Web3 enthusiasm is growing in the Keystone State.
At the end of 2021, a group of blockchain fans formed a new organization advocating for wider research into and adoption of the technology. Dominic Folino, John Cox and Lara Coviello — all tech, investing and government affairs pros — launched the PA Blockchain Coalition with a goal to educate legislators and regular Pennsylvanians about the ways it can be implemented.
When Technical.ly checked in with the leaders in October, they had plans for organizing meetups and other events for folks interested in learning more. The latest pandemic surge put those on pause. Now in March, Folino, the president of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, said the group “had one vision but had to pivot.” Some meetups have gone virtual, while others didn’t happen until the Omicron peak passed last month.
They’ve build their board to five people, and three have been named to the coalition’s advisory committee. Folino said there’s plans to take that group to 10 in next few months. While much of their board is made up of southeastern Pennsylvanians right now, Folino is heading to Pittsburgh soon for the Crypto-Energy Summit in May, with plans to moderate a few panels and connect southwestern PA folks there. They’ve also met with blockchain companies such as Ledger, Genesis and VX Technologies, and want to be connected with states and cities across the US that are investing in blockchain technology.
The group is a bipartisan effort, and leaders have also met with a number of elected officials to educate them on blockchain-related ideas, Folino said. As the technology becomes more and more mainstream — “I don’t think the everyday person knew what Bitcoin was probably even two years ago,” Folino said — the group’s main goal is to show Pennsylvanians the advantages.
“Everyone understands blockchain and crypto at least on a basic level, but we’re going to start introducing the more complex ways the tech can be used,” the president said.
That’ll happen through monthly AMAs with the group’s advisory board members about nonfungible tokens and decentralized autonomous organizations, aka DAOs, a concept referring to group of crypto enthusiasts who have entered into a contract with one another to reach a coordinated goal, like collecting rare NFTs or predicting stock market moves. (Also, “financial flash mobs” or “group chats with bank accounts.”)
Like Folino, whose day job is the president of Spectrum Strategies, a public affairs firm specializing in government affairs and business development, he and the other members are building this community simply because they’re very interested in it.
“That’s our vision for now — create education and create community around blockchain existence,” he said. “The amount of applications blockchain has today, I think there will be 100 more next year. There’s momentum behind the movement.”
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