Paris, 28 July 2023 – Adan’s annual event was held on 19 July at the Palais Brongniart in Paris. The newly-named Web 3 Leaders Forum brought together more than 400 participants over the course of the day to discuss the current economic and regulatory issues shaping the future of the Web 3 ecosystem. The conference was particularly noteworthy for the quality of its speakers, reflecting the growing interest in these technologies among public authorities and business leaders.
A day to anchor Web 3.0 in the real world
Payment, digital identity, circular economy, video games… Innovative use cases for industries were the focus of the Web 3 Leaders Forum (formerly the Crypto & Finance Forum), which changed its name for the occasion to demonstrate that the Web 3.0 ecosystem is a fundamental movement for the economy, far beyond finance.
And while the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) Week brought together the curious and aficionados of the second most popular blockchain for a week, Adan – Europe’s leading Web 3 professional federation – took the opportunity to appeal to attendees from all over the world: you’ve come to the right place to set up your business.
Throughout the day’s programme, the association set out to demonstrate that France and Europe have key advantages for any company wishing to set up there. In this respect, the round table entitled “The challenge of regulation: positioning Europe at the forefront of the crypto sector” left little room for doubt.
So here we have companies with application models to develop and useful information on the current regulatory framework.
A concentration of players shaping the future of Web 3.0
With nearly 50 speakers, Adan did not want to leave out any topical issue that will have a major impact on the future of the Web 3 ecosystem. Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, Chairwoman of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), Nathalie Aufauvre, Secretary General of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), Member of Parliament Paul Midy and representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament were all on hand to exchange views with native entrepreneurs in the sector.
Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, Chairwoman of the French National Gaming Authority (ANJ), also gave a wide-ranging talk on the authority’s position on the future JONUM (games with monetisable digital objects) regime, which aims to allow Web 3 games such as PMU’s and Cometh’s (also on stage) to continue operating. The long-awaited report by the French Inspectorate General of Finance (IGF) on tokens with a commercial vocation (i.e. the name chosen by the authorities for NFTs) was also presented by one of its main authors, Marc Auberger.
This makes the Web 3 Leaders Forum an unmissable event for keeping up to date with the thinking of the public authorities, but it’s not the only one…
A number of leading figures from the Web 3 ecosystem, including Éric Larchevêque (Ledger-Coinhouse), Clarisse Hagège (Dfns) and Tim Byun (OKX), took to the stage to share their vision for scaling up the sector, explain why they chose to set up their European headquarters in France, and give advice to businesses on how to get started in Web 3.
A meeting place for worlds that still talk to each other too little
The event was held at the Palais Brongniart, the former Paris stock exchange. It was a symbolic event for the crypto sector, which, through the Web 3 Leaders Forum, aims to build bridges with more traditional sectors, starting with finance.
The prize-giving ceremony for the CAST Challenge, a hackathon organised by Société Générale Forge, took place in front of Adan’s guests, who saw FeverTokens and Cadmos inducted as the overall winners and Kaiko (also a member of Adan’s board of directors) as the jury’s special prize. Coincidentally, on the same day, the AMF issued its first-ever authorisation as a digital asset service provider (DASP) to Société Générale Forge.
“We are delighted that the day of our annual event symbolically marked a rapprochement between the Web 3 industry and established players. The granting of our first licence is a positive sign for the future, demonstrating the institutionalisation of our sector,” says Faustine Fleuret, President of Adan.