Friday marked a momentous occasion for Swissnex as we welcomed the debut of our nexFin series of talks at Knowledge Salon in Osaka Grand Front. In collaboration with Osaka City Government, Osaka Prefecture Government, and Osaka Financial One-Stop, the event brought together experts from Japan and Switzerland to explore the implications of Web3, DeFi, and Blockchain in society, in the lead-up to Expo 2025.

Our keynote speaker, Joi Ito, set the tone for the morning by introducing the audience to the current and potential applications of Blockchain technology, such as NFTs, as well as their future applications. Perhaps most exciting of all, he highlighted the potential for this technology to facilitate democratic governance in structures liberated from centralized control.

Joichi Ito, prominent Blockchain advocate and current director of Chiba Institute of Technology’s Center for Radical Transformation and Co-Founder of Digital Garage:

« It was a great pleasure to speak at the inaugural event for Swissnex, forging a relationship between two key fintech hubs around the biggest national initiative for Japan where Switzerland has global leadership – web3 and blockchain. »

The morning continued with a Q&A session with our other speakers, which gave the audience the opportunity to gain insight into topics such as democracy, privacy, personal finance, and artistic expression and creation from both a Japanese and Swiss perspective. Our panelists – Tamaki Nishimura and Thomas Ankenbrand – brought fresh perspectives on the subject to the public, who could interact with them to ask their most pressing questions.

Tamaki Nishimura, founder of CryptoBase and DAO Project Lead at Gaiax:

« I really think that one of the greatest challenges for education in this field right now is that there are no positions in industry available for students to be motivated to study here. We need an industry that can accommodate this expertise. » 

Thomas Ankenbrand, Professor at Lucerne University of Applied Science and Arts and AVACO Founder:

« It was a great pleasure and honor to discuss the FinTech ecosystems of Switzerland and Japan and their synergies. »

The event was capped off with a buffet lunch, giving the audience a chance to further engage with the speakers in an intimate setting and delve deeper into these important topics.