A Venture Capitalist's Guide to Consensus 2024

First and foremost for any investor attending Consensus this year, you should be aware of CoinDesk's third annual Pitchfest, the Consensus startup competition that showcases the world's most promising early-stage Web 3 companies live onstage. It is happening all day Thursday, starting at 10:00 AM and will feature the largest pool of prospective startups yet, with 40 participants. Judges including prolific tech investor Bill Tai, Coinfund's David Pakman, Volt Capital's Soona Amhaz and crypto OG Meltom Demirors will determine the finalists on Friday. Previous participants include Boto, Metagood and Rise.

Grab your tickets here for Consensus 2024, in Austin, Texas, May 29-31.

Wednesday, May 29

Cathie Wood on Bitcoin's Rubicon Moment (10:45 AM CDT • 11:45 AM EDT)

Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest and legendary Wall Street investor, is joined by influential Bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack to discuss the world’s first decentralized money’s current and future value proposition — and why she thinks bitcoin is likely to continue growing.

How ETFs Are Reshaping the Bitcoin Market (12:00 PM CDT • 1:00 PM EDT)

For years Bitcoin, the world’s first blockchain, was gaining a reputation as the old man of crypto — dependable, but not the sexiest thing to invest in. That changed in a matter of months following the launch of the Ordinals protocol, which enables the creation of native on-chain assets on Bitcoin, as well as the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. Wintermute, Cumberland DRW and 21Shares executives talk about how this nascent market and influx of capital is reshaping the Bitcoin value proposal.

Seriously, Why Do You Need a Blockchain for That? (2:15 PM CDT • 3:15 PM EDT)

From tokenized shares in investment funds to perpetual futures tied to the value of commodities, builders clearly see going on-chain as the way to modernize traditional financial markets. But why? Hear real talk about the benefits and trade-offs of using a shared public ledger.

Open Money Summit: Time to Combine? Mergers and Acquisitions in Digital Assets (3:30 PM CDT • 4:30 PM EDT)

Consolidation happens during good times and bad — but just about always represent an opportunity for crypto companies to scale. Attorneys and investment bankers including DLx Law’s Sarah Chen, KBW’s Paul McCaffery and Imperii Partners’ Tony Scuderi will discuss how the tone and tenor of M&A deals change during boom and bust market cycles.

The Art and Science of Tokenomics: Bootstrapping Community Ownership (4:00 PM CDT • 5:00 PM EDT)

Ken Deeter, general partner at Electric Capital, discusses how the economic design of token systems is evolving — and what that means for investors. Launching a token is a multidimensional design problem with sometimes seemingly opposing constraints.

Thursday, May 30

State of Crypto Policy Summit: SEC and CFTC Commissioners Speak (11:00 AM CDT • 12:00 PM EDT)

Hester Pierce and Summer Mersinger, commissioners of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), respectively, will discuss where the U.S. is going wrong with crypto regulation and how to get the world’s largest economy back on track.

The Bitcoin Renaissance (2:05 PM CDT • 3:05 PM EDT)

Tokens, NFT-like inscriptions, and L2s are being built, all at once, on the Bitcoin network. Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter and Bankless founder David Hoffman discuss the next steps for Bitcoin building, Bitcoin investment and the changing shape of Bitcoin culture.

Which Countries Will Win the War for Web3? (2:30 PM CDT • 3:30 PM EDT)

Gemini Chief Operating Officer Marshall Beard, Dragonfly General Partner Rob Hadick and Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Sheila Warren will discuss the jurisdictions where crypto companies not only survive but thrive. Jurisdictions that create pathways for crypto companies stand to benefit as the industry invests in the regions that welcome them with open arms.

Bernie Moreno: From Crypto Entrepreneur to Political Insurgent (3:20 PM CDT • 4:20 PM EDT)

Ohio's U.S. Senate race may be the biggest congressional contest this year for the digital assets industry. Find out how Republican challenger Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer who founded a blockchain startup, plans to beat the three-term incumbent who has stood in the way of comprehensive crypto legislation.

Friday, May 31

Can DeFi Scale? (10:10 AM CDT • 11:10 AM EDT)

MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen and decentralize finance expert at The Defiant Camila Russo will discuss whether decentralized finance is living up to its promise of empowerment and how it can maintain its ideals as it continues to scale to a global level.

Navigating the Evolving Crypto Trading Landscape (10:30 AM CDT • 11:30 AM EDT)

OKX President Hong Fang, Kraken CEO David Ripley and dYdX founder Antonio Juliano discuss the changing appetite for crypto among retail investors, and what trading platforms have to offer to continue growing throughout the boom and bust cycles of the blockchain industry.

Bringing the Next Trillion Dollars of Assets On-Chain (12:45 PM CDT • 1:45 PM EDT)

Real-world assets, i.e. traditional financial products that are brought on-chain, is one of the fastest growing sectors in the digital asset space, to such an extent that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink thinks tokenization will soon eat the world. Founders of three of the hottest RWA startups, Centrifuge, Superstate and Maple Finance, will discuss where this transformation is heading.

See also: What Consensus Speakers Are Looking Forward to This Year

Edited by Brad Spies.