What an amazing week that Blockchain Week was kicking off on Sunday with the pre-parties. Some highlights here from the 2 venues at CryptoLulu and then Squires Landing. https://twitter.com/CaptDeFi/status/1672936197570850816
There were some amazing talks and this recap from our founder, Mark Monfort on his NotCentralised blog https://medium.com/notcentralised/blockchain-week-day-1-australias-crypto-landscape-is-ripe-with-promise-aaae462a9218
Some images from the speakers is here https://twitter.com/CaptDeFi/status/1673097332563517441
Also this from chapter lead Liya Dashkina https://twitter.com/liyadashkina/status/1673591990137794560
The AFR did their piece with Jessica Sier in the audience https://www.afr.com/rear-window/asx-fronts-up-blockchain-week-20230626-p5djhk
There's also this great take from Paul Hewson https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hewsonpaul_im-at-day-one-of-blockchain-australias-activity-7078887145385443328-rwVp?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
As well as this from Alyse Sue from day 1 festivities https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alysesue_blockchain-bw2023-web3-activity-7079284386977771520-zFof?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
We also had our Sydney meetup on the Tuesday with Fireblocks, Bamboo and a visitor from Canada gathering to share their insights - see more here: https://twitter.com/AusDeFi/status/1673599454837080064
and the full video is here:
Wednesday was Brisbane and full of education for the community. See more details from that day here for example with Jordan Franklin (our Canberra Chapter Lead) moderating this panel https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7079646253726240768?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
We were also in Melbourne with our partners Sensand on Thursday night running an amazing event for our friends down there. We had Fireblocks again on stage along with ANZ, DigitalX, Immutable and Elbaite.
At both Sydney and Melbourne, Arturo, wearing the NotCentralised cap, showcased the open-source ZK (zero-knowledge) tooling that they built to bring confidentiality for blockchain transactions which is very important whether you’re a business or individual. More info available if folks want to sign up and find out about it here: https://www.notcentralised.com/layer-c
Here’s a Tweet with that specific section: https://twitter.com/CaptDeFi/status/1674183720394268674
Also on Day 4, in Melbourne, we held our Aus DeFi event there with thanks to our sponsors Sensand for hosting. We had Fireblocks again on stage giving insights to the amazing audience of builders there. We had updates from what Sensand are building with AI infusion and NotCentralised helping) and finally we saw an amazing panel with Anurag (ANZ), Lisa (DigitalX), Samira (Elbaite) and Ed (Immutable) talking about digital assets.
Here’s some shots from that https://twitter.com/AusDeFi/status/1674389060947947520
Was also great to get this awesome shot with Michael and Shane from Fireblocks along with Peter and Adelaide from Sensand https://twitter.com/SensandHQ/status/1674547580498509825
And finally this interview with Michael before the event https://twitter.com/CaptDeFi/status/16745469328434135
On Friday, we were in the crowd at Deloitte and then the after-party with Oshi Gallery https://twitter.com/AusDeFi/status/1675007243123838976?t=BLU3eybP5tfMv5FgQS13Xw&s=19
And finally, on Saturday as our founders Arturo and Mark were leaving Melbourne, they got to run into Blockchain Australia's new CEO, Simon Callaghan. To new beginnings https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7080835671904456704-VXI8?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
Other News
So there was other stuff going on in the world if you had time to pay attention, here are some of the highlights.
Lisa Wade and the team at DigitalX had the launch of their housing affordability token late last week. Read more about the release of HxART here https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lisa-wade-she-her_02681161pdf-activity-7080326051582640128-sn6Z?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android
Amazing to see the AI and web3 crossover continue, this time with Hedara as you can see in the HBAR Bull podcast
as well as in this article https://hedera.com/blog/how-to-create-chatgpt-plugins-unlock-ai-and-blockchain
Untapped natural gas for Bitcoin mining? It sure is happening right here in Australia https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-27/bengal-energy-bitcoin-donga-outback-queensland/102482620
Apart from being the biggest event of the year for Australian blockchain, a few other things were going on in the space including the new portal for claiming funds from FTX - https://thechainsaw.com/defi/ftx-refund-portal-opens-for-customers-with-crypto-stuck-there/
The UK’s stablecoin rules receive royal assent (one step closer to being law) https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/06/29/uk-crypto-stablecoin-rules-receive-royal-assent-passing-into-law/
We also saw NSW Chapter Lead, Nick Bishop, in the AFR talking about the Blackrock Bitcoin ETF https://www.afr.com/wealth/investing/blackrock-s-bitcoin-ambitions-driving-price-higher-20230629-p5dke2
Finally, we see the National Anti Scam Centre launches by the ACCC. Very important for our space. More here https://www.accc.gov.au/national-anti-scam-centre#:~:text=The%20ACCC%20has%20received%20government,sector%20to%20tackle%20harmful%20scams.
About Aus DeFi Association
The Australian DeFi Association (Aus DeFi) is a non-profit community organization dedicated to increasing education and awareness of blockchain technology, specifically decentralized finance (DeFi) and web3-based projects. Their goal is to empower the Australian community with the knowledge and tools to participate in the decentralized economy, and to promote the adoption and growth of blockchain technology in Australia. They strive to provide a more grassroots approach to promoting blockchain technology compared to other industry-focused organizations in Australia, and to provide a platform for community members to learn about and engage with this emerging technology.
You can watch our recorded meetups and interviews here on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ausdefiassociation3956/videos
Sponsors
We also thank all of our sponsors who help us run and organise and keep this association going. We could not do it without them so check out their details here