The crypto industry seemed to age several decades over the past bull run, maturing in some places while barreling ahead in ambitious new pursuits, including DeFi, NFTs and web3. And while scams continued to proliferate and hacker heists became a weekly occurrence, the space onboarded an onslaught of retail investors and fostered feverish excitement among young technologists eager to bet their careers on the blockchain.
We’re thrilled to tap into this controversy and excitement once again as we announce the star-studded agenda for TechCrunch Sessions: Crypto 2022.
The event — taking place November 17 in Miami — will offer an opportunity for founders and investors to hear war stories from some of the crypto world’s most powerful decision-makers, while also picking up learnings from industry veterans who have weathered a crypto winter or two. Take advantage of our special launch pricing — save $250 on General Admission passes while supplies last. Buy your pass today, and then join the web3, DeFi and NFT communities to keep up with the ever-evolving and always exciting cryptoverse.
We’re so excited to hold this event in the city of Miami, which has encapsulated so much of the recent excitement surrounding emerging tech development and investment in the crypto sector. Our guests at this event have some of the brightest minds in the business and have intimately shaped crypto as an asset class and cultural touchstone.
We have lots more news and speakers to share in the coming weeks, but here is a first peek!
November 17
Live onstage: TechCrunch’s Chain Reaction
Join us for a live podcast recording of Chain Reaction as TechCrunch’s crypto team dives into lively discussions on the latest blockchain news, drama, and trends.
Keeping the Web3 Dream Funded
with Michelle Bailhe (Sequoia), Tom Schmidt (Dragonfly)
Billions in capital were raised by crypto native funds and web3 VCs during an unprecedented bull run, but as the crypto markets turn bearish, how will investors keep their web3 dream alive? We talk to some of the most influential investors in the crypto space about which potential bets are too early, too late and right on time.
Bringing Crypto to the Crowds
with Amy Wu (FTX)
Former Lightspeed partner Amy Wu made waves this year when she left the VC firm to lead startup investments out of a new $2 billion fund at Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto powerhouse FTX. Since then, the Coinbase challenger has become a critical presence in the crypto M&A world as it has sought to offer a lifeline to blockchain finance businesses wrecked by the sudden downturn all while backing young, ambitious efforts in the consumer web3 space as well. Hear from Wu on how her firm is helping guide the crypto industry through uncertainty while betting on its next class of winners.
Building for Normies
with Alex Adelman (Lolli), Devin Lewtan (Mad Realities), and Brandon Millman (Phantom)
The most-hyped decentralized apps have typically been built for crypto speculators or decentralized finance acolytes, but a new breed of products are being crafted with the common internet user in mind. Join us as we chat with the founders of some of web3’s most exciting consumer apps, and pick their brains on mainstream audience opportunities and the challenges of building consumer crypto businesses in a bear market.
Building a Blockchain Behemoth
with Changpeng Zhao (Binance)
Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world, and its founder and CEO, Chinese Canadian billionaire Changpeng Zhao, is so well-known that he’s often referred to by his initials alone — “CZ.” Binance’s scale has attracted scrutiny from regulators across the globe, yet the exchange has managed to maintain a cult-like popularity among its customers. Zhao will give us a rare peek behind the curtain at Binance, sharing his insights on what it takes to run the company in a choppy market and his biggest hopes, fears and predictions about its future.
TechCrunch Crypto Pitch-Off
The industry’s brightest entrepreneurs will take the stage in front of a live audience and a panel of industry experts, pitching revolutionary technologies.
Is Crypto Regulation Ready?
with Katherine Dowling (Bitwise Asset Management), more speakers to be announced
As crypto markets continue to gain mainstream adoption, regulators globally are watching the young industry with laser focus. But which crypto companies, protocols and projects will be compliant within the current regulatory framework? And how will the crypto industry respond when government agencies start providing new guidelines? We talk to some of the brightest people in the space, who will dig into what regulation means for the industry in 2022.
A Non-Fungible Empire
with Devin Finzer (OpenSea)
Few in the crypto space saw the explosive adoption of NFTs happening this quickly this soon, but NFT marketplace startup OpenSea, which was founded back in 2017, was waiting in the wings. Fast forward to present day, and there have been tens of billions of dollars in NFT transaction volume with OpenSea handling the lion’s share of those sales. CEO Devin Finzer has so far fended off marketplace competitors from well-funded public behemoths and upstart threats, but can the $13.3 billion startup hold its lead through a bear market?
Fundraising in a Crypto Winter
with Flori Marquez (BlockFi), Nikil Viswanathan (Alchemy), and John Wu (Ava Labs)
The days of flashy deal terms for pre-product crypto startups may be a thing of the past as the industry stares down an uncertain next few years. We talk with a number of veteran crypto founders on how young founders can keep a steady source of funding during the bear market and what their investors might like to see.
Apeing into the Metaverse
with Nicole Muniz (Yuga Labs)
There’s never been anything quite like the rise of Bored Ape Yacht Club. The pricey monkey JPEGs have inspired endless incredulity among crypto outsiders while owners of the NFT collection have showcased a devotion uncommon outside of religious groups. Yuga, the startup behind the collection, is eager to turn this cultural anomaly into an empire. After raising a seed round this year at a mind-boggling $4 billion valuation, Yuga CEO Nicole Muniz has been focusing her efforts on building Otherside, an NFT-centric metaverse aiming to challenge the efforts of Meta, Roblox and others.
Don’t miss your chance to catch all of this amazing content and mine for prime networking opportunities at TC Sessions: Crypto on November 17 in Miami. Buy your pass now and save — before the special launch pricing disappears. We’ll see you in November!
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