Workforce EEA, within the guise of Govt Director Dan Burnett, Director of Technical Applications Chaals Nevile, and Director of Gross sales James Harsh, was on the bottom at this yr’s version of Consensus by Coindesk, which was held in Austin Texas from April 26-28.
Listed here are the important thing takeaways as reported by our staff and different information sources.
There is no such thing as a doubt that regulation was the foremost theme on the convention, and specifically regulatory uncertainty within the US.
Among the many key trade figures voicing their apprehensions was Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Authorized Officer. In a panel dialogue Grewal identified that he was bracing for a possible lawsuit from the SEC, an occasion that might shed some gentle on the SEC’s particular grievances with Coinbase’s operations. The anticipation of such a lawsuit underscores the extent to which crypto corporations are flying blind within the present regulatory surroundings.
Kate Brady, Head of Communications for Web3 at PepsiCo, mentioned how she was being stymied in her work by the shortage of regulatory readability. This underlined that regulatory uncertainty is a possible risk to the competitiveness of American corporations within the quickly evolving Web3 area.
A great illustration of the place this uncertainty is coming from was seen within the “The Turf Struggle: Veterans of the SEC and CFTC Weigh In” panel. This introduced former commissioners and employees of the SEC and CFTC right into a dialogue across the relative strengths and weaknesses of every company in supervising crypto markets. The divide is giant, with the SEC asserting that just about all crypto property, together with Ethereum, are securities and fall underneath its purview, whereas the CFTC claims that sure digital property, together with Ethereum, are commodities and needs to be regulated by the CFTC.
The convention displays on these subjects have been mirrored in lots of discussions the EEA staff had with member organizations and potential members, in addition to in a number of aspect occasions held across the formal convention.
Regardless of these worries, it could be unsuitable to say that Consensus was held on a down notice. Fairly the opposite. As our staff present in lots of their discussions, there was a basic sense of optimism amongst many current.
The distinction between the state of affairs within the US and what’s occurring in Europe, Asia-Pacific and past is one apparent grounds for this optimism. Corporations who’re feeling the headwinds within the US are in lots of instances well-placed to proceed their growth within the many crypto-friendly hubs in these areas that not solely have extra regulatory readability, but additionally are house to proficient growth communities who’ve developed good working relationships with native enterprises.
Our staff additionally discovered a powerful sense amongst many who, popping out of one of the troublesome intervals for crypto final yr, developments in blockchain have been carrying on apace and that it was time to maintain constructing. That added to the optimistic really feel on the convention round blockchain and decentralization.
In a extra hopeful vein for American crypto and blockchain corporations, Patrick McHenry, Chairman of the US Home Monetary Companies Committee, and US Senator Cynthia Lummis, confirmed that the Home Monetary Service Committee and Agricultural Committee would maintain the primary joint listening to in the marketplace construction surrounding digital property in Might 2023. Such hearings might be an necessary step in direction of offering extra regulatory readability for corporations working on this area.
Whereas each McHenry and Lummis expressed optimism about future developments in crypto regulation, in line with our staff on the bottom, the final temper was extra ‘wait and see’. There’s a number of urge for food for regulation within the US, and recognition that doing it nicely is necessary, however the expectation is that it’s going to take a number of time. It’s going to even be necessary for the trade to get collectively and work out what they’re occupied with, or threat shedding a possibility to get a seat on the drafting desk.
The stakes nonetheless are excessive. Regulatory uncertainty doesn’t simply have an effect on crypto corporations. This, as one Coindesk editor famous, was underscored within the discuss by Pepsi’s Brady. Regardless of PepsiCo being a mainstream American firm and never intrinsically a part of the crypto trade, it’s aiming to make a mark in Web3. Nonetheless, the absence of regulatory readability is proving to be a major barrier. As talked about above, this has implications for the competitiveness of American corporations within the Web3 area.
There have been a number of different necessary subjects on the agenda as nicely. One which caught the eye of our staff was crypto accounting.
With the worth of cryptocurrencies fluctuating wildly every day, it may be troublesome to maintain observe of the present worth of 1’s holdings, and to correctly account for positive aspects and losses once they happen.
One panel dialogue on the convention targeted particularly on the distinctive challenges going through companies in terms of crypto accounting. The panelists mentioned the significance of correct record-keeping for tax functions, in addition to the necessity to correctly observe the worth of cryptocurrency holdings on a stability sheet.
Numerous progressive options have been introduced on the convention to assist cope with these challenges. These embody specialised accounting software program that integrates with common cryptocurrency exchanges, in addition to instruments that enable for automated monitoring of positive aspects and losses over time.
The EEA hosted an unique Member-Solely breakfast, sponsored by EY. Regardless of the early hour, quite a lot of EEA Members turned as much as meet and mingle in particular person, many for the primary time.
Paul Brody, head of blockchain at EY and a member of the EEA Board, was a number and participant. Co-chairs Michael Gonzales of EY and Dyma Budorin of Hacken talked via the place the DRAMA Working Group is in creating finest practices for accounting within the DeFi trade. Different corporations represented embody OpenZeppelin, Microsoft, ConsenSys Mesh, Wanchain, Noves, Certik, C4, Hyperledger, Bitwave, Entersoft, Cartesi, and Cryptio
The breakfast supplied a possibility for EEA members to community and share insights on numerous subjects associated to blockchain know-how. Total, this occasion served as a beneficial platform for collaboration and data sharing amongst trade leaders in attendance.
You’ll find extra about Consensus 2023 on Coindesk.