Press release

Stellar Development Foundation Announces Meridian 2020: Global Connections to Solve Real World Challenges

Publishing date

SDF Hosted

Conference

Developer

Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web and founder and president of the Open Data Institute, are among the keynote speakers

Conference topics to cover payments, financial inclusion, CBDCs, and blockchain policy


SAN FRANCISCO, November 13, 2020 — Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), the nonprofit supporting the growth of Stellar, is pleased to announce the return of Meridian, SDF’s annual blockchain conference. The virtual event “Global Connections to Solve Real World Challenges” will take place from Monday, November 16 to Friday, November 20 and registration is free. The interactive conference will feature industry thought leaders, policymakers and regulators alongside Stellar community and ecosystem members, academics and journalists.

With economic and business leaders across the world racing to implement digital currencies, experts from organizations including the IMF, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and World Economic Forum will be on hand to discuss policy, compliance and regulation. Other topics that will be explored include interoperability, adoption, liquidity and market making, privacy and security, cross-border payments, and asset issuance.

The event, which comprises panels, keynotes, and interactive sessions includes Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the world wide web and founder and president of the Open Data Institute, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nobel Peace Laureate and Africa’s first elected female president, Jim Yong Kim, former President of the World Bank Group, Sheila Warren, Head of Blockchain and Digital Currency at the World Economic Forum, and others.

“There couldn’t be a better time to bring together some of the tech and financial industries’ best minds. The pandemic has renewed global interest in a more inclusive financial system,” said Denelle Dixon, Stellar Development Foundation CEO and Executive Director. “In order to make our goal of creating equitable access to the global financial system a reality, we need to convene these thought-leaders to solve the challenges that exist in our world today. Because now, more than ever, we believe that it is through greater global connection and cooperation that we can, and will, tackle the problems we face.”

In addition to the educational sessions, there will be opportunities to network, along with the chance to win up to 150,000 Stellar Lumens (XLM) in a hackathon sponsored by SDF. The hackathon will challenge participants to build something to showcase at least one of Stellar’s new features: fee bumps, sponsored reserves, claimable balances and fine-grained asset authorization.

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.