General

The FinTech lunch #12 was a success under every point of view. The two speakers, Bernd Lapp from Ethereum and Stefan Bürge from Lenz & Staehelin, could express very clearly what are the main point about blockchain and smart contracts.

The two speaker have a deep knowledge of their respective field and they were able to share it with the participants. going straight to the point and inserting messages coming from their experience.

“Fintech Lunch #12 has been an ideal forum to discuss technology and business trends regarding automated and smart contracts. There are, in particular with respect to smart contracts, a number of legal challenges that need to be addressed in order to unleash such contracts’ full potential. For some players and providers in different industries (notably in the financial industry) dealing more effectively with such challenges directly translates into competitive advantages.” (Stefan Bürge, Lenz & Staehelin)

The crowd, composed by professionals coming from different areas, was active in addressing questions and appointing their opinion on the topic, creating a virtuous vortex of participation.

“The topic is of pivotal importance for any business building a transaction flow structure using distributed ledger technology (blockchain). The topic of current limitations and challenges was discussed relating to smart contracts. The take aways from the discussions were, in my view, that there are plenty of business opportunities around developing smart contract technology especially for more complex, B2B contracts. A big thank you to the speakers for highlighting these issues!” (Tamer Ayasli, InsurTech Consulting Partners)

“I appreciated how the speakers explained smart contracts, from a business angle and a legal as well as regulatory aspect. The philosophical and geopolitical thoughts in the debate were very inspiring.” (Urs Bolt, Bolt Execution Partners)

About the speakers

1) Bernd Lapp (Ethereum / CEO of Old School GmbH) LinkedIn

Bernd Lapp has several years of management experience across multiple industries, including finance, digital media and sports. Bernd is the CEO of Old School GmbH and Head of the Business Department for Swarm City. As part of his role as Head of Sales for a Fintech Startup in Switzerland, he got interested in Blockchain Technology and the business opportunities it provides. From 2015 onwards he focused on this new technology, advising consulting firms and also joined the Advisory Board of the Ethereum Foundation, the most promising Blockchain protocol available.

2) Stefan Bürge (Lenz & Staehelin) LinkedIn

Stefan Bürge advises on and litigates technology, intellectual property and general commercial matters. He is specialized in protecting and commercializing knowledge, creations and data. He regularly advises on disruptive technologies (including FinTech and blockchain technology applications) and transactional, joint venture and regulatory matters.