It was 30+ hours of unconventional networking at the 13th global edition of World Blockchain Summit in Dubai on 22nd, 23th and 24th October. With the conference floor swarming with over 650 attendees that included top blockchain and crypto pioneers, industry experts, investors, solution providers and startups, the 3-day tech innovation festival was driven by the idea of Dubai’s vision to continually explore and evaluate the latest technology innovations by promoting more blockchain and crypto-related investments in the UAE.
As an exclusive strategic partner for the conference, Dubai’s third leg of WBS was organized in collaboration with LEAD Ventures. The summit was attended by the Chairman himself, H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Abdullah Bin Sultan Al Qasimi and his delegation, Mohamed Al Banna, CEO & Managing Director and Faris M. Al Tahtamooni, Associate Director – Strategic Partnerships, LEAD Ventures. The partnership synergy which was to create more investment opportunities in the UAE through collaborations with selective companies saw more than 50+ solution providers gather under one roof to stimulate business opportunities.
Top speakers for the summit included Suresh Prabhu, India’s Sherpa to G7 and G20 and former Union Minister for Commerce and Industry; Emin Sirer, CEO for AVA Labs, Inc; Mru Patel, President of EXcoin Futures; Dr Marwan Alzarouni, CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center and Sir Anthony Ritossa, Chairman for the Ritossa Family Office to name a few.
Early pioneer of Blockchain Technology and keynote speaker for the summit, Nick Spanos said, “There is a lot of hope in Dubai for bitcoin and blockchain enterprises because the government seems to be working with the industry. I believe that if they keep going the way they’re going, the emirates can become the next Wall Street.”
Business visionary and serial entrepreneur, Mru Patel who has been at the forefront of disruption for the last twenty-five years, presented a case study on the future of Stablecoin. In his tech talk, he added, “At least fifty per cent of the world’s retail banks and a lot of the traditional small exchanges will disappear. Three years on and we’re seeing that consolidating. Today, not many of us carry paper. What blockchain is doing is trying to enable this very fast.”
The UAE is considered as a number one destination for innovation in the GCC region. World Blockchain Summit also provided 20 startups a platform to exhibit their innovative capabilities in front of global investors at the Pegasus Tech Ventures Startup World Cup regionals. QUUBE Exchange, a company that offers the first & only quantum resistant ecosystem for the Crypto World won the pitch slot at the 2020 Startup World Cup in San Francisco. They will now get an opportunity to network with startups and investors at the Grand Finale of the Startup World Cup and pitch QUUBE Exchange for a US$ 1 Million investment prize.
World Blockchain Summit – Dubai 2019 was officially sponsored by Platinum Sponsor, Future1Exchange; Gold Sponsors, Masrshal Lion Group, and 2Local, Blocko; Badge Sponsor, QUUBE Exchange; LanyardSponsor, EXcoin; Silver Sponsors, TecraCoin, SynchroBit Hybrid Exchange and Electroneum Ltd; Bronze Sponsors, Block 30 Labs and Karuschain; Pitch Partners, GLBrain, Be Faster, Stibits, ProperSix The Prestige Network and BabyToken
Exhibitors include: Bitcrore Foundation, DigiXHub, Payment Porte, Finwin Technologies, Osiz Technologies, TRON-Europe, F4, MASEx, Labuan IBFC, Finesse, Encores Technology Holding LLP, Beldex International Limited OÜ, Vectorium, ChainUP, MediLiVes, BitherX, DVMarketplace and TradeStars
Association Partners: Government Blockchain Association (GBA) and Kartblock
Strategic Partner: The Franck Muller Geneve
Supporting Partner: Truong Thanh Japan (TTJ)