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Stellar Development Foundation Announces Meridian 2022: The Urgency of Doing

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Alexis Ohanian, Founder, Seven Seven Six and CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham are among the keynote speakers

Conference topics to cover the state of decentralization, future of work, rebirth of cash aid, and the simultaneity of trust and trustlessness

SAN FRANCISCO, September 26, 2022 — The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the nonprofit organization that supports the development and growth of the Stellar network, is pleased to announce the return of its annual conference, Meridian. The virtual event, themed “The Urgency of Doing,” will take place at the Palazzo Brancaccio in Rome, Italy from Tuesday, October 11 to Thursday, October 13. Registration is free for this first in-person conference since the start of the pandemic.

Meridian 2022 will be an interactive conference featuring industry thought leaders, developers, policymakers, and regulators alongside Stellar community and ecosystem members, academics, and journalists.. Among these pioneers, executives from companies including MoneyGram, Circle, Wyre will be on hand to discuss real world use cases of blockchain technology.

The event, which comprises panels, keynotes, and interactive debate sessions, will feature the following speakers:

  • Alexis Ohanian, Founder, Seven Seven Six;
  • Caroline D. Pham, CFTC Commissioner;
  • Alex Holmes, CEO and Chairman of MoneyGram International;
  • Marieke Flament, CEO, NEAR Foundation;
  • Brynly Llyr, Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets, WEF;
  • Ondřej Kovařík, Member European Parliament, Czech Republic;
  • Carmen Hett, Corporate Treasurer, UNHCR;
  • Jed McCaleb, co-founder of Stellar;
  • Yanni Giannaros, CEO of Wyre;
  • Alex McDougall, CEO of Stablecorp;
  • and Dr. Anino Emuwa, Founder of 100 Women @ Davos.

A current list of speakers can be found here.

The conference will explore topics that speak to the unique moment of the world today and how to take the urgency of the moment to drive towards action on three stages: Main, Developer, and Partner. Sessions include:

  • Emerging Stronger from Crypto Winter,
  • Meeting the Humanitarian Aid Need Through Digital Tools,
  • How “Done” is Stellar?,
  • Why Do Networks Halt?... and Does it Matter?
  • The Spotlight’s on Stablecoins: Building Utility and Trust Under Scrutiny
  • The Strategic Importance of Cash Access for Crypto,
  • Interoperability = cross-chain,
  • Outsider or insider: Is crypto now part of the financial system?
  • Emerging stronger from crypto winter
  • Regulation, crypto killer, or the key to its future?, and
  • What it means to be trusted and trustless.

See the current program here.

“The issues of the world are only growing larger, and we must rise to the challenge by offering our own solutions – and then acting upon them. That’s what this year’s Meridian is about,” said Denelle Dixon, Stellar Development Foundation CEO and Executive Director. “The time is now for the brightest minds in our industry to show how real world blockchain solutions can change the world. By acting urgently and finding what we can do together, our goal of bringing equitable access to the global financial system inches closer each day."

More details are available at https://meridian.stellar.org/.

About Stellar

Stellar is a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network for financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system and a platform for digital asset issuance, designed to connect the world’s financial infrastructure. Financial institutions worldwide issue assets and settle payments on the Stellar network, which has grown to over 7 million accounts. For more information, visit stellar.org

About the Stellar Development Foundation

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain Stellar’s codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology. For more information, visit stellar.org/foundation.