Where next for fiat-backed digital currency? 
Coinscrum_markets, in partnership with Blockchain.com, is back with a bang on October 2nd in the run-up to The Trading Show Europe to introduce some truly pioneering thought leaders that have been instrumental in cementing the credibility of the crypto markets as they stand today.
When the original blockchain-based fiat-backed “stable coin”, Tether, was launched in 2014 it immediately addressed a real need within the crypto exchange & trading ecosystem whilst, at the same time, raising critical questions about the concept itself.
An “on-chain” representation of an “off-chain” asset is only as good as the underlying custodian and issuer of said representation.
The assumption always being that, ultimately, one could only ever trust a national Central Bank to issue these things if the inherent counterparty risk they carry is to be eliminated as far as our current system allows.
However, for all of the various accusation that followed Tether in its slip stream, even its recent (and supposedly) more transparent and trustworthy competitors have struggled to dent its dominance.
More recently still, we have seen announcements about; the upcoming release of the Facebook-led Libra iteration (based on a basket of currencies rather than one); a consortium of 16+ commercial banks launching their own interbank settlement version, Fnality; as well as the governor of the Bank of England, no less, suggesting that the concept should be something that Central Banks around the world explore in order to temper the supremacy of the US Dollar.
Throw into the mix the more exotic (and still-to-be stress-tested) experiments with “programmatically pegged” stable coins such the Maker DAO and the only conclusion that one can reach is that these things will most likely be around for some time.
So, for the second episode of our Coinscrum_markets series, it gives us great pleasure to welcome a panel of luminaries from within the world of crypto that have been thinking about how this will all play out for longer than most.
After short presentations, Daniel Masters, founder of the world’s first regulated Bitcoin fund, Robert Sams, founder at Clearmatics – the company that led the design of the Fnality platform – and Sveinn Valfells, co-founder at Monerium – the first fiat-backed digital currency to obtain a pan-European e-money license – we’ll continue to have their thoughts on the subject extracted during a panel discussion moderated by Garrick Hileman, Head of Research at Blockchain.com and one of the first Economists to begin commentating on Bitcoin during its formative years.
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Click to attend
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About Daniel Masters
With an extensive career in the traditional energy and commodities markets behind him (including a tenure as Global Head of Energy Trading at JP Morgan), Daniel currently sits as Executive Chairman at Coinshares, a group of companies that have pioneered the introduction of investment vehicles designed to make exposure to crypto assets more accessible to both institutional and retail investors.
From the launch of the world’s first ever regulated Bitcoin Investment Fund in 2014; to Nasdaq listed BTC & ETH denominated Exchange Traded Products; to a Blockchain-focussed Fund of Funds, Daniel has remained at the forefront when championing the future potential of crypto assets and Blockchain tech.

About Sveinn Valfells
Sveinn is co-founder at Monerium where he and his team have received the world’s first pan-European e-money license to underpin their blockchain-based, fiat-backed digital currency. Monerium’s highly experienced founders include a former chairman of the supervisory board of the Icelandic Central Bank.
Transacting in Bitcoin for the first time in 2011 and contributing thought-leadership ever since, Sveinn has previously advised, worked for, co-founded and invested in companies in biotech, bioinformatics, financial services, telecoms, mobile software and venture capital.
He completed a B.S. in applied physics (Columbia), a M.S. in economic systems (Stanford), and a Ph.D. in physics (Boston University).

About Robert Sams
Formerly a Hedge Fund manager and macro specialist, focused on central bank policy, Robert was a pioneer in developing central bank policy probability-extraction models using interest rate derivatives, as well as Libor/FedFunds spread models before these became popular after the 2008 funding crises.
In 2015, Robert founded Clearmatics to design and deploy peer-to-peer platforms for financial industry participants to transact seamlessly and securely without unnecessary intermediaries.
Robert led his team in developing the underlying technology for the Utility Settlement Coin project, a peer-to-peer cash system with settlement finality that was sponsored by a number of major financial institutions and launched earlier this year as Fnality.

About Garrick Hileman
Garrick currently serves as Head of Research at Blockchain.com having previous built an exemplary reputation for his research on monetary and distributed systems innovation, particularly cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology (Blockchain).
Garrick is regularly invited to share his research with government agencies, including the CIA, US Army and Naval War Colleges, Federal Reserve, Bank of England and the Financial Stability Board. He is also regularly invited to share his perspective with the media, including the BBC, CNBC, FT, WSJ, and NPR. He was recently ranked as one of the 100 most influential economists in the UK & Ireland and he is frequently sought as a speaker.
His teaching at the University of Cambridge includes developing the UK’s first university taught class on blockchain technology
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Doors open at 6pm
Presentations begin at 6:30pm
Followed by networking
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Click to attend
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Thanks to Blockchain.com
Blockchain.com is connecting the world to the future of finance. We are one of the most trusted and fastest growing digital assets company, helping millions across the globe – from individuals to the largest institutions – get easy and safe access to digital assets. Blockchain has raised over $70 million in funding from leading investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Google Ventures and Richard Branson.
With almost 40 million sign ups, the Blockchain.com wallet helps more people than any other company send, receive, secure and exchange crypto all on chain.
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Big love to Coinscrum_presents sponsors, KR1
KR1 is a leading publicly listed investment company focused on blockchain and decentralised technologies. KR1 invests in early stage projects and blockchain-based digital assets that power the decentralised platforms and protocols that form the emerging Web3 infrastructure.
More info at www.kr1.io
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That boring legal stuff
Please note: We welcome all of our innovative founders to share their ideas at Coinscrum and also love our sponsors to bits.
However, their presentations or services provided do not infer any kind of endorsement by Coinscrum, its organisers or Scrumline Ltd of any possible investment opportunity via their products and services or in any related ICO (Initial Coin Offering).
Crypto-tokens are a high risk investment and you should always carry out your own thorough research and due diligence before deciding whether or not to invest yourself.
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