London Blockchain Conference

Welcome to the London Blockchain Conference – the biggest Bitcoin and blockchain event of the year. The conference is taking place at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London from 31 May – 2 June 2023 and aims to showcase the true potential of BSV blockchain (BSV).

This includes the various business applications including transparency, efficiency, performance, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. The conference will feature both a business strategy stage and a technical stage over three days, with over 100 speakers and 24 hours of sessions and panel discussions planned.

The second day of the conference focused on reducing risk and improving trust with blockchain. Blockchain is often referred to in articles and whitepapers as a ‘trustless’ network — because blockchain’s public and transparent record eliminates the need for blind trust.

Trust is built on blockchain’s enhanced security, greater transparency, and instant traceability of data shared across a business network — delivering operational cost savings with decreased risk. The second day of the conference focused on the risk mitigation and trust assurance possibilities of blockchain and guided attendees in creating their blockchain roadmap.

Below is a recap of each major technical panel discussion on day two:

Regulatory Frameworks for digital currency in Europe

Yves Mersch (Member of the Executive Board at the European Central Bank)

Mersch opened day two of the conference by giving an overview of some of the current key regulatory considerations surrounding digital currencies. His presentation primarily focused on the EU and the UK and included an explainer on:

The Financial Services and Markets Bill;
The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Regulation in the EU;
The development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the UK.

He also gave a more holistic view of how these and other regulations are likely to drive blockchain, crypto-asset and web3 adoption. He noted that these technologies have forced banks and other financial institutions to change their business models.

Similarly, governments around the world have a vested interest in the development of CBDCs as they aim to protect the sovereignty and value of their currencies. He cautioned that regulators need to also be cautious of how and when they introduce regulations as they could stifle innovation if introduced too early, or allow for bad actors if introduced too late. ‘It is not technology that manages risk. It is people that manage the risk and technology,’ he said.

Finally, Mersch discussed the ‘competition’ between public and private entities which are developing digital currencies.

It’s time for regulation to enable the growth of blockchain and digital currency

McKenzie began the roundtable discussion by explaining why he is critical of the crypto asset market and how regulation is necessary for the space so that people are not taken advantage of and lose money.

Speaking from the point of view of the regulators, Mersch noted that lawmakers typically need to adopt a positive stance on any new technology – such as blockchain – and try to understand how it will act as a disruptor in the financial markets.

He noted that this is a delicate balancing act as regulators need to ensure that there is room for these new technologies to grow while still regulating in such a way so that people are not taken advantage of.

Daugherty spoke on some of the work he and the Bitcoin Association are currently doing with regulators to help educate them on the crypto-asset space and how to prevent failures such as those recently seen at FTX.

McKenzie added that regulators need to be clear on the terminology and classification of crypto assets – and whether these are seen as securities legally. He added that the amount of money in the space has perverted discussions somewhat as bad actors have contributed money directly to both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Understanding Digital Asset Recovery

This panel focused on Digital Asset Recovery (DAR) and how the process can help people whose coins have been lost or stolen. The digital asset recovery process ensures that miners comply with valid court orders to leverage the capabilities of the Bitcoin public ledger to advance more honesty, transparency and accountability in the world.

The DAR process works as follows:

A plaintiff initiates a legal process to establish the ownership of coins they deem to be rightfully theirs.
The plaintiff obtains a freeze court order or document of equivalent legal force and commissions a notary who can broadcast it to the miners through the Blacklist Manager.
The notary acts analogously to a bailiff for conventional assets, translating legal documents into a machine-readable format and broadcasting it to miners.
Miners receive the broadcast from a notary delivered to the Blacklist Manager, freezing the coins in question on the same consensus basis that the network uses now.

In addition to the process and how it works, the panel also discussed the different reasons why an asset freeze might be implemented, how the freeze works from an exchange and miner point of view, and the various legal considerations around the process.

The panel then expanded into a broader conversation about regulation in the crypto asset space, helping victims, and the different ways the industry can be more transparent in dealing with bad actors.

Revolutionising Information Security with Blockchain

Daugherty began the presentation by providing an overview of the current state of cybersecurity.

By 2025, cybercrime will cost the world $10.5 trillion yearly, while the entire cost of cyberattacks in 2022 will be $6 trillion. Globally, 30,000 websites are hacked daily and 64% of companies worldwide have experienced at least one form of cyber attack.

To help address these issues he and his team developed Sentinel Node. Sentinel Node by Certihash leverages the robust features of the BSV blockchain to enhance security monitoring and breach detection. Utilising time-stamped data attestation, it monitors selected logs and files for any unauthorised access or alterations, providing an immediate alert in case of a breach.

In addition, to bolster the system’s security, Sentinel Node requires administrators to sign these alerts with their private keys. This ensures the authenticity of alerts and adds another layer of protection against potential cyber threats, further enhancing the integrity and security of monitored data.

