Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and Ethereum Foundation to jointly host Shanghai Blockchain International Week

September’s blockchain global event: Ethereum DevCon2 and the 2nd Blockchain Global Summit

In the past year, blockchain technology has gradually become a hot topic in the financial industry and the field of FinTech. Globally, government departments, financial institutions of all sizes, and even institutions in the medical and Internet of Things industries have shown great interest in the technical potential of blockchain and its application scenarios. Recently, Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and the Ethereum Foundation jointly announced that the Shanghai Blockchain International Week will be held at the Hyatt on the Bund Shanghai from September 19 to 24, 2016, and the 2nd Blockchain Global Summit and Ethereum DevCon2 Developer Conference will be the key links. The organizers of the event expect that more than 1,000 people will participate in the various agendas of the Shanghai Blockchain International Week. This is bound to set a new record for global blockchain-related activities.

Wanxiang Blockchain Lab founder: Xiao Feng

Mr. Xiao Feng, founder of Wanxiang Blockchain Lab, said in announcing the news:

China Wanxiang Holdings is very pleased to have the opportunity to make its own unique contribution through Wanxiang Blockchain Lab in the process of Shanghai's construction of an international financial center and a global technological innovation center. We firmly believe that this Shanghai International Blockchain Week will continue to promote the popularization of blockchain technology in China, strengthen the integration of Chinese and foreign blockchain technologies and the exchange of talents, and encourage more blockchain technology entrepreneurial projects to land in China. China Wanxiang Holdings will be committed to building Wanxiang Blockchain Lab into an international standard Chinese blockchain technology innovation platform.

"Internet + Blockchain": Deeply tap the endogenous growth potential of various industries

Your organization still doesn’t know what blockchain is? Then you need to hurry up. Large financial institutions such as Nasdaq, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, and Euroclear have begun to explore how blockchain technology can be used to create a new low-cost, high-efficiency, and high-reliability payment, clearing, and settlement system. Even major audit firms have begun to explore the use of blockchain technology to establish an efficient and reliable audit system. Related investment in the blockchain technology industry is also increasing.

The application of blockchain technology coincides with China's "Internet +" development strategy. The international Internet has a history of more than 40 years since its inception, and has brought immeasurable value to mankind in the fields of education, science, culture, economy, etc. China is also a beneficiary of this information-driven trend. In this important development stage from 2016 to 2020, how to deeply tap the potential of the Internet and use the Internet and its derivative technologies to promote the upgrading and transformation of traditional industries, and then serve important strategic goals such as supply-side reform and inclusive finance, has become the focus of experts and scholars.

"Internet +" is closely related to blockchain technology - the essence of "Internet +" is to use Internet technology to improve the cost-effectiveness of various industries, use new technologies and new tools to explore the endogenous growth potential of industries, and ultimately promote the upgrading and development of the economy and industry through reform and innovation. Blockchain technology is a distributed ledger technology based on the existing Internet system. Its cryptographic algorithms and distributed consensus mechanisms provide a new organizational model and operating structure for all walks of life, and also bring about a paradigm shift from "information Internet" to "value Internet" for the existing Internet system. Whether it is the transformation and upgrading of the financial industry, the Internet of Things industry, or even the medical, legal, and notarization fields, blockchain technology may play a vital role in it.

In view of this, Wanxiang Holdings of China funded the establishment of the non-profit Wanxiang Blockchain Lab in September 2015. This is also China's first research institution dedicated to promoting the practical application of blockchain technology. Its initiators are Dr. Xiao Feng, Vice Chairman and Executive Director of Wanxiang Holdings of China, and a group of heavyweight participants in the blockchain industry. In October 2015, Wanxiang Blockchain Lab held the first Blockchain Global Summit in Shanghai with the theme of "Blockchain: New Economic Blueprint", which attracted the participation of regulators, financial institutions, commercial institutions and global blockchain technology project teams. Since then, Wanxiang Blockchain Lab has continued to invest a large amount of funds to fund application projects and research topics related to blockchain technology worldwide, and organized a number of technical and non-technical training courses and programming competitions. Recently, it has also launched the Wanyun Blockchain Cloud Platform, which has enabled domestic institutions from all walks of life to understand the potential of blockchain technology applications.

Globally, the growth rate of blockchain technology is also increasing rapidly. Among them, the Ethereum technology platform has also attracted a lot of attention due to its cooperation with Microsoft, R3-CEV Bank Alliance and other institutions. Ethereum is a smart contract platform based on blockchain technology. Its integrated Turing-complete smart contract programming language greatly simplifies the process of building various specific application scenarios on the blockchain platform. Nearly 200 specific application attempts have appeared on Ethereum, including accounting audit systems, medical record management, Internet of Things, financial contracts, etc. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the Ethereum platform, is also one of the co-sponsors of Wanxiang Blockchain Lab.

Shanghai Blockchain International Week enters preparation stage

The first Blockchain Global Summit held by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab in Shanghai and the DevCon1 Developer Conference held by the Ethereum Foundation in London were both major events in the blockchain industry last year. Now, everyone has the opportunity to attend these two events at the same time: the second Global Blockchain Summit and the Ethereum DevCon2 Developer Conference will be important parts of the Shanghai Blockchain International Week.

The activities of Shanghai Blockchain International Week are divided into three phases. In addition to the two conferences mentioned above, it also includes a Demo Day for start-ups and investors.

Ming Chan, executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, believes that the Shanghai Blockchain International Week provides an excellent opportunity for blockchain technology developers, entrepreneurs, application institutions and investment institutions to further deepen their understanding of blockchain technology and enhance mutual communication and discussion during the three-stage activities.

The format and schedule of the 6-day Shanghai Blockchain International Week are as follows:

Ethereum Developer Conference DevCon2: September 19-21

With the assistance of Wanxiang Blockchain Lab, Ethereum’s Devcon2 developer conference will be held in Asia. Devcon2 will continue to share the latest achievements in Ethereum research and development by developers.

Demo Day: September 22

This event is jointly organized by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab and blockchain industry media - Blockchain Pencil (chainB). Well-known blockchain technology companies around the world will explain their projects on Demo Day. This event will have a lot of appeal to investors and start-ups.

The 2nd Blockchain Global Summit: September 23-24

Wanxiang Blockchain Lab successfully held the first Blockchain Global Summit in October last year, which made domestic institutions understand the application prospects and potential development direction of blockchain technology, and thus made the world aware of the attention and potential entrepreneurial opportunities in the field of blockchain technology in China. The second Blockchain Global Summit, also hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab, will be an important part of this year's Shanghai Blockchain International Week. Technology geeks, entrepreneurial elites, academic experts, investors, financial institution representatives and regulatory decision makers from the global blockchain field will gather together to share and discuss the latest development trends and cutting-edge application development dynamics of global blockchain technology.

Conference website and ticket sales will be launched in May