The Deacon Meets Blockchain: Wake Fintech
By: Zach Skubic
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Fintech, Blockchain Technology, Education

Greetings, BEN community!

Though COVID-19 may have put some of our Spring plans on pause, it’s still been a busy year for Wake Fintech. We wanted to take a moment to update the community on what we’ve been up to, as well as some of our plans for the future.

Last April, Wake Fintech hosted an event with Kevin Leffew (WFU ’17 and Fintech Club Founder) and John Quinn (WFU ’95) of Storj Labs. The public talk included a live demo of Storj Labs’ decentralized Cloud Storage platform, Tardigrade.io, which gave students an in-depth look at how blockchain is revolutionizing the way we develop applications and store data.

This past Fall, we held meetings throughout the semester which featured engaging presentations and demos by our very own Fintech club members. We kicked off the semester with an overview of blockchain technology, as well as a presentation teaching students about the history of Bitcoin and how it helped promote the development of future cryptocurrencies. This was followed up with a round-table discussion of how we currently use blockchain in our daily lives, as well as areas where blockchain and cryptocurrencies could be implemented to create value and make life easier. We also discussed some of the issues that cryptocurrencies could face on the path to widespread adoption.

In October, Rob Michele (WFU ’20 and Outgoing Club President), taught members about Bittrex’s REST API through a presentation and live demo. Michele has used the service for various projects and trading algorithms in the past, and his extensive knowledge made for a very eye-opening experience for all — especially members who didn’t have as much development experience and were excited to get started with their first projects.

Our semester was capped-off in November with a presentation by Zach Skubic (WFU ’23), who taught members about the ways Fintech can help fix underbanking in developing economies by promoting financial inclusion. Skubic spoke about cryptocurrencies and blockchain implementation, emphasizing increasing mobile accessibility worldwide and the need for digital security, as well as the need for online banking solutions that cater directly to developing markets. He also discussed the potential for the securitization of microloans to increase institutional access to developing markets while providing social enterprises with additional funding.

Zach Skubic presents “How Fintech Can Fix Underbanking in Developing Economies” — November 2019

Even though we might not be able to meet in-person for events at the moment, we’re still very excited about the future of Wake Fintech. We look forward to continuing our meetings and student-led presentations to provide our community with a look at the developments occurring within the Fintech realm, and we are also excited to expand our educational offerings to students through our partnership with BEN. When the time comes (hopefully next Fall), we hope to extend more invitations to leaders in the blockchain and crypto communities so students can continue learning from experts about cutting-edge projects that are having a real-world impact.