Cryptocurrency continues its march from niche market to major player on the global scene. The amount of venture capital investment in blockchain and cryptocurrency in the first quarter alone is up almost 90 percent from the previous year.

The crypto community, while growing, still feels small. There are many opportunities to establish relationships and connect with industry leaders and innovators. The new applications of blockchain become staples of discussion at major events around the world.

Not only are these events attempting to bring the new digital asset class to the forefront of mainstream investing circles, they attract the brightest and best minds in the industry.

BLOCK-CON 2017 – 10/10/17 – Santa Monica, California

BLOCK-CON stresses the importance of hands-on experience and features practical training workshops on how to launch an ICO as well as a multi-day hackathon with the winners presenting on the main stage. Speakers include

Coin Agenda – 10/24/17 – Las Vegas, Nevada

Coin Agenda features three mini-conferences in one larger event. This October marks the sixth annual BitAngels/CoinAgenda conference. With 20 startups presenting to potential investors, this event is dedicated to investors and investment opportunities across the sector. Great event for companies and token crowd sales.

DevCon3 – 11/1/17 – Cancun, Mexico

A conference for current or aspiring developers on the Ethereum platform, DevCon3 is the go-to for the Ethereum R&D community. While high interest had led to a sold out show, the events will be available via livestream. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, headlines the show. Personally, I’m also interested in the insights from the smart contracts discussion led by

Consensus:Invest – 11/28/17 – New York, New York

Digital assets have returned over 440% in 2017. Consensus:Invest is exactly as its name implies – a call to action to invest in cryptocurrency. With those numbers, one wouldn’t think there would be a need for a call to action. However, the financial press has covered hundreds of digital asset obituaries that feed negative perception in the long term viability of cryptos. The event will be focused on changing that perception for sophisticated investors who are inactive in the new asset class.

Speakers include leading crypto hedge fund managers Mike Novogratz (Galaxy Investment Partners) and Ari Paul (Blocktower Capital) as well as star analyst turned fund manager Chris Berniske (Placeholder Ventures).

Blockchain World Conference – 12/1/17 – Bangkok, Thailand

The inaugural Blockchain World Conference aims to bring over 1000 people from 30+ countries. Creative copy from the site advertises “a centralized place for a decentralized discussion.” More details to be announced for this day long event centered around investing, ICOs, smart contracts, trust & security, and more.

The North American Bitcoin Conference – 01/17/18 – Miami, Florida

“The Beginning of a Revolution,” is the tagline for this conference with alumni speakers such as Reggie Middleton of Veritaseum and Brian Donegan, who is spearheading blockchain integration into the Isle of Man regulatory framework. The high caliber atmosphere in downtown Miami is sure to provide a multi-day experience that brings actionable innovation and technology around blockchain, bitcoin, investing, regulation, startups, IOT, growth hacking, and more.

Token Fest – 03/15/18 – San Francisco, California

Enterprise executives and VC’s make up the majority of this crowd looking to share ideas about the technology of tokenization. Within shouting distance of the Golden Gate Bridge, Token Fest also features a pitch contest for 12 finalists.

Consensus 2018 – 05/14/18 – New York, New York

The fourth annual Consensus conference hosted by Coindesk, and the second Consensus event featured on this list. It’s shaping up to be the biggest one yet, projecting over 3000 attendees. Plenty of details to come, but expect quality speakers and a great turnout.

Whether you’re looking to immerse yourself in the industry as a newcomer, a seasoned investor, or even skeptic, these events will feature some of the best networking and thought leadership in the digital asset space.

About Eric Lamison-White

A former FDIC IT auditor and early cryptocurrency developer, Eric Lamison-White is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pareto Network, a platform that rewards unbiased cryptocurrency information.