The Chamber of Digital Commerce, the first Washington, DC-based trade association representing the digital asset industry, is holding DC Blockchain Summit at Georgetown University on March 3, 2016. It will bring together government, technologists, finance experts, nonprofits, and students and provide a platform to explore opportunities and challenges surrounding blockchain technology in the nation's capital.

Gina Vargas of the MIT Digital Currency Initiative has announced via blog post on Medium that the Chamber will be providing 30 diversity scholarships for its upcoming blockchain summit. The Chamber has donated 10% of tickets (worth $100 each) to the event and will be working with the DCI to identify students and young professionals to attend the summit, she said.

“The scholarships are being offered to people of color and women between the ages of 18–25. The summit will be the first of its kind held in D.C. and aims to provide insight into policy challenges facing the new technology”, Vargas said. “Applications are due February 24th and scholarship recipients will be informed of their acceptance into the program by February 29th.”

Last week, the Chamber announced Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, as a keynote speaker at the summit. In addition, CEO of Digital Assets Holdings, Blythe Masters, has also been announced as a keynote speaker.

Additional speakers include: Don Tapscott, Best Selling Author; Sean Murphy, Global Head of Blockchain, Norton Rose Fulbright; Matthew Roszak, Founding Partner, Tally Capital; Alden Pelker, FBI; Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ); Jeff Garzik, Core Developer and Co-Founder, Bloq; Adam Ludwin, CEO, Chain; and many more.