From the Bay Area to Columbus, Ohio, the team at Orchid has enjoyed a whirlwind of events these past few weeks. Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to:

Blockstack Summit – Oct. 23rd

The 4th annual summit hosted by Blockstack brought together an eclectic group of thought leaders, developers and entrepreneurs for a full day of interesting talks under the overarching theme of “Can’t be evil.” Decentralization was a major talking point throughout, and we especially enjoyed the great conversations sparked by the various presentations of the day.

A highlight of the event was the panel discussion titled The Evolution of Capitalism, moderated by David Wachsman, CEO of Wachsman. He was joined on the main stage by Richard Muirhead, founding partner of Fabric Ventures, and our own CEO, Dr. Steven Waterhouse. The panel provided some interesting scope for discussion on a topic near and dear to our hearts here at Orchid, and we’re so pleased to have been able to participate.

San Francisco Blockchain Week – Oct. 28th to Nov. 1st

Opening with the CryptoEconomics Security Conference (CESC), San Francisco Blockchain Week 2019 was another action-packed event with plenty to experience and learn. We had a blast meeting all the people who stopped by our booth at CESC and the Blockchain Career Fair at UC Berkeley; it was a great opportunity to connect with some bright minds and share what the Orchid Protocol is all about!

Things kicked into high gear on Tuesday night for our Follow the White Rabbit to Wonderland SFBW afterparty. Held at Hotel San Francisco, it was an evening to let loose and enjoy some good music, drinks and great company—not to mention some fun costumes in the spirit of Lewis Carroll’s fantastic tale!

Epicenter, SF Blockchain Week’s main event, followed from October 31st to November 1st. Top blockchain developers, investors and academics convened for an impressive series of talks, panel discussions and workshops geared toward every interest imaginable.

One session we found particularly compelling was the panel discussion How Will Cryptocurrencies Help Protect Human Rights Under Dictatorial Regimes? Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation affirmed that blockchain technology has a major role to play in increasing freedom around the world. At Orchid, we wholeheartedly agree.

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During the last day of SFBW, our CEO Dr. Steven Waterhouse joined Muneeb Ali of Blockstack and Jeremy Welch of Casa for a fireside chat titled Freedom of Ownership, where they discussed Web3 and users owning their data—a timely topic given the growing concern about data privacy worldwide.

Ohio LinuxFest – Nov. 1st & 2nd

“Open source means open to all,” according to the organizers of Ohio LinuxFest. The annual technology conference and expo, held in Columbus, Ohio, celebrates the Linux operating system and other free and open source hardware and software projects—and in accordance with its open-source values, offers basic admission free of charge.

At Orchid Labs, we share this core belief in accessibility and transparency in tech (which is why Orchid is 100% open source software). Our own Developer Advocate, Nathan Handler, attended LinuxFest this year and manned a booth at the expo, spreading the word about the work we’re doing. He also held two talks on November 2nd: one on the basics of blockchain and how developers are using it, and another about the power of decentralization to offer users better privacy.

Still going strong in its 17th year, Ohio LinuxFest promises another awesome event in 2020! We’re proud to be a part of this community of freedom-loving professionals.

State of Tokens – Nov. 6th

For anyone interested in blockchain, cryptocurrencies and STOs, the State of Tokens event in Palo Alto was a great opportunity to network, learn a little something new, and check out some demo pitches from startups in the industry.

Tegan Kline, head of international business development and investor relations at Orchid, brought her expertise to the evening’s panel discussion about the state of tokens and token investing today. Moderated by Silicon Valley journalist Mark Albertson, the discussion included a number of other industry leaders and subject matter experts: Joshua Rivera, Chief Compliance Officer and general counsel at Blockchain Capital; Jamie Finn, co-founder of Securitize; Andrea Lo, head of business development at Harbor; Mike Zajko, head of sales at CoinList; and Mason Borda, CEO of TokenSoft.