A line of demarcation has been forming in the world of cryptocurrency. On one side, speculators and gamblers play the markets only for profit. The tone of their social media posts fluctuates, jubilant when prices soar and fearful when they fall. On the other side is a group of technologists, entrepreneurs, and pragmatic believers. They recognize that while a financial renaissance may be within reach, it won’t be achieved without a sustained and collective effort for years to come. The second group is the one that showed up in droves this weekend.

A little over a week ago, we joined over 5,000 attendees at Permissionless in Palm Beach. Despite the state of the markets, the conference was filled with interesting talks, demos, enthusiasm, and excitement about what’s to come with Web3. Here are just a few highlights from this excellent event.

Devcon5 is upon us and coincides with Japan Blockchain Week — happening now! We’re sad not to be attending, but for those of you in Osaka for the annual Ethereum gathering, here is a curated list of events, talks and workshops that we would love to attend if we were there. There’s a great mix of programming for developers, researchers, infrastructure operators and more. As a UX Designer I was excited to see several product design and user experience-oriented talks.

Interested in emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence? What about environment-focused technologies related to recycling or reducing carbon emissions? If so, the MIT Enterprise Forum Startup Spotlight is happening next week in Boston and you won’t want to miss it. We’re excited Esprezzo has been selected to participate! Here’s what to expect.

This past Tuesday evening we held our latest blockchain education event, The Disruptive Power of Blockchain in Business, at General Assembly’s Boston campus. While our previous events covered introductory topics such as Blockchain 101 and An Introduction to Crypto Trading, this panel discussion focused on the real world business applications of blockchain technology that are impacting traditional business processes today. Not tomorrow, not five years from now, but today.

Our next General Assembly event is only two weeks away! Join us for The Disruptive Power of Blockchain in Business, where you'll hear industry experts in healthcare, supply chain, banking and IT talk about how blockchain technology is already transforming their businesses and what they expect to happen next.

If you’re in the New England area, come learn about blockchain technology and Esprezzo at these upcoming events:

We kicked off our partnership with General Assembly last month by hosting “Blockchain 101”, a panel-formatted introduction to blockchain technology. With over 180 people registered for the event, the evening was a great success. In planning our next blockchain education event, one of the most requested topics is cryptocurrencies, currently one of the most visible applications of blockchain technology. How is one cryptocurrency different from another? How is the value of a cryptocurrency determined? How do I purchase a cryptocurrency?

Last week we visited Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the Free State Blockchain Digital Assets Conference, which brought together blockchain and crypto enthusiasts from industries including finance, education, e-commerce and energy to discuss and debate the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for tokenized assets. Here’s a recap of Day 1.