Description

The realities of digital currency  

 

Crypto or more commonly referred to as digital currency has somewhat of a bad rap. It seems that in its early stages of use cryptocurrency was used to buy something illegal. Many countries and numerous banks don’t recognize it as legal tender. That is slowly changing with the announcement that Tesla will accept digital currency to purchase their vehicles. This panel of experts will examine the pros and the cons of digital currency to dispel the myths and examine the future of this new way of doing business. 


Weston Betts is a Vice President for Silicon Valley Bank, a company that is leading the way in offering banking services for each stage of a startup's journey. Weston is from Murphy, Texas, and in his former roles was the Director of Sales for Patron Technology, Director of Marketing and Business Development for Blockparty, and the Dallas/Fort Worth Senior Loan Specialist for Able Lending. Weston is passionate about continuing to learn about emerging technology and has been involved in the blockchain space since 2013. 

Mike Marzelli Michael is an Audit & Assurance partner focusing on financial services and a leader of Deloitte’s Blockchain and Digital Asset audit practice.  He has over 16 years’ experience serving a wide range of clients from emerging growth companies to large multi-national organizations in New York, Hong Kong and San Francisco in both an audit and advisory capacity. He has experience serving clients in the securities, banking, fintech and digital asset space, focusing on audit and assurance methodologies, tools and technology.  He helps clients manage the complexities faced by companies engaging in the blockchain and digital asset space, from start-ups to mature enterprises, and focuses on bringing the right advice and counsel to clients when building and scaling blockchain and digital asset based businesses.

Seth Dunbar: Seth Dunbar is an Outreach Advisor with the Industry Outreach group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. In his role, Seth seeks to build relationships with the banking industry on behalf of the Dallas Fed and serves as a subject matter expert on cybersecurity, financial technology, and payments. Seth is a twice graduate of Texas A&M University with a BBA in finance and a Master of International Affairs from the Bush School of Government and Public Service. Seth currently sits on the board of the Commercial Banking Program at Texas A&M. He lives in the Houston area with his wife, Stacey, and two daughters.

Lee Bratcher is the President of the Texas Blockchain Council, a nonprofit industry association working to make Texas the jurisdiction of choice for blockchain innovation. He is also a faculty member teaching international relations and blockchain courses at Dallas Baptist University. Lee received a blockchain instructors certification from IBM and researches blockchain solutions in land administration.