How can we democratize the financial system with disruptive technologies? How do we create a financial system that is more open and accessible to all? And what challenges arise when we disrupt the financial system with innovative technologies such as blockchain?
Forty university students from various disciplines and universities gathered at the University of Copenhagen (Faculty of Law) last week to explore these topics, and have come up with innovative solutions to real-life cases from leading DeFi (decentralized finance) and tech companies. The Hackathon was facilitated by professionals within design thinking and legal tech from the Human & Legal Innovation Hub, Legal Tech Lab, and leading industry players.
Continue reading to find out more!
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About the Legal Tech Hackathon
During the three-day Hackathon competition, university students explored the potential for disrupting the current financial system through the lens of legal, technological, economic, political, and ethical perspectives.
The event was held last week from November 10-12 by Copenhagen Legal Tech Lab, Human & Legal Innovation Hub, and Finanstilsynet, and supported by Tuborgfondet, Chainalysis Inc., Copenhagen Fintech Lab, KU Lighthouse, and IDA.
While being guided through the processes of exploration, ideation, and collaboration, students were working in interdisciplinary teams – all with a goal of developing ideas to present in front of a panel of expert judges.
Seven teams competed at the Hackathon to find solutions for complex financial, technological, and legal problems from cases presented by Chainalysis, Coinify, ARYZE, and the Copenhagen Fintech Lab.
Students also attended inspirational talks from various DeFi companies, as well as participated in close sparring with industry experts, as provided by Marcus Mølleskov (Januar), Payam Samarghandi (Samar Law), Siddharth Mudgal (Dealflow), Boris Düdder (University of Copenhagen), Karina Rothoff Brix (Firi), Mayra Futema (EY), Hugo Andrés López (Technical University of Denmark), and Andreas Juchli (GAN Integrity).
View the photo gallery below for an insight into the event activities.
The ARYZE team alongside students Jonas Hansen, Tobias Nauer, Emilie le Graff, Mikkel, and Josephine Heinzelmann.
The Use Case of ARYZE: Regulating Digital Cash
ARYZE presented its use case of democratizing and disrupting the financial system through regulating Digital Cash. A team of five students worked on the case and chose to focus on trust in their approach. They presented ideas on how to provide easy access to Digital Cash stablecoins for 1.8 billion unbanked people worldwide, and how to mitigate liquidity and money laundering risks by leveraging blockchain technology and smart contracts.
Alongside sparring sessions with experts who shared valuable industry insights, ARYZE CFO and Co-founder Morten Nielsen and Legal Compliance Manager Christina Nielsen advised the team and provided additional guidance to the case.
to such complex questions."
All seven teams presented their work on November 12 in front of a panel of judges, and the competition winners were selected in a close race. The winning team showcased a framework for developing a unicorn DAO and was awarded the prize of 15.000 DKK.
When asked about organizing the Legal Tech Hackathon competition, Dr. Alexandra Andhov stated:
“The future is about collaboration across tech, science, and humanities. We have to prepare our students and teach them how to communicate efficiently with people from different disciplines and backgrounds. We hope that this will be one of many events where we can create an environment for interdisciplinary cooperation. Copenhagen Legal Tech Lab aims to organize such event once a year, and we hope that more and more students will join us.“
Browse through the gallery below to read about the experiences of students who participated in the event.
Conclusion
As Jacob Graff Nielsen, Dean at University of Copenhagen – Faculty of Law, stated during the welcome address: “Innovation requires close partnerships.“
We are honored to have been selected to participate in the Legal Tech Hackathon and present a case alongside other leading companies in the space. We had thoroughly enjoyed being part of the creative energy shared during these three fascinating days, when students took a deep dive into the revolutionary fields of DeFi and Blockchain.
We want to extend our thanks to Dr. Alexandra Andhov, Helene Niclasen Jeune, and the rest of the organizing team, who have worked on establishing the event.
We are grateful to have contributed to inspiring bright young minds in their pursuit of creating a better future for all, and we hope to be a part of other similar events in the near future again.
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Learn More About the Companies Behind the Use Cases
ARYZE is a Copenhagen-based fintech that aims to solve the biggest problems within financial systems by making dumb money smart. By focusing on promoting global financial inclusion and enabling the two billion unbanked people worldwide to access basic financial services, ARYZE will contribute to achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals 9, 10, and 16. Full-reserve banking is the future of fiat currency, and ARYZE Digital Cash will be a useful tool in combating money laundering, reducing fees for the unbanked, and making transferring money more efficient.
Chainalysis provides intelligence and risk management tools to help better position you for their long-term utility through Blockchain analysis.
Coinify is a secure online crypto currency platform that offers an easy way to buy and sell virtual currencies. They enable businesses and individuals to adopt financial innovation.
Copenhagen Fintech is an organization built on the vision of creating a Danish growth adventure within fintech. INFINITECH is a joint effort of global leaders in ICT and finance towards lowering the barriers for BigData/IoT/AI driven innovation, boosting regulatory compliance, and stimulating additional investments.
Curious about ARYZE, cloud banking, full-reserve banking and blockchain?
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