Advantages of the various token protocols on BSV blockchain

The panel discussion began by discussing exactly what a token is and how they work. A token is simply a digital record of ownership on BSV blockchain that is managed by a smart contract. Specifically, it is a digital ledger entry that records the ownership rights of a certain entity for a given asset and the subsequent changes of ownership over time to the BSV ledger.

Belding, Lee and Rohenaz then discussed some of the work their respective teams are doing with tokens and the reasons why they choose certain tokens and implementation methods.

Frobots – Making educational gaming and eSport with NFTs and Web3

Jerry Chan (Founder of Endymion and Frobots.io)

Chan officially launched Frobots at the London Blockchain Conference – a game where users battle for fame and glory by developing and competing their Frobots against others in the battle arena.

Users write algorithms for their Frobots, fighting each other to death for fun and profit. Chan said the original idea behind the platform came about from a desire to explore the general computational capabilities of BSV blockchain.

He added that while Frobots is designed to be fun to play, it also acts as an educational tool as users use LUA scripts to build the game, learning genuine skills as they play.

Chan also outlined his decision to build the Frobots platform on BSV blockchain, and how inexpensive it is and because it can handle the most transactions.

Block Dojo Showcase

Block Dojo is a global blockchain incubator which aims to identify the best early-stage tech start-ups. In addition to support and a global network of contacts, the Dojo offers a 12-week programme which aims to accelerate the development of these startups with extensive training, while guiding them through any obstacles.

Several companies which were originally part of the incubator spoke about its value and how it helped them get a head start.

Buzzmint is a BSV tech platform that enables brands to simply and quickly ideate, create and deploy utility-led NFT/Token projects.
MoveGenius is a digital onboarding tool which automates seller onboarding for estate agents and sellers.
Combat IQ utilises revolutionary new technology in artificial intelligence with unique subject matter expertise to take combat sports into a new era.
Libraro uses BSV blockchain to modernise the book publishing sector.

Hash Functions for Integrity & Efficiency

Todd Price (Curriculum Specialist at Bitcoin Association)

This session aimed to facilitate the onboarding of developers and help them start building on BSV blockchain. As part of this, Price gave an overview of the BSV blockchain Academy’s two beginner-level Bitcoin Primitives courses on Hash Functions and Merkle Trees.

Price explained what hash functions are as well as why, how and where they are used in Bitcoin. He also discussed the application of hash functions in Merkle Trees and explained how this helps create an extremely efficient structure for ensuring data integrity.

Off-chain vs On-chain – Exploring the differences

The panel offered a deep dive into the pros and cons of both off-chain and on-chain transactions and why each one may be preferred for a particular purpose. On-chain transactions occur directly on the blockchain network. These transactions are typically executed using smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with predefined rules and conditions.

Off-chain transactions are typically used to address the limitations of on-chain transactions, such as scalability and transaction speed. They involve the use of secondary protocols or layer-two solutions that leverage the security and finality of the underlying blockchain while enabling faster and more efficient transactions.

The discussion then expanded into the pros and cons of Layer 1 and layer 2 blockchain transactions. Layer 1 blockchains utilise methods such as changing the consensus mechanism, forking the chain, and sharding. By comparison, Layer 2 scaling solutions exist as state channels, nested blockchains, rollups, and sidechains. Changing the consensus mechanism, forking the chain, and sharding.

Unlocking privacy and compliance: Adopting a time-managed redactable signature system

Craig Wright (Chief Scientist at nChain)

Dr Wright’s presentation focused on solving the challenge of balancing transparency and privacy in governments and corporations by adopting a time-managed redactable signature system.

Wright explained that there are five key elements of a time-managed redactable signature system which include:

Redactable signatures: A solution for disclosing information while maintaining privacy.
Blockchain technology: The underlying infrastructure for the provision of benefits such as immutability, decentralisation and transparency.
Smart contracts: Self-executing agreements with predefined rules and conditions, automating the signing and validation process.
Timestamping and proof of existence: This is irrefutable proof that a document was created and signed at a certain time, increasing transparency and accountability.
GDPR-based compliance: A system that aligns with GDPR principles by allowing organisations to redact personal information, ensuring data protection and privacy.

Technical AMA with Dr Craig Wright

The last panel of the day featured an ‘Ask Me Anything’ (AMA) between Jad Wahab and Dr Wright. The discussion touched on a variety of technical topics including micropayments and the goal of scaling Bitcoin so that it is capable of doing billions of transactions.

This included an explanation of Merkle trees and an overview of why Bitcoin can scale so efficiently compared to other legacy systems such as those used by Twitter and Facebook.

Wright also spoke on the importance of legal foundations and contracts, the role of the Bitcoin Association as stewards of the protocol, and the importance of a stable protocol. “If you don’t have any rules you don’t have Bitcoin. If you are in Sierra Leone, you don’t have Bitcoin,” he said.

He also talked about what Bitcoin will look like in the future without his involvement, the importance of technical definitions and broader discussions around the meaning of privacy, anonymity and security.

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London Blockchain Conference – Recap Day 2