ethereal Summit New York in-person event to the fall of 2020. In the meantime, we’ve already gone to work reimagining Ethereal NY as the first-ever Ethereal Virtual Summit 2020, which will take place on May 7-8." Ethereal will now be h...

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