Students are working with a cryptocurrency nonprofit to host UT’s first University Blockchain Conference Nov. 20 and 21. The conference is free for all students.
Blockchain is a type of database shared across a network of computers instead of on a single database. Blockchain technology is used in finance, healthcare and government.
Conference founder Evan Solomon created College.xyz, the nonprofit behind the conference. Solomon said the goal of the conference is to help students break into blockchain. He said as a student at the University of Michigan, he saw a clear path for getting jobs in other career paths, and built a club to help students get internships in the blockchain industry.
President of Texas Blockchain Nathan Liow said students in the Texas Blockchain club have helped organize and advertise the conference. Because the conference is open to other universities, College.xyz has also helped pay for travel fees.
“What makes the event really special is we actually subsidize all the students that come out,” Solomon said. “That’s why we have 109 universities that are coming to the event, because we can actually help them cover travel costs … flights to Austin are expensive, so we have the opportunity to work with some great sponsors that understand this mission that want to support the students as well.”
The conference, taking place at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, will host several events, including a hackathon, where students present cryptocurrency ideas to business founders, a research competition and a student founder stage, where students present business ideas to investors for the opportunity to win a $10,000 grant.
“Not only do you get to meet companies, but you get to meet fellow students,” Solomon said. “It’s arguably more important to meet other students in the industry, because those are going to be the people that you end up growing with. Those are your potential co-founders. Those are your coworkers.”
