Unlocking the Future of Web3: Key highlights after “Paris Blockchain Week” with an exclusive talk with Michael Amar, Chairman of PBW!

Europe’s biggest blockchain conference for professionals, crypto enthusiasts, investors and entrepreneurs…

Before addressing the tremendous success of Paris Blockchain Week and key takeaways, I would like to thank Michael Amar, Chairman of PBW and General Partner at V3entures, for the opportunity to conduct an exclusive talk about PBW and the longstanding partnership between ESSEC Business School & PBW as a recent ESSEC Alumni…

Introduction: As someone who is annually attending Paris Blockchain Week, I can definitely say that the interest in PBW is growing significantly every year! And I would like to verify this with numbers. Last year, PBW attracted 3.000 attendees, 70 sponsors, 250 speakers, and 100 media partners. This year, the summit welcomed 10.000 attendees, 300 sponsors, 400+ speakers, and 400+ media partners, a significant increase from the previous year. This huge amount of interest leads me to believe that mass adoption and achieving the next billion users in Web3 will probably happen sooner than expected. However, before discussing the future, I’d like to begin with the past!

Question: Can you explain when and how did you come up with the idea of PBW and why Paris?

Michael Amar: It all started in 2018 when I was involved with Chain Accelerator, the first accelerator for blockchain in Europe. I had the opportunity to meet with the largest international projects and Europe was nowhere in the map. People recognized we had good engineering talent but not that Paris could be a hub for blockchain projects. We decided to create a conference by the Pros for the pros. With the best speakers of the industry and the best partners to help the industry grow on technology, regulation, corporate adoption.

Question: Different from last year, this year PBW kicked off with a Talent Fair organized in partnership with UBIKI, a specialized Web3 & Web2 recruitment agency, trainer and a creator company. And this unique event brought together key recruiters from top companies such as Binance, Ledger, Sorare, and The Sandbox etc. As the founder of PBW, what advices will you share for talents who plan to make a career transition from Web2 to Web3 and for recruiters to attract more talents to grow this evolving industry together?

Michael Amar: As a talent, you can join an amazing ecosystem, international at its core, very fast paced and with decentralization you help the user get the fair value it brings to the economy. By joining Web3 you are not only joining the new Web but as the talent is scarce you can increase your salary and join the best companies.

Question: After the talent fair, on March 21, the main focus of the one-day event “Web3XP” was on how brands and creators can generate value in the Metaverse and how Web2 companies can build transition strategies to Web3. When we say “unlock the power of Web3”, how do you see the progress of the Web3 economy and what trends do you foresee over the next years?

Michael Amar: We will see many bridges from Web2 to Web3 until the user experience is seamless. I think “gaming, fashion and entertainment” will be the first areas of adoption

Question: Following the great success of last year, this year PBW has established itself as a “global meeting place” for professionals, crypto enthusiasts, investors, entrepreneurs, leaders, and game-changers. I would define as: “Visionary Do3ers” all in one place. And because you are hosting this global meeting in Paris, do you think Paris will be a hub to attract talents to Web3 and also a hub for the development in the blockchain industry?.

Michael Amar: We have Web3 unicorns (Sorare, The Sandbox, Ledger…), a talent pool of top engineers, some of the largest corporates in fashion & luxury. France is benefiting from Brexit and perhaps soon from the US strict regulation. France is becoming to be a launchpad that counts in the global market.

Question: What key takeaways from the summit do you want to share for the people who could not attend the summit this year?

Michael Amar: That the tech giants are joining Web3 : Amazon, Google, SAP, Salesforce. Along the largest brands Gucci, Coca-Cola or Fiat…

Question: Lastly, what surprises can we expect for next year’s PBW?

Michael Amar: It wouldn’t be a surprise ;-). You can think of even more speakers from non Web3 that will explain how they are joining the space, and many incredible experiences.

Once again, thank you very much for taking the time to answer the questions, and congratulations on the summit’s tremendous success to all team members of PBW!

The recap of the entire week and all you need to know about PBW!

A week-long summit hosted exhibitions, keynotes, workshops, networking events, dinners, and parties before, during, and after the conference to share, learn, network, and build lasting connections with industry leaders and crypto enthusiasts from around the world…

17th — 19th March: The Hackathon!

