It was an incredible couple of days in Malta for the AI and Blockchain Summit. Attendance surpassed expectations, confirming the event’s rising global status.

The second edition of the summit has solidified its position as a world leading event for AI, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and other emerging technologies.

With a whopping 5,500 delegates, 150 exhibitors, and over 100 startups over the two-day event, the summit brought together key players from these converging sectors to discuss and shape the future.

VIP Contributors

As the crypto winter begins to thaw, this couldn’t have been a better time for Malta to host the spring event.

We watched some incredible moments on stage, from heated bidding from Brock Pierce at the AI and Blockchain Awards auction, to some intriguing conference debate as Roger Ver took on Tone Vays in a BTC vs BTC Cash showdown!

In fact, the conference floor was hardly ever empty as an elite line-up of speakers kept the audience engaged with a series of panels, keynotes, and fireside chats.

Keynotes from industry giants Noel Sharkey and Bobby Lee were a hit with the audience, with Bobby Lee emphatic on Bitcoin’s staying power, arguing he believed it would eventually go up to a million dollars!

The honorable Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, also gave an air of prestige to proceedings when he reinforced the government’s support for the industry as he gave a very well-received keynote.

Some important takeaways:

Roger Ver -- Angel Investor

“Overall, income per capita is significantly higher in countries with economic freedom -- literary rates soar, life expectancy is higher, fewer people unemployed and fewer babies die in childbirth. Bitcoin cash and digital currency are the best tools the world has ever seen to accomplish these goals.”

Larry Sanger -- Wikipedia Co-founder

“One of the main reasons blockchain has been exploding in popularity is it gives us the opportunity to take back control over data and our relationships. We should own our own data.”

Bobby Lee -- BTCC CEO

“I truly believe Bitcoin is here to stay, so hold on to your Bitcoin because you’re going to be very tempted to sell when it goes up to a million dollars.”

Ben Goertzel -- SingularityNET CEO

“In the next 20 to 40 years it’s pretty clear that all human jobs will go away and produce goods and services will be done by AI and robots. On the path there, things may become complicated, but this is partly where blockchain and smart contracts can help, to create new systems for economic exchange and value for labor exchange amongst people.”

Have a budding AI or Blockchain idea that's the next big thing?

Take our short survey to find out what type of intellectual property is right for your AI or Blockchain idea!

The Gripping Pynk.io Pitch

UK-based Pynk is the world’s first People Powered Investment platform. The proposition is attractive -- the core team behind the platform are digital startup veterans; it has funding from Canadian venture capital firm, Loyal VC; regulatory compliance; and it’s a graduate of two top digital accelerators.

It’s credentials and the pitching prowess of co-founder Rupert Barksfield certainly impressed the judges at the summit. Pynk won first place in Thursday’s startup contest!

Essentially, Pynk is harnessing the power of 10,000 people, each with their own predictions about the market, and a proprietary AI called Rose, to put your investments in the black.

Popularised by Sir Francis Galton in the early 20th century, the Wisdom of Crowds (WoC) is a well-documented phenomenon. Combining estimates, predictions, and opinions of many different people has repeatedly been proven to give more accurate results than a small selection of experts alone.

Using the Pynk platform, people input their predictions about how the Bitcoin market is going to move tomorrow -- whether the price will go up or down. The AI algorithm gobbles up that data and informs the team on how they should trade on that prediction.

The people that invest money benefit and the profits are shared with everybody. The responses are evaluated by Rose using the responders’ prediction history as well as various geopolitical aspects.

The results are incredibly accurate, with an accuracy of over 87% in calling market moves anywhere between 3-9 percent.

Right now, the platform is focused solely on Bitcoin, but from next week, it’s expanding. The team is adding Nasdaq composite price and also gold. And, towards the end of the year, they’re planning predictions on the property market.

Pynk looks to have the potential of building a market-leading FinTech business, joining the likes of Revolut and Transferwise. But the company wants to be more than that.

I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Awards Raising 18,800€ for Charity

The AI & Blockchain Awards went off without a hitch. The star-studded event recognized some of the most important projects to innovate the industry.

Guests, including the Archduke of Austria, Brock Pierce, Roger Ver, and Vinay Gupta, were treated to networking drinks and a gourmet meal as host Rick Goddard, CCO at SiGMA, led the first round of awards.

The winners were:

Social Impact Group 2019 -- Solarcoin;
IoT of the year 2019 -- Navigato;
Blockchain & AI for Art Award 2019 -- ArtSquare.io;
Adoption Ambassador of the year 2019 -- Europe chain;

The second group of winners was presented by CC Forum:

Blockchain and AI Influencer of the year 2019 -- Bitcoin.com;
Media of the year 2019 -- Crypto Briefing;
Marketing Campaign of the year 2019 -- G8C;
Disrupter of the year 2019 -- Holochain

A rousing auction brought the evening to a close with a fierce bidding war. Highlights included Brock Pierce placing the winning bid on the submarine experience, with the activity going for 3,200€.

Andy Jones took home Mark Mallia’s painting “AI dreams of a future time” for 2,200€, while HE Khurram Shroff is now the proud owner of “Blockchain Island M” by Nelly Baksht, which sold for a staggering 8,000€.

There were countless other artworks that helped raise a significant amount of money for several worthy charities, including the Malta Community Chest Fund and the Kilimanjaro Challenge.

Conclusion

All in all, the Malta AI & Blockchain Summit was an amazing event, surpassing everyone’s expectations.

For all the delegates who attended the summit, it provided us with invaluable networking opportunities for great deals to be made and relationships developed.

We hope to be back soon! A big thanks to everyone who reached out -- we look forward to great things to come!

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any comments or questions about the summit or anything related to our industry. We’re always here to help!