At Ethereum Summit, A Human Face On A High-Tech Future

At an impromptu Q&A at Ethereal Summit on May 11, Consensys software engineer Ashoka Finley encouraged the audience to ask embarrassing questions they might have about cryptocurrency and the blockchain.

There was no shortage of eager blockchain enthusiasts onhand to discuss how they hope blockchain can change society and the world.

He told the group of a couple dozen members of the media that after attending a number of banking and trading conferences focusing on blockchain, he wanted to put on an event that "Really spoke to normal people" - to artists, musicians and others whose primary focus wasn't blockchain.

He spoke about ways that the uninitiated could learn more about ethereum and blockchain technology, including a "Stunning" amount of YouTube videos and ConsenSys' own Academy offerings, plus Ethereal itself.

"The conversation about this tech shouldn't just be about U.S., China and Russia, because if it is, I'll be really disappointed," said Global Blockchain Business Council CEO Sandra Ro, whose talk focused on smaller, Caribbean islands who are looking to blockchain in various capacities.

The company does this by sending the ERC-20 token across the micro-raiden network, a scaling technology launched in December that pushes transactions into channels off the ethereum blockchain.

The Knockdown Center has a number of different rooms and alcoves that the organizers used to showcase projects that are trying to bridge the gap between art and blockchain.

On the one hand, there was art that illustrates the potential of blockchain technology, for example, a project named "Bail Bloc" that mines monero in order to get people out of jail.

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