The Hackathon welcomed developers from diverse backgrounds to hack, build, and network for an entire weekend. The primary goal was to examine use cases that address real-world problems to facilitate blockchain adoption by businesses and customers. The winning project has been announced on the main stage at #PBW2023.

20th March: Talent Fair & Investors Day & Start-up Competition

This year, for the first time, PBW began with a “Talent Fair”!

Paris Blockchain Week provided an unique opportunity with “Talent Fair” for talents and key recruiters from top and leading companies in the blockchain, crypto, and Web3 space. The dedicated day for 1.000+ candidates and 250+ companies began with a keynote speech from David Princay, president of Binance France, and continued with a variety of informative and inspiring panels and workshops at The Westin Paris — Vendome Hotel.

The talent fair attracted an incredible amount of interest, providing the opportunity for professionals to network with recruiters and experts, learn from the top companies in the blockchain and Web3 space, and find their dream job, as well as for top companies to connect with professionals and candidates. There was a well-curated agenda with informative and inspiring content for all attendees!

The Investors Day with an unique Web3 Start-Up Competition!

The second pillar of the day was “Investors Day,” the main focus of which was the start-up competition sponsored by Google Cloud. As start-ups are the cornerstone of the industry, the “Start in Block” start-up pitch competition highlighted some of the most innovative and promising Web3 projects across 45 countries and 30 Web3 segments. During the event, a panel of prominent investors representing over $10 billion in assets under management provided detailed feedback and observed ten pre-selected start-ups present their pitches on the main stage. At the end, three winners have been selected by the juries: “Bubblemaps”, “Staex”, and “ Xverse App”.

 

Emmanuel Fenet, CEO of Paris Blockchain Week, highlighted:

Today was really about all the people that make the blockchain, Web3, and digital assets industries function. It’s easy to get caught up in technology and building, but you need the right people, both on the employee and investor side, to get the best out of both of these. Hence, making a place for talent in our Paris Blockchain Week was a must. Walking the floor today and seeing all job seekers, companies, and investors interacting was a testament to how special the environment we’ve built is, something that will continue to be fostered throughout the week.

21st March: Web3XP

The third day with “Web3XP” program focused on unlocking the power of Web3, examining how businesses can build and execute successful strategies in the growing industry. Among the most prominent topics were how brands can maximize Web3, how they are presently utilizing it, and why they need Web3 and the metaverse. Companies including Coca-Cola, LVMH, Givenchy, Microsoft, and Mercedes gathered with other industry participants to provide examples from the real-world.

Key takeaways from the “Web3XP:

· Franck Le Moal, the CIO of LVMH, joined Stefano Rosso from OTB Group to talk about the transition of luxury brands to blockchain and Web3:

Anybody in the luxury sector can join — it is an open platform for luxury.” He spoke further about it being a frame for any brand to sell NFTs with their own style and customization. “Luxury is about being unique. And when you look at luxury brands, it is unique. Each one has different needs (in Web3).

· Richard Briffod (Global Strategic & Web3 Partnerships at Ebay) highlighted in the afternoon panel, “How Are Brands Experimenting with Web3?”:

We welcome Web3 with huge enthusiasm because we are an old company — a web1 company, and with Web3, some of our core DNA is coming back into the spotlight.” He spoke further about eBay’s venture into Web3, saying, “Web2 was great in terms of simplification of experience, but lost some elements important to us.” Now, he adds, “it’s fantastic to be a part of this new evolution and revival.” eBay’s collectors are keen to collect digital items as well, especially those that add enhanced experiences to their physical collectables.

· Sébastien Borget, co-founder and COO of The Sandbox, added that 75% percent of Gen Z want to be creators, not just passive audiences, and highlighted the importance of localizing Web3 experiences to geographies, age groups, and interest areas.

· Suk-Jae Chang, the CEO and Management Board of Cocone Europe, shared in his keynote that not only has Cocone already sold 16 billion pieces of digital fashion items (proving the product-market fit of digital fashion and collectables), but shared their winning formula for connecting with users online: Creating experiences with “identity, connectivity and empathy.”

