The Clear Junction team recently attended The Payments Association’s Digital Currencies 360 event that took place at the Business Design Centre in London on 22 March 2022. By all accounts the event was a huge success and testament to the recent evolution of digital currency.
For some time now, Clear Junction has been developing payments solutions that enable digital currency businesses to realise their business growth ambitions. By accessing the accounts, functionalities and payment networks they need to send and receive cross-border payments, crypto exchanges, digital currency businesses and institutional traders are able to buy and sell a range of cryptocurrencies quickly and simply.
So when we became aware of The Payment Association’s Digital Currencies 360 event, it was a no-brainer to purchase some tickets, book a stall to exhibit and agree to be a silver sponsor of the event.
AN INTIMATE ATMOSPHERE
Having recently joined The Payments Association, we felt it important to put ourselves out there and get as many of our team out of the office and into networking opportunities. The havoc that the pandemic has wreaked around the world has undoubtedly changed the way the world works, with almost all business activities taking place online and through computers – the Digital Currencies 360 event presented an opportunity to meet with people face-to-face like the good old days.
The first thing to note is that the event was more intimate than many events, where you can walk around for days and still not get a chance to speak with everyone. Many team members reported they loved the feel of the event – that the environment and atmosphere certainly contributed to the success of the day. For Clear Junction, it was an opportunity to set up a stand and help explain how we help to power businesses through the payments solutions that we have developed.
DIGITAL CURRENCIES 360 STATISTICS
The Digital Currencies 360 event was billed as the only place where digital currency and payments ecosystems merge – which was an ideal scenario for us! Over the years, we have worked with so many businesses that it has resulted in an ecosystem that makes sending and receiving payments simpler and faster, so to physically stand in a space where it was possible to discuss how best to collaborate on integrating digital currencies into the existing payments ecosystem…well, it was an opportunity that we simply could not miss!
More than 1000 people attended, with representatives from various sectors, including regulators, banks, exchanges, stablecoin issuers and payment providers. Over the course of eight hours, we each took turns to man the stand we exhibited at, as well as milling about on the floor, having conversations and visiting other exhibitors. One of the highlights was speaking to several open banking providers who are helping to shape and transform the future of payments and how new players are able to collaborate with more traditional providers to create something new and exciting.
MANY EXPERIENCED SPEAKERS
In addition, there were loads of speakers who each had something extremely useful and interesting to say. One of our team members highlighted that there were some really good bite-sized presentations in the conference rooms, as well as some lively panel sessions that were informative and entertaining.
Interestingly, it was clear that there were many differing views about the future of currencies – both digital and fiat – but that there was a unanimous sense that the payment opportunities and functionalities will get better and better for the consumer in the coming months and years. The fact is that the marriage between digital currencies and the existing payments ecosystem presents more choice, more convenience and more value for all of us. It does feel as if we are on the cusp of a payments revolution, one that is already taking shape, and it will be fascinating to see what happens in the near future.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ultimately, it was brilliant for the Clear Junction team to get out of the office and into a space with like-minded individuals and businesses. We would like to thank The Payments Association and everyone who made the Digital Currencies 360 event the great success it was. Given that this was the inaugural event, we can only expect it to get better in the future and we will certainly be attending the 2023 event!