Consensus 2023: Businesses show interest in Web3, despite U.S. regulatory challenges

Consensus, the yearly crypto and blockchain conference, attracted implicit 15,000 attendees, 220 sponsors and 410 speakers to its 2023 variation successful Austin, Texas, despite caller regulatory struggles astir cryptocurrency adoption successful the United States. 

The turnout astatine Consensus 2023 demonstrated that U.S.-based companies and planetary organizations are inactive precise overmuch funny successful implementing Web3 exertion into their concern models.

Caitlin Long, laminitis and CEO of Custodia Bank — a Wyoming-based integer plus slope — told Cointelegraph that the league attracted superior ecosystem participants, saying, “We’ve seen during crypto winters earlier wherever Consensus gets overrun with precocious clip penchant radical and companies (for example, aggregate Lambo’s parked retired beforehand of the New York Hilton successful 2018), and successful bust years the low-time penchant radical and companies conscionable support building. This twelvemonth was the latter.”

ADIOS AUSTIN! This was my fave #Consensus conf since 2017—by my conjecture it had the highest % successful attendance of chap “low-time penchant peeps connected principled missions” since that year. Huge acknowledgment to everyone who showed your support—it was similar a large large lukewarm hug! Safe home! pic.twitter.com/NOPmU03VAV

— Caitlin Long ⚡️ (@CaitlinLong_) April 29, 2023

Businesses sermon Web3 strategies

Several ample organizations were contiguous astatine Consensus 2023, with Mastercard, Google, Robinhood and Coinbase, among others, gathering to sermon their Web3 strategies.

James Tromans, caput of Web3 astatine Google Cloud, told Cointelegraph astir immoderate blockchain-based initiatives the institution has precocious launched.

“At the extremity of past year, Google Cloud announced Blockchain Node Engine, which allows users and developers to tally an Ethereum node without having to negociate oregon enactment it themselves,” helium said.

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At Consensus, the steadfast announced that it had expanded enactment for the Blockchain Node Engine to Polygon proof-of-stake, successful summation to Ethereum.

Tromans added that Google Cloud knows what Polygon has been doing successful the zero-knowledge (ZK) space, noting that Polygon ZK Ethereum virtual machines (zkEVM) and Polygon supernets volition payment from the proviso of Google Cloud’s infrastructure and developer tools.

Moreover, Tromans pointed retired that Google Cloud’s startup program volition assistance onboard companies funny successful gathering connected Web3 utilizing existing Google Cloud products. “Polygon is an important portion of this initiative, arsenic they person provided a $3 cardinal publication from their task money to get this disconnected the crushed with us,” helium said.

Global fiscal services elephantine Mastercard announced its “Mastercard Crypto Credential” solution during Consensus. Raj Dhamodharan, caput of crypto and blockchain astatine Mastercard, stated during a fireside treatment astatine Consensus that helium is “excited astir the underlying imaginable of blockchain technology” owed to its quality to store and determination worth seamlessly.

However, Dhamodharan explained that “this imaginable is not afloat realized today,” truthful Mastercard has started moving connected respective products similar Mastercard Crypto Credential.

“I judge that erstwhile you person the close gathering blocks indispensable for information and simplicity, you tin person much businesses gathering and relying connected the basal inferior of storing and moving value,” Dhamodharan said connected stage.

Conversations continued astatine broadside events

While determination were 10 dedicated stages for 285 panels during Consensus, galore broadside events allowed important conversations to proceed extracurricular of the conference.

For example, zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) were wide discussed astatine Consensus, but in-depth conversations astir ZK-proofs took spot astatine the “ZK360” lawsuit hosted by Mina Protocol. Evan Shapiro, CEO of the Mina Foundation and co-founder of the Mina Protocol, told Cointelegraph that the extremity of ZK360 was for attendees to larn astir the latest advancements successful ZK-proofs and however these tin beryllium applied successful the existent world. “Web3 needs some privateness and verified computation. ZK-proofs supply some of those astatine a clip erstwhile applications are needing these features to beryllium much effective, decentralized and scalable,” helium said.

Evan Shapiro, CEO of Mina Foundation, spoke astir ZKPs astatine the ZK360 broadside event. Source: Mina Foundation

Other layer-1 blockchain networks similar Ripple and Algorand hosted broadside events, allowing Consensus attendees to amended recognize circumstantial blockchain offerings portion networking with assemblage members. These events besides presented an accidental for non-Consensus attendees to larn astir important topics wrong the Web3 sector. 

Lacking an planetary presence

While the turnout during Consensus 2023 was notable, immoderate manufacture experts highlighted that the league lacked an planetary presence.

Yat Siu, president of Animoca Brands — a task superior institution focused connected blockchain-based games — told Cointelegraph that regions successful Asia similar Japan and Hong Kong are offering a progressive and welcoming regulatory situation for crypto adoption. He noted that astir radical helium spoke with astatine Consensus seemed amazed oregon adjacent skeptical astatine this. He said:

“I deliberation that a larger beingness of overseas participants would person helped let Consensus participants to amended recognize the scope of excitement and accidental that exists extracurricular of the United States. I would emotion to spot a stronger planetary beingness astatine Consensus adjacent year.”

Despite this, Siu said that Consensus 2023 was a well-attended, high-energy league overall. “I was amazed astatine the level of deal-making enactment that was taking place, adjacent if the communicative was that the U.S. was antagonistic connected crypto,” helium said.

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Echoing Siu was Keith Grossman, president of endeavor astatine MoonPay. He told Cointelegraph that helium was impressed to spot truthful galore executives from immoderate of the largest companies successful attendance astatine Consensus. “Deals were being discussed, and I judge we volition look backmost astatine Consensus 2023 recognizing it represented a maturation successful the manufacture arsenic it relates to however Web3 technologies tin beryllium deployed successful a meaningful mode for businesses and their customers.”