FX goes crypto in NYC

31 May 2018

So, on to New York for the Forex Network travelling show of panellists, delegates and moderators. 

At times, attending multiple conferences can be a case of ‘same subject, different town’, and I for one have certainly thought that at times, but we persevere. 

However, P&L’s New York offering was immediately different from the previous excellent edition in London back in April. When the agenda appeared, there was no mention of last look, market data or TCA, which have been the staples of any conference for the last two years. And, despite it being the anniversary of its launch, there was surprisingly little mention of the Global Code. 

This was very much the crypto conference from the onset, with many of the panels dedicated to discussing the “New Economy”. Previous conferences have flirted with the topic but never examined cryptocurrencies in such depth and with such knowledgeable panellists. 

As a bonus, there was no Colin this time! As always Galen was superb at the front of the house. Sure, it did get a bit evangelical at times, but there was no doubting the expertise and the total belief that cryptos are here to stay. As James Sinclair pointed out quite rightly during the Q&A, they surely cannot be compared to gold as something of value. Gold has been with us since 5,000BC and has a fairly robust track record! Cryptos do not. But overall, it was a thought provoking discussion and, for ParFX, something to consider for the future. 

The remainder of the conference presented the usual excellent networking opportunities. We managed to connect with several new prospects as well as taking time to catch up with plenty of old friends. P&L even managed to shoehorn a mini-awards ceremony into the lunch break - the highlight for us was certainly seeing the legend that is Steve Flanagan inducted into the 2018 Hall of Fame. 

Another conference in the bag, but definitely a change of tack this time. Congrats to Julie and the gang and thanks for another fine show.

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Related ParFX Team Members: Rob Parr