Financial Services and Cryptocurrency Experts To Meet in Chicago For Distributed: Markets 2018

CHICAGO, April 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Navy Pier's iconic Grand Ballroom will soon host premier financial markets executives as well as cryptocurrency insiders to explore how the next generation of financial institutions will be established. Distributed: Markets will cover a wide range of hot topics facing legacy institutions, as well as explore dilemmas facing blockchain technology enthusiasts who aim to innovate and disrupt.

The lineup of conversations happening at Distributed: Markets continues to raise the bar from last year's event, as Julie Winkler of CME Group and Matt McFarland of CBOE will discuss their outlooks on the newest trend of "Cryptocurrency Futures & Derivatives." Bobby Cho, head of cryptocurrency for DRW's Cumberland Mining, will join Ripple's chief market strategist, Cory Johnson, to discuss a new age of institutional infrastructure. Sean O'Kelly, chief information officer for State of Illinois who spearheads cryptocurrency regulation for financial institutions, will join a panel covering what we can expect in the way of regulatory impact this year.

"Distributed: Markets is designed not just to educate and inspire attendees, but to bring this community together in a meaningful way." said David Bailey, CEO of BTC Media. "Our goal has always been to assemble the brightest minds in blockchain technology with established business leaders each year and see what happens. The sessions from the stages are eye opening; the casual conversations at lunch are changing the world."

Local organizations like CFX Markets, CMT Trading and Jump Capital will converge with cross-border entities like Deloitte, CoinList and Bitmain. Conference attendees will hear from Bitcoin pioneer Jeff Garzik on his new project, metronome, a cryptocurrency launching in 2018 that is "built to last" for the financial markets.

The Nashville-based organizers found Chicago to be the easy answer for an event at the intersection of financial markets and blockchain technology, and they elected to co-host the event with the Chicago Blockchain Center.

"Bringing this conference to Chicago will create a home for blockchain technology in one of the world's epicenters for fintech," said Matthew Roszak, founder of the Chicago Blockchain Center and co-founder and chairman of Bloq. "Our organization has long advocated for the advancement of distributed ledgers to improve transparency and efficiency all over the world. This event will be the place for financial executives and technology disruptors to realize that potential."

The event is organized into two tracks of simultaneous content to keep a wide range of participants engaged in a varied conference program. The Financial Services track features sessions on "How the Blockchain Can Change Enterprise and Markets," "Keeping Internal Compliance" within this new technology's framework and the rapidly emerging use of "Commodities on the Blockchain." While the Cryptocurrency Stream focuses on the much discussed topics of "Tokenized Securities," "Token Fund Manager Perspectives" and the new trend of decentralized markets and exchanges.

Over the past year, there was an enormous amount of movement for blockchain and finance between the ups-and-downs of cryptocurrencies, the inundation of ICOs, and the overwhelming flood of talent beginning to innovate in this space. Distributed: Markets attendees will be given the most updated outlook on this rapidly evolving marketplace, and they will be encouraged to think beyond the limitations of today.

The event will host pre-conference programming on Friday, April 20, in a Blockchain Academy, which is geared as a primer for those relatively new to the new technology. This will be followed by a hackathon over the weekend, during which students and developers will work on applying this technology toward the financial solutions of tomorrow.

For details and registration, visit http://markets.distributed.com/.

About BTC Media

The Distributed conference series focuses on vital trends and developments in key industry verticals. BTC Media is the world's largest provider of multimedia educational content, conferences and other high-value informational resources focused on the digital currency and blockchain industries. Based in Nashville, BTC Media is home to Distributed, Bitcoin Magazine, yBitcoin, the Let's Talk Bitcoin podcast network and other media properties.

For media inquiries or to schedule an interview, please contact contact(at)btcmedia(dot)org.

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SOURCE BTC Media