The Crypto Valley Association (CVA), in cooperation with Lucerne School of Applied Sciences and Melonport, has announced the official launch of the Crypto Valley Conference – a research, development and innovation-centered conference focused on blockchain technology.

The multi-day event will take place at the Theatre Casino in Zug, Switzerland, from 20-22 June 2018. It will bring together leading researchers, developers, lawyers and innovators from across the globe to share and discuss state-of-the-art developments and advances in the blockchain technology ecosystem.

The conference will feature robust program of keynotes, panel discussions, and tutorials in two streams – academia and economics/business. It will offer invaluable insight into applications and use cases of blockchain technology, recent industry developments, and the future trajectory of the sector as a whole.

Speakers include Swiss Federal Councillor Johann Schneider-Ammann, Cornell University Professor Emin Gün Sirer, Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, Dr. Christian Cachin (IBM Hyperledger), IOTA CEO David Sønstebø, MME co-founder Dr. Luka Müller, Melonport CEO Mona El Isa, Æternity founder Yanislav Malahov, and Procivis CEO Daniel Gasteiger.

“In organising Crypto Valley Conference 2018, we sought to reflect the unique composition of the rapidly growing Crypto Valley ecosystem and blockchain space more generally. With this in mind, we are bringing together leading researchers, developers, and innovators; as well as CEO's and CTO's from top universities, highly innovative start-ups, and more established companies,” said Oliver Bussmann, President of the CVA.

According to the official release, the CVA, in collaboration with the Swiss ICT Investor Club (SICTIC), will host a “SICTIC Investor Day with Blockchain Challenge”, which will allow innovative start-ups to compete for one of 8 places in the final pitching session, which will be judged by a panel of leading investors, blockchain experts, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. The competition winner will receive a $30,000 USD prize from the CVA. Applications for the SICTIC Investor Day with Blockchain Challenge will close on April 30, 2018.

“We hope to attract the most innovative, imaginative, and inspiring talents in our call for paper submissions, as well as the “SICTIC Investor Day with Blockchain Challenge. This is a unique event bringing a variety of industry actors and thought-leaders together, the Crypto Valley Association is excited to host such an event at a highly significant and formative time in the blockchain industry’s development,” said Bussmann.

In addition, the conference will also offer attendants the opportunity to interact with various industry leaders at a number of networking events, including evening receptions and an hour-long dinner on two boats on Lake Zug, which will also feature an exhibition of the Lucerne School of Applied Sciences’ twin robots who have been programmed to speak on the topics of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

The Crypto Valley Conference 2018 has technical sponsorship from renowned, international universities and colleges such as ETH Zürich, EPFL, MIT, Imperial College, and Stanford. In addition, sponsorship has also been secured from companies such as Æternity, Ambrosus, Blockfreight, Blockmedx, Hedge, Luxoft, Melonport, Microsoft, MME, and Ripple, among others, who will be present with an exhibition booth at the conference, providing a great opportunity for networking and gaining insights on the latest advances in the industry. The conference is endorsed by IEEE Switzerland, the leading body for certification of research excellence and is the first, and currently the only, academic conference to secure this accreditation.