international-blockchain-week-shanghai-2016

DigitalFutures attended the second Global Blockchain Summit and International Blockchain Week in Shanghai that took place from September 19-24, 2016.

Sponsored principally by Microsoft, one of the event slogans is “uniting the networks” and it seems that the event at the Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai, Sept. 19-24 attracted companies and organizations from around the world.

A Global Effort to Unite the Blockchain Community

One of the keynote speakers, Hyperledger Executive Director, Brian Behlendorf, told Bitcoin Magazine:

“Hyperledger intends to be a global effort and so working with the China blockchain community is very important to us. I’ll be talking about the goals and progress of the Hyperledger project at the conference, but I really intend to be in listening in conversation mode, to see what more we can do to collaborate with the China blockchain community and industry.”

Strategic Alliance Formed to Speed Up Adoption of Blockchain Technology in China

The Chinese government has organized a special government-industry working group to ensure that Chinese industry presents a concrete plan of action at the Summit outlining how best to go forward to promote the development and adoption of blockchain technology.

The three-way strategic alliance among the Chinese government, ChinaLedger and the Shenzhen Consortium forms an unprecedented organized force, mandated to grow China’s blockchain industry and propel it forward on a global level.Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, Ant Financial, Webank, Universal Holdings, Ping An Insurance and Micro Focus Bank are among the companies involved.

FinTech + Blockchain: A fast growing global industry

A recent survey by Greenwich Associates estimates that financial and technology markets investments in blockchain technology will reach $1 billion in 2016. The survey showed that venture capital backed investment in blockchain and bitcoin companies jumped from $3 million in 2011 to $474 million in 2015.