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2026 VanEck Blockchain Conference Highlights Student Opportunity in a Shifting Tech Landscape

2026 VanEck Blockchain Conference Highlights Student Opportunity in a Shifting Tech Landscape

As the future of blockchain continues to evolve, industry experts say the technology will transform multiple industries and encourage students to forge their own paths.

by: Alexander Bernard
05.19.26
Clare Hove and Matt Sigel at the VEDA Blockchain Conference

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  • Anthony Borquez

    Anthony Borquez
    • Adjunct Professor of the Practice in Entrepreneurship
  • Jan van Eck

    Jan van Eck

  • Lan Luo

    Lan Luo
    • Director, VanEck Digital Assets Initiative and Neely Chair in American Enterprise
    • Professor of Marketing

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On April 22–23, USC Marshall’s VanEck Digital Assets Initiative (VEDA) hosted the annual VanEck Southern California Blockchain Conference, bringing together faculty, students, and industry innovators for wide-ranging discussions on the future of blockchain and artificial intelligence. This year’s conference centered on student opportunities amid sector uncertainty, including political regulation and the barriers to widespread adoption.

Clare Hove, COO of Figure Technology Solutions, joined Matt Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, for a keynote fireside chat that covered complexities of educating customers while keeping pace with ever-shifting regulations impacting blockchain. Despite the obstacles, the COO believes regulatory compliance provides a chance to build greater trust.

“We feel like our partners are becoming more and more aware of the benefits of blockchain and it’s part of our responsibility to educate and explain and bring them along in a way that they’re comfortable,” Hove said. “One piece of that is we’re very heavily regulated. We care very much about being compliant and that gives our partners confidence.”

According to many panelists, adoption remains a major hurdle for blockchain technologies, and a possible impediment to international growth. In the second keynote fireside chat, Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck and Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Kraken, discussed the importance of blockchain accessibility, not just in the United States but worldwide.

“The future is already here,” Sethi said. “How do we get more and more people access to assets, access to collateral, access to debt? It sounds boring, but it has a huge amount of impact in places like Argentina and Mexico, for small and medium businesses all the way up to larger institutions.”

One possible avenue is decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms that enable people to circumvent traditional financial institutions (banks) to lend, borrow, and trade with blockchain technology. In the discussion entitled, “What Is Working in Crypto and What Is Next? A Look at Best Places To Innovate,” Stephanie Limmerman, former CFO of Kraken and Dapper Labs, acknowledged that for DeFi to gain broader adoption, companies would need to build consumer trust in a volatile market.

“When consumers put their money in a financial institution, they want trust, security, transparency, and I don’t think you're going to get real adoption until you see more and more of that,” Limmerman observed. “You have these events that unfortunately erode some of that trust and I just think it takes a little more time. Hopefully we’ll get there.”

Despite uncertainty, Hove says how recent advancements required her to embrace new developments and adapt to a changing landscape.

“Not having a set plan or knowing exactly what’s coming tomorrow, let alone six months from now or two years from now, has served me very well,” Hove said.

Hove views uncertainty as an opportunity, especially for Marshall students. The COO urged them to use technology like generative AI to expand their skill set beyond a single specialization — not only for individual benefit, but because she predicts proficiency will soon become a professional expectation.

Whether it’s MBA or undergrad, the lines between your role versus your colleague’s role is going to blur and you will no longer live in a box.

— Clare Hove

COO, Figure Technology Solutions

“Whether it’s MBA or undergrad, the lines between your role versus your colleague’s role is going to blur and you will no longer live in a box,” Hove said. “Not only does [AI] allow you to go deeper, but it allows you to increase your scope. I think the value add that a single person can bring to a business is growing. The line between a finance person, a tech person, and a compliance person are going to blur.”

In the panel, “The Use of AI in Blockchain and Crypto,” Chi Zhang, co-founder and CEO of Kite AI, added the three essential characteristics her team looks for in new hires: curiosity, communication, and founder experience.

“What does founder experience mean? To me, it is people really taking initiative and wanting to take hard challenges and figure out how to do that,” Zhang explained. “With those three traits, no matter which area you choose, I think people have a high chance to be successful.”

VEDA is helping students gain that founder experience and forge new opportunities. Anthony Borquez, co-director of the initiative, announced the launch of USC Builders Grants, which will provide funding for students developing products on blockchain.

Borquez sat down with two supporters of the grant: Enzo Coglitore, co-founder of GTE, and Damien Ghader, creator of Lovable, a platform that allows users to build apps using AI. Ghader says his company views universities as a hotbed of innovation.

“To be honest, the universities are a number one priority even over huge influencers or big marketing campaigns … There are some huge apps already that came out of USC like Tinder, Bird scooters, Dollar Shave Club,” Ghader said. “If you can build an app in a day nowadays, I think the students here will be very, very successful.”

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