Deloitte Joins Consensus 2016 as Title Sponsor

CoinDesk has announced that Deloitte – which works with 90 percent of the largest financial institutions across its audit, tax, consulting and advisory businesses – will be the title sponsor of Consensus 2016, the website’s second annual blockchain technology summit, scheduled for May 2-4 in New York.

One of the world’s largest professional services firms, Deloitte has been at the forefront of the growing community of financial services leaders working on enterprise applications that leverage blockchain technology. Once confined to the lab, blockchain applications are now being tested by more than 40 banks and financial institutions who are actively working to develop the emerging technology.

“A major change is upon us, thanks to blockchain technology,” said Eric Piscini, principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP and the leader of the global blockchain initiative for Deloitte’s financial service team. “Across industries, our clients and their customers will be impacted. I believe that the democratization of trust might be even more disruptive than the democratization of information.”

“We at Deloitte are continuously evolving and innovating with our clients to capture the value of blockchain. More broadly – as industry, government and technology leaders – we have to translate the tremendous potential of blockchain into real value for our customers, citizens and communities. Now is the time to make blockchain real,” Piscini said.

Among major professional services firms, Deloitte was among the earliest to investigate the potential of blockchain technology in 2014, when it disclosed it was working on several internal applications -- such as automated client auditing, financial reconciliation, land registry and loyalty points programs.

Deloitte’s blockchain and cryptocurrency community now boasts more than 350 members in 24 countries.

Deloitte’s key role in the blockchain ecosystem will be on full display at Consensus 2016, where leading blockchain industry startups, financial institutions and independent voices will unite for two-and-a-half days of in-depth discussions and debate.

“We are thrilled to work with Deloitte on making Consensus 2016 an even bigger and better event than the original,” said CoinDesk’s team lead, Ryan Selkis. “The work that Deloitte does every single day in educating its clients on the potential of this new technology perfectly aligns with this year’s theme: ‘making blockchain real.’'

Sessions at the conference will be divided into ‘Business’ and ‘Technical & Policy’ tracks which highlight the opportunities and challenges facing the blockchain community regarding the development of applications in regulated areas like global payments, smart contracts, clearing and settlement, and identity and device management.

Confirmed speakers include over 20 industry CEOs, such as Blythe Masters (Digital Asset Holdings), Jeremy Allaire (Circle) and Chris Larsen (Ripple), investment luminaries like Glenn Hutchins (Silver Lake), and government leaders like Larry Summers (former US Secretary Treasury) and a sitting US state governor (TBA this month).

Deloitte leads a packed lineup of sponsors for Consensus 2016 including Abra, Align Commerce, BitPay, Coinalytics, Ideas By Nature, Pillsbury Winthrop, and Ripple. Citi Ventures and Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions sponsored CoinDesk’s inaugural Consensus summit last September.

Consensus 2016
http://www.coindesk.com/events/consensus-2016/register/