Former US president Bill Clinton is all set to grace the stage at the upcoming Swell Conference hosted by blockchain-based payment solutions provider Ripple, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, Ripple confirmed that the 42nd US president will be delivering the keynote address at the upcoming tech conference, observing:
“President Clinton helped usher in a period of extreme growth and adoption of the Internet, shaping what it is today. He also established programs that bridged the “digital divide” and brought new technology to underserved communities around the world.”
The release went on to state that the knowledge and learnings obtained from the internet boom in the 90s are particularly pertinent in current-day circumstances, where digital currencies and blockchain technology now offer a host of exciting new opportunities, allowing for a quicker, more efficient means of transferring value which can create “more financial inclusion and economic opportunity”. However, this new technology comes with its own set of challenges, “requiring thoughtful policy to protect consumers from risk without hampering innovation”.
In addition to delivering the keynote address, Clinton will be participating in a Q&A session moderated by Gene Sperling, who served as the National Economic Council Director and Advisor under Presidents Clinton and Barack Obama. Sperling currently serves on Ripple’s board of directors.
This year’s Swell conference is due to be held in Ripple’s hometown of San Francisco, California, on October 1 and 2, and will feature:
“Financial services companies using blockchain technology in production
New market opportunity in remittances, e-commerce and corporate marketplaces
Frameworks for regulating digital assets across Europe, Asia and the Middle East”
Last year’s conference (the inaugural Swell) brought together leaders from both traditional banking and blockchain sectors. It featured Sir Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web), Dr. Ben Bernanke (chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006-2014), and a panel with Ethereum’s creator Vitalik Buterin, among a host of other speakers.
The 2017 conference was eagerly awaited by investors, who expected Ripple to make a major announcement at the event, serving as a potential catalyst for a major price surge for XRP. However, the conference came and went without any groundbreaking news, causing the digital token to take a dip immediately after the event.
Meanwhile, how the 2018 conference is received, whether it offers any significant takeaways/solutions for the crypto, blockchain and global payments industries, and whether it has any notable impact on the price of XRP remains to be seen.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