22nd and 23rd March: Summit & Industry Awards & PBW Official Party

The two-day summit took place at the Carrousel du LOUVRE on three different stages with 270+ speakers (see full list), 20 workshops, 6.000+ attendees, 250+ sponsors (see full list) and 400+ media partners. The latest developments in blockchain technology were highlighted by addressing digital finance, ranging from institutional custody and fund management to digital finance strategies and tokenization, as well as infrastructure, in four main themes, tech builders, public policy, enterprise blockchain, and open finance.

Key blockchain opinion leaders and speakers included: Tim Draper (Founder and Managing Partner of Draper Associates, DFJ and the Draper Venture Network), Sébastien Borget (Co-Founder & COO, The Sandbox), Pascal Gauthier (Chairman & CEO of Ledger), Yat Siu (Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Animoca Brands Founder and CEO, Outblaze), Nicolas Cary (Co-Founder & Vice Chairman of Blockchain.com), Eva Kaili (Vice President of the European Parliament), Denelle Dixon (Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director, Stellar Development Foundation), Jeff Hasselman (Global Head of Web3 at Amazon Web Services), and Nic Cary (Co-Founder & Vice Chairman at Blockchain.com)

The summit attracted such a large crowd that the Master Stage, the largest stage at the venue, was completely full for the majority of the sessions.

Highlights from the two-day summit:

· The program included fireside chats, keynotes and workshops from leading companies such as Amazon Web Services, Bloomberg, Circle, Coinbase, Decathlon, Deutsche Bank, Fireblocks, Stellar Development Foundation, UNICEF the World Economic Forum and World Pay.

· The speech by Henri Arslanian, co-founder of Nine Blocks Capital Management, was one of the highlights of the first day. He addressed NFTs, CBDCs, DeFi, and the most significant events of 2022, as well as the critical role that regulations and transparency will play in creating greater transparency surrounding digital assets in Europe. These regulations are important, in particular to preventing collapses like FTX, Luna and Celsius, and 3AC.

· The Web3 and metaverse conversations continued with sessions that tackled topics like ethics in the space, marketing, how it’s changing the game for investors and start-ups, gaming, NFTs, and more.

· Pascal Gauthier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ledger, addressed the recent failure of several major banks and how the interest of consumers in Ledger and the importance for securely storing their assets surges after catastrophic events such as FTX and bank failures!

· A significant part of the event was taking a long view on the state of blockchain and its adjacent industries, including how it can impact finance, money on the internet, and what part CBDCs will play in the future of our financial system. Ryan Selkis, Founder & CEO at Messari, and Guillaume Chatain, Head of Institutional Sales EMEA & APAC at Coinbase, provided a particularly interesting take on building the future of finance. Guillaume said:

We have big demand from institutions, especially in the past 90 days and in the last few weeks there has been even more volume. Coinbase is not an exchange anymore; it’s a bridge.

· The second day of the summit ended with an “Awards Night” which recognized leadership, innovation and contributions to the new digital economy. The votes from the Parti.com decentralized app were taken into account to choose the winners. Here are the winners across all categories:

· Web3 personality of the year: Vitalik Buterin

· Best impact project of the year: UNHCR in Ukraine

· Web3 brand initiative of the year: NBA / Sorare

· Blockchain project of the year: IPWe (IBM / Casper Labs)

· Best Education Platform of the year: Binance Academy

· Web3 Content Creator of the year: Anthony Pompliano

· People’s choice: Cardano Foundation

Europe will continue to lead the development of Web3 on a global scale as it continues to emerge as the dominant force in the global Web3 industry. And the tremendous success of Paris Blockchain Week is a tangible evidence of this!

The key industry players, leaders, and game-changers in the blockchain and Web3 space come together to connect, network, learn, exchange ideas, and build the next web with meaningful business partnerships. The brightest minds, creators, professionals, along with leading investors, VCs and speakers share their perspectives on the blockchain industry and its future. Given the increasing interest in PBW each year, we cannot wait to see what surprises the next year’s summit holds!

Until next article!

*Disclosure: This article does not constitute investment advice, nor is it an offer or invitation to purchase any crypto assets. The Content in this article is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

 

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