tech: bridging blockchain

from january 25 to 27, builders, investors, and advisors in web 3 met in miami to discuss sector developments and next steps for bridging blockchain infrastructure to mainstream industries.

following are highlights from quantum miami on-site panels and off-site meetups.

space and web 3 are the most promising, if polarizing, sectors of our time. together, they can incentivize the exploring of new frontiers because web 3 tools have the capacity to validate and monetize original research, to the benefit of contributors. notably, this includes the protection and cultivation of water, food, energy, and healthy habitats.

proponents include: sean graham, dionna bailey, ryan blowers, scot bryson, jim thomas

crosschain interactions—the communication between blockchain databases—are challenging to build and currently risky. but, they are also the future for achieving interoperability (reliable data exchange between networks) and decentralization (data ownership by users vs a central governing force) together. community moderation and regulatory frameworks can mitigate abuse and misuse, but the "how-to" remains up for debate.

builders include: polygon labs, sushi, thor chain, ledgerama, giddy, edge, fantom foundation, tacen

women in (technical) leadership make companies more productive. the gap between them and technical teams remains wide. talent exists, but it's being cultivated outside traditional learning, such as through self-teaching, mentorship, and independent courses.

bridgers include: justyna osowska, erin gee, petal walker, cleve mesidor

giving digital asset ownership to users, the big nft idea, is a power-to-the-people creative utility. this is why brands who have been testing it as an advertising tool aren't seeing value. in web 3, community uplifts the brand and what gets uplifted is radical authenticity.

participants include: lauren halstead, jessica ragzy, evan luthra, samuel verreault, scarlett arana.

securing capital as a founder means translating code into utility by pitching ideas without buzzwords. Investors look for calmness in a founder, their treatment of others, their hiring of staff and advisor expertise, and the way headquarters is talked about, where it is located, and why.

investors include: nine realms, elaine kunda, maja vujinovic

getting practical use cases into the public domain seems to be the consensus for what's next. mainstream adoption may not look like retrofitting products into fortune 500 infrastructure, however. instead, builders of web 3 would like to let market participants (users and investors) decide what’s valuable, and how to use it, in order to achieve utility and scale web 3 organically.

explainers include: blockbytes, cointelegraph, growic, the block