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RelayNode NYC #2 - May 20

David Gogel

Welcome to RelayNode NYC Area edition! The NYC blockchain ecosystem is growing rapidly. My goal is to harness its energy, expertise, and innovation for the benefit of New Yorkers and provide a weekly curated list of interesting content and upcoming events.

It was that time of year again, when the industry converges in NYC for Blockchain Week. There were all-day conferences, industry panels, networking sessions, hackathons, sponsored events, breakfasts, dinners, happy hours, and more.

With crypto spring on the horizon and Bitcoin’s price rallying to a 9-month high, it was a great time to take stock of the sector, connect with old and new friends, and admire the breadth and depth of developments in the ecosystem through crypto winter. Despite fewer attendees (estimated at ~4000) than last year, many seemed to agree that this year’s events were of higher quality with more signal less noise.

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RelayNode NYC is curated by:

David Gogel
Associate @ Techstars' Blockchain Accelerator fmr Co-president @ Wharton FinTech

  • Every gamer knows that there is a day coming when the time and money poured into a game will no longer be meaningful. Blockchain tech has opened up a new category of online gaming built around non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Players can now think about game assets like real, physical collectibles creating a sense of ownership and value. Neon District is Blockade Games’ flagship game, a cyberpunk role-playing game where players control parties of characters and battle to progress through a sci-fi storyline and earn in-game NFT items. Dapper Labs, the creators of CryptoKitties, just released a new game called Cheeze Wizards, where players summon Wizards, which are NFTs, to fight in magical duels and compete to become the Big Cheeze.

  • Flexa, a payments network startup, announced a partnership with Gemini to enable instant crypto payments (using Gemini Dollars, Bitcoin, Ether, and Bitcoin Cash) at major US retail stores, including Wholefoods, Nordstrom, and Gamestop. Flexa processes the payments using its custodial wallet and mobile app called 'Spedn'. Flexa uses its own Flexacoin as collateral to secure payments until the transaction is approved on the blockchain, while Gemini takes care of custody. The first widespread, low-friction opportunity for consumers to shop with cryptocurrency is a big deal.

  • Observers are eagerly watching the SEC’s case against Kik, the Tencent-backed messaging app that raised $100mm in an ICO. The SEC believes the company issued unregistered securities. Following Kik’s submission of a Wells Response in December, the SEC is almost out of time to decide whether to pursue an enforcement action against the company. The case is an early illustration of interesting questions playing out in the cryptocurrency space, and we will find out soon what the SEC’s position is. Katie Haun, GP at a16z, explains the legal process and potential implications.

Events this week:

Lighter week ahead as projects recoup post-Blockchain Week...

Startup Boost New York Global Demo Day (Free)

When: Wednesday, May 22, 2019, 6:00–9:00 PM

Where: WeWork Labs, 205 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10013, United States

Startup Boost is a global pre-accelerator program with a mission to lead pre-seed stage startups towards Accelerators, Investment, and/or Revenue (AIR). On May 22nd, we are hosting our Global Demo Day.

Blockstack Thursdays: Let's Build some Dapps using Blockstack.js! (Free)

When: Thursday, May 23, 2019, 7:00-9:00 PM

Where: Community Room at 321 Wythe Ave, 321 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn, NY

The Flatiron School // Access Labs are proud to support the Blockchain Devs Study Group. This is a regular gathering for Blockchain Devs of all levels to learn, present, work on in collaboration with one another or on solo projects in this fast-growing field.

Upcoming events

CoinFund Rabbithole Talks with Slava Balasanov (Relevant) (Free)

When: Tuesday, May 28, 2019, 7:00– 9:00 PM

Where: Pete's Candy Store, 709 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Rabbithole Talks is a monthly CoinFund meetup, focused on doing deep dives into innovative token economics and technical design decisions for interesting blockchain-based projects. Join us for our May 2019 meetup on 5/28 with Slava Balasanov, Founder of Relevant! Slava will lead a discussion about designing mechanisms for measuring trust and how Relevant Prediction Market design differs from traditional Curation Markets.

Blockchains4Hacks (Free)

When: Saturday, June 15th, 2019

Where: TBU

Blockchains4Hacks (B4H) is a hackathon designed to bring blockchain education and awareness to the high school and college level! This hackathon will be open to high schoolers and college students in the NYC area and will be on 6/15. We will have approximately 150-200 students participating in the hackathon.

Notable Conferences