CoinDesk Consensus 2023

Today, CoinDesk published the inaugural Consensus @ Consensus Report. Based on intimate group discussions at Consensus 2023, the largest and most influential annual gathering of the global crypto community, the report's 11 chapters cover a wide range of pressing issues challenging the digital assets industry. These include the newly urgent subject of regulation, the competing demands of privacy and law enforcement, the difficulty of bringing self-custody to the mainstream, the challenges of governing DAOs, the future of crypto media, and more. The discussion groups, which convened at the event in Austin, Texas, from April 26-28, 2023, represented a cross-section of interested parties – including developers, investors, government officials, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits. Click here to download the full report.

Despite a relatively upbeat mood among the 15,000 attendees from 97 countries who attended Consensus 2023, the specter of Sam Bankman-Fried's failed FTX exchange, and the bubble excesses it personified, loomed large over the event. The consensus among discussants was that it's imperative for the crypto community to get the word out about how their projects benefit (or will benefit) everyday users in order to mitigate the inevitable, ongoing tightening of the regulatory screws.

"The one clear through-line, the refrain that I kept reading over and over as I edited the 11 chapters, was that this global movement has to remember why it exists in the first place – and clearly explain that purpose to the wider world," said Marc Hochstein, CoinDesk's executive editor for Consensus. Referring to the stain left on crypto by FTX and the 2022 market crash, he added: "As I'm fond of saying, the casual observer could be forgiven for missing the beauty of a horse when there are so many flies buzzing around its behind."

CoinDesk will make these discussions a recurring feature at the annual Consensus, reinforcing the event's status as the annual gathering of the crypto and blockchain community's stakeholders, where they collectively try to find common ground for the year ahead.

"At CoinDesk, we don't tell people how to address these challenges but believe that by encouraging frank, constructive multi-stakeholder dialogue, we can help foster a collective effort to do so in the interests of humanity," Hochstein said.

The report is immediately downloadable and viewable by anyone who has set up a free account on CoinDesk.com. In addition, CoinDesk Studios, in partnership with Transient Labs, has commemorated the report on-chain with a collectible non-fungible token (NFT). In 30 days, the report will be accessible without an account.

About Consensus: The iconic crypto and blockchain event of the year since 2015, Consensus has gathered all sides of the crypto industry as it has grown from a clique of visionary founders to encompass multiple sectors of mainstream society. Curated and produced by CoinDesk, the most influential platform for digital asset news, events, data and indices, Consensus is the only event showcasing all sides of the blockchain industry — NFTs, Web3, DeFi, regulation, investing, and the Metaverse — and their wide-reaching effect on commerce, culture, and communities. Consensus invites developers, creators, policymakers, executives, and academics from various projects and disciplines to come together for the most influential event of the year.

About CoinDesk: CoinDesk is the most influential, trusted platform for a growing global community engaged in the transformation of the financial system and the emerging crypto economy. Founded in May 2013, the CoinDesk Media platform provides millions of consumers interested in cryptocurrency assets and blockchain technology with news and insights, podcasts, live-streaming TV shows, and research reports. CoinDesk's scoops exposing the inner workings of Sam Bankman-Fried's empire led to the FTX exchange's downfall and won the prestigious George Polk Award for financial reporting and a New York Press Club award for national business reporting.

CoinDesk Indices are the industry standard for institutional single and multi-asset benchmarks for crypto assets. The flagship CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX) has been operating continuously since 2014. CoinDesk is a wholly-owned, independently operated subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, one of the largest privately-held investment companies in the crypto industry, whose mission is to accelerate the development of a better financial system.