The first edition of Ethereum Santiago was successfully developed, the event on cryptocurrencies and other topics related to this technology that was held on September 23 and 24 at the CorpArtes Foundation of Las Condes. This, in the midst of the discussion for the Digital Currencies of the Central Bank (MDBC) and shortly after a similar event was held in Bogotá, Colombia.
During the instance, digital infrastructure issues were addressed, such as scalability (adaptability and response of a system with respect to its performance as its number of users increases) and decentralized finance applications, as well as the famous NFTs and DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations).
The welcome was in charge of Cristóbal Pereira, CEO of the Colledge academy and the firm LatAmTech Finance, together with Natalia Miranda, community ambassador of Hashi, who officially kicked off the event that brought together more than 40 national and international specialists, in order to educate about Ethereum in Latin America.
“As we have seen in the news in the last week, this technology has come to disrupt in various industries, such as the financial system, traceability, international trade, and that today people are learning about this is, clearly, a trend that is going to be strongly in the coming months and years as well,” said the CEO of LatamTech Finance, confirming that the meeting was attended by about 510 people.
For her part, Natalia Miranda pointed out that the event is “a perfect introduction to everything that follows to demystify everything that addresses the issue of cryptocurrencies, since for many people it is talking about money, finance, even, many times scams. So, I think an event like this is trying to create another story and put technology first so that we can relate it to art, to music, to NFTS, to go beyond finance and create an entire ecosystem that’s for everyone.”
The main event featured different talks and seminars, among which Decentralized Finance stood out, from stablecoins to indices; Regenerative Finance (ReFi): What they are and what their goal is; Tokenization of Real Assets: Myth or Reality?; and What is the potential of NFTs in Chile and Latin America?, to name a few.
It is worth mentioning that the event in Chile was held in advance of another similar meeting to be held in Colombia: the “Devcon Bogotá”.
Getting to know the Ethereum world
The initiative, organized by local technology pioneers, was created with the aim of being able to offer new opportunities to entrepreneurs and teach those who want to undertake Web 3.0 and build, for example, a new decentralized financial system.
It is worth mentioning that Web3, also known as Web 3.0 and sometimes stylized as web3, is an idea for a new iteration of the World Wide Web based on blockchain technology, which incorporates concepts such as decentralization and token economy.
Faced with that, Alan Nudman, attendee at the event, said that “the information that is being delivered helps us a lot to streamline everyone and achieve that massive adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain in Chile, which is so important for wallets and people to be added to this ecosystem.”
Similarly, for Guillermo Alvarado it was an educational meeting, especially for those who are just getting involved in the world of blockchain. “The content was quite practical, even though you’re involved and you already know this world, you always learn something new, data that you didn’t know.”
Cristóbal Pereira mentioned that “the initial day was quite interesting, with many people who have come to know about what is happening in the Ethereum network, especially at the infrastructure level.” He also added that “we have interacted with the public and seen that there are people who use technology, they do it with different applications and that is one of the main issues that interests us.”
The event had a second day, on September 24, where a bootcamp was held mainly for programmers, where more than 90 people gathered in the postgraduate building of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, to learn how to develop smart contracts, security, oracles and even the development of dynamic NFTs.
Digital currencies in the Central Bank’s crosshairs
It is worth mentioning that the Cent BankChile’s ral is promoting analysis and debate at the national level on the challenges and opportunities of issuing a Central Banking Digital Currency (CDM) in Chile. This initiative began with the publication of a first report in which the essential background in this area is collected.
At a global level, the interest in analyzing the issuance of a Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) is given in a general context of a marked trend towards the digitalization of payments. However, in each country there is a specific different reality by which central banks would be motivated to deepen their studies of MDBC. Even in several countries with a high prevalence of cash or a robust payments system, central banks are opening up their possibilities to understand what it would mean to issue digital money to the public.
In Chile, the Central Bank has been deepening its studies, and has recently published its first CBDC exploration report, in order to communicate to citizens and engage in a first dialogue with stakeholders based on the first understandings on the subject that the bank has made.
The issuer’s report presents a preliminary assessment of the potential benefits and challenges associated with the issuance of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
In the view of the Central Bank of Chile, the issuance of a retail CBDC could contribute to maximizing the benefits of technological transformations and, at the same time, mitigating the risks associated with them. However, there is still insufficient information to make a final decision on the issuance of a CBDC, so a process of dialogue and consultation with various stakeholders from the public and private sectors will be initiated in conjunction with the publication of this report.
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