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Last week, some 2,500 cryptocurious blockchain enthusiasts went down to the conference suites of the Hyatt Tower in Barcelona, as part of a real network. The 8th edition of the European Blockchain Convention, and the fourth occurrence in Barcelona, also coincided with Bitcoin () sitting tight below $25,000.
Despite an over 60% crypto drawdown, the conference was packed, and reportedly 2,500 attendees from banks, blockchain companies and crypto drank in the sights and sounds of the cosmopolitan capital of Spain’s Catalonia region. Nevertheless, the 2022 crypto scars are still soft and raw; many participants raised real regulatory and rule concerns.
Among the clarion calls for regulation were bankers from major European institutions: Santander, HSBC and Societe Generale shared stages and rubbed shoulders with crypto natives and blockchain maximalists.
However, contrary to expectation, it was the crypto-native camp that was quick to recognize the issues of 2022 and who was first to call for clearer instruction from regulators.
Stef wynendaele, a native crypto that directs the business strategy for keyrock, said cointelegraph that he is "madly in love with Bitcoin," and that "questioning the institution" is an important crypto principle. That said, a collaborative environment between institutions and disruptors may be the most productive path forward:
“Everybody says, ‘We don't want to talk with the banks, we don't want to know what they're doing, etc.’ In fact, they are 300 or 400 years old. They have a lot of experience getting things done or not getting things done."
In such an environment, Wynendaele explains that it's no longer a matter of "us against them," that is to say. , crypto against the incumbents, all the more so as the market will eventually decide on the best result.
Patrick Heusser, Head of the Cryptographic Finance Business Division, echoed her remarks. He said to cointelchart: "I would argue that this is not all that has been done in traditional finance is wrong. The regulatory environment is not always bad.”
Cathy We, as investment partners at NGC Ventures, have put forward an opposite view of regulation, at least in the short term. She told Cointelegraph that “The type of scrutiny we're seeing in the market from regulators is something that obviously is not good to see in this bear market in the short term.”
“On a long-term basis, this is going to create an environment that is so much better for everyone, for liquidity, for many new ideas to be safely developed and for talent, she added”
You want your best and brightest to work in a very compliant environment, so they don't get caught and they don't go to jail or anything. Therefore, I think long-term regulation will be very helpful.”
Indeed light of a bear market in which the likes of FTX, Luna, Celsius and BlockFi blackened the crypto industry’s reputation, John Murillo, who spent decades in traditional finance, summed up the industry’s needs succinctly:
“Regulation brings transparency. At the end of the day, transparency provides credibility, and that's what everybody wants."
While regulation has been the word of the day, there have been lively discussions about innovation and the disruption of the traditional financial space.
Related: Market makers in the crypto industry: party planners or bartenders?
A new expression was coined during the conference, "Recycle for Win." the sentence is the slogan of the blockchain company circularr, which took part and then won the CT accelerator award.
Circularr is a blockchain-based recycling pioneer who hopes to bring trust back to recycling. The team won a $35,000 co-telegraph grant from a one-minute pitch at the launch competition. The presentation of the start-up brought the conference to a high point and reminded the audience of the roots of the Web3 industry, namely disruption, innovation and ownership.
