Cryptocurrency and its underlying technology, blockchain, have the power to change lives, to generate prosperity, empower people in remote and underserved communities, and unlock the global digital economy for the nearly 1.7 billion people who are currently unbanked. But how many cryptocurrencies have actually concerned themselves with going beyond being anything more than just a speculative tool? How many cryptocurrencies have focused on creating ways for people to earn crypto and then enable various ways for them to use their crypto in their daily lives? Cryptocurrency can effectively help billions of people in a world that has demonstrated that it can change practically overnight. Crypto has the power to provide people and their communities a path to greater prosperity. Doing so can spark mainstream adoption, although not before adopting regulations for their protection. Regulations help build trust and that, in turn, is arguably the key element that will appeal to traditional businesses that are currently crypto-skeptics.

David will discuss the importance and value that comes from digital education on the African continent. He will also discuss his experience building this content and how BitcoinKE has grown to serve over 100, 000 Africa-focused entrepreneurs and businesses.

Africa's agricultural productivity is very low, averaging 300 to 500 kg/ha as compared to 2.5 tons/ha in the United States, for example. To what extent do centralised supply chains create, contribute or worsen this situation? Lower access to data, or community cohesion is isolating African small scale farmers, elbowing them out of the main-frames of production streams of crop producing ecosystems. These and more, is what Pretty will unpack in this talk of how blockchain, a seemingly sophisticated technology, is well positioned to be used for day to day operations by these farmers, whose priorities are to run sustainable farms, as they use it to their advantage.

This will be a pre-recorded talk.

Moderated by Kaj Burchardi. What is DeFi? What are the opportunities for institutions in adopting DeFi? What is the level of institutional interest in DeFi? What are the risks of DeFi adoption by institutions? While Ethereum is not the only platform to offer DeFi, it does have 80% of the market. What are some of the real competitors to Ethereum for DeFi applications? How do we connect traditional finance markets with the decentralized finance and digital asset markets? Can we expect further centralised solutions such as Tether in the DeFi market or are we about to see a new decentralised internet currency which will act as a stablecoin? Regulation remains a crucial bridge between the unregulated crypto world and the regulated financial market: will mass adoption of DeFi by institutions only occur if regulated payment networks with digital/tokenised cash enter the DeFi ecosystem?

This Masterclass is being hosted in partnership with The Global Policy House, hosted by Michelle Chivunga who will provide her keynote address on Digital Assets / Central Bank Digital Currency – Catalyst for AfCFTA. This will follow with global perspectives on the progress and design considerations of CBDC from global experts and surprise guest. Registration for this is essential, Register here.

Oriol will analyze what opportunities the Digital Yuan will offer to Mainland China and how the digital yuan will imply the start of a new era of payments worldwide, since many other countries are speeding up their tests to try to deploy its own CBDCs as well, therefore starting a New Era of Payments in the world.

In 2020 we finally saw some of the nearly decade-long blockchain hype fulfilled and the legitimate building blocks of a next-generation banking system emerge. Open finance, and specifically open lending, has exploded to well over $10 billion this year. This growth has catalyzed a new source of funding for market participants ranging from individuals to corporates to hedge funds. It has also created a new source of liquid “digital yield” for investors, corporates and savers starving for an alternative to the perpetual 0% offered in legacy systems. In 2020, the entire digital asset market took a meaningful step forward in maturity. As part of this ongoing evolution, institutional grade financial infrastructure needs to be developed. In 2020, through an influx of capital and talent, open lending stepped up its game and grew from a fringe use case to a burgeoning engine powering the next phase of the digital economy.

Moderated by Muthoni Njogu. What is the regulatory stance on crypto assets in the US, Europe, UK and Africa? What are the implications of the Securities Exchange Commissions (SEC) lawsuit with Ripple, on other cryptocurrencies? How are regulators clamping down on crypto exchanges that do not have proper KYC and AML policies in place? How does the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) "travel rule” impact crypto related businesses? What are the challenges and what are the focus areas for regulated entities? Will compliance with regulations become a key differentiator with competitors or will users not care and go for what is faster, cheaper and where liquidity is available?

Moderated by Ciaran Ryan. As digital currencies are gaining momentum globally, central banks are intensifying their research and efforts on blockchain technology and issuance of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). What are the economic and institutional motivation for CBDC development and implementation? What impact will CBDCs have in a country?

Keynote Address: Digital Assets and Central Bank Digital Currency - Catalyst for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)