CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis will be among the presenters at the fourth annual Wyoming Blockchain Stampede September 21-26 at the University of Wyoming.
UW said Thursday that “a global community of developers, entrepreneurs, legal experts, legislators, researchers, educators and students” will attend the event, which will be livestreamed for audiences around the world.
Other keynote speakers will be Caitlin Long, CEO of Avanti Bank in Cheyenne Charles Hoskinson, and founder of blockchain platform Cardano.
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Governor Mark Gordon’s newly appointed permanent Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology will hold a public meeting to draft legislation and take stakeholder input.
Other topics under discussion will include DAOs (decentralized autonomous organization) and how new laws in Wyoming impact blockchain and crypto businesses. The Wyohackathon competition will include various challenges surrounding the area of blockchain technologies.
Looking toward economic diversity, state leaders have been working to provide a comprehensive regulatory structure for blockchain since 2017, UW said.
In September of 2020, Gordon announced that the Wyoming Banking Division awarded Kraken Financial a charter to create the world’s first Special Purpose Depository Institution (SPDI), allowing companies using cryptocurrency to access reliable financial services.
Blockchain technology is decentralized system of transaction records in a shared network. Information about each transaction is encoded in the next connected “block,” and the network is updated for all users with each transaction. Technology advocates say it is more secure because attempts to manipulate any transaction visibly disrupts the entire network.
Other speakers include:
- Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum
- Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave
- Cal Evans, cryptocurrency lawyer and strategy expert
- Julian Sevillano, head of the Digital Assets Group at Promontory Financial Group
- Chris Snook, CEO of SDK Co.
- Joel Neidig, CEO at SIMBA Chain
- Emin Gün Sirer, founder and CEO of Ava Labs
The full schedule of events is listed below:
Sept. 21 — The Startup Stampede will highlight the companies of the future, with presentations by those who founded them. Companies can sign up at wyohackathon.io/startupstampede.html.
Sept. 21-22 — The Wyoming governor’s newly appointed permanent Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology will hold a public meeting to draft legislation and take stakeholder input. The meeting will be held in Room 506 of UW’s Coe Library.
Sept. 22 — The Sandcastle Invitational is a competition for “the best and most promising blockchain, AI and other technology startups,” with cash prizes awarded.
Sept. 22 — The Stampede Finance Conference offers a deep dive into the evolving world of finance, how blockchain technology is pushing decentralized finance, and what impact that will have.
Sept. 23 — The Stampede Business Conference offers a day of speakers and workshops that will help attendees understand the Wyoming legislative environment, use cases, practical application and business opportunities presented by digital technologies, such as blockchain.
Sept. 23 — The Stampede Law Conference will examine the new laws in Wyoming that impact blockchain and crypto businesses and help form the ecosystem.
Sept. 24 — DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) Day will include speakers and workshops to help attendees understand what DAOs are and why DAOs could change the way companies, communities and other groups are fundamentally organized.
Sept. 24 — Future Forward is a day of speakers and panels discussing initiatives that will drive positive economic development for future generations.
Sept. 24-26 — The Wyohackathon is a competition involving various challenges surrounding the area of blockchain technologies.
The Wyoming Blockchain Stampede is presented by CBDI, UW’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the College of Business, the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s Department of Computer Science, and the College of Law.
Title sponsors are IOHK and Blockchain.com. Presenting sponsors are SIMBA Chain, Blue Ocean Digital Management, Brock Pierce, Harmony and Edge196. Innovator sponsors are Avanti Financial Group and Testamint. Hacker sponsors are Socratic Consultancy and Gresham International.