Chicago has quite an expansive blockchain and cryptocurrency community, and it is only growing! On October 29th of 2017, the Bitcoin & Open Blockchain (BoB) Community in Chicago held one of their many meetups. They started their meetups in January of 2016, with only twenty-something members. Today, they have over 2,000 members, and this event was fully booked.
Their Meetup page states: "This group is about bitcoin, open blockchains, decentralization, and innovation. We host regular events, alternating between learning {workshops} and community building {socials}."
The October 29th event featured Andreas Antonopoulos, Pamela Morgan, and Alyse Killeen, speaking about a variety of topics. Below are overviews of their talks, and the videos of each one, which Blockchain WTF filmed.
Andreas Antonopoulos: Decentralized Truth
Andreas Antonopoulos is a well-known and respected technologist and entrepreneur, who's written two books on bitcoin ("The Internet of Money" and "Mastering Bitcoin"). He's appreciated in the bitcoin community for his work in the space. His personal website can be found here.
In his talk, Antonopoulos discusses the learning curve that many people experience entering the realm of blockchains and cryptocurrencies, authenticity of value in money systems and cryptocurrencies, and how in this new space the “decentralization of truth” becomes a new and interesting factor in technology and learning.
Pamela Morgan: Estate Planning with Cryptocurrencies
Pamela Morgan breaks down an often overlooked component of cryptocurrency: estate planning. Pamela is a lawyer and founder of Third Key Solutions, which offers consulting for people who are looking to improve the security of their cryptocurrency. With the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies, many have neglected to address what will happen to their cryptocurrency in the case of death or severe injury. Pamela breaks down this intimidating prospect in a way even crypto newbies can understand!
Alyse Killeen: Venture Capitalism in the Crypto Space
Alyse Killeen speaks about Venture Capital in the cryptocurrency space. Alyse is Managing Partner of StillMark Co. and StillMark Capital, Founder and Executive Director of City Fellows Consortium and Women in Venture. Topics covered in the talk include decentralization and Satoshi’s vision.
Question & Answer Panel
This is the event's panel of blockchain all-stars field audience questions in a Q&A session! The panel features Andreas Antonopoulos, Alyse Killeen, Pamela Morgan, and MK Lords.
If you are in Chicago and want to check out the meetup, you can find their page here: Bitcoin & Open Blockchain (BoB) Community - Chicago
For more talks about blockchain, bitcoin, decentralization, and more, visit our YouTube Channel Playlist: WTF Productions!
Picture of Chicago flag by Danny Huizinga via Wikimedia Commons
