Although one of the primary goals of Bitcoin is to create a currency that is borderless and decentralized, a recurring concern is the way (other than mining) that we are able to actually acquire it and other cryptocurrencies. Crypto exchanges became a necessary component of this equation, and they hold a huge influence over the crypto market worldwide.

At the San Francisco-based blockchain conference Distributed 2018, Ben El-Baz, Chief Strategy Officer at XDAEX, moderated a panel of experts and entrepreneurs involved in international cryptocurrency exchanges, using his own experience at a Hong Kong exchange to ask piercing questions.

Although the exchanges in question were centered in a wide range of areas, the discussion generally centered around the possible impacts of regulation, pros and cons of tokenized business models and user experience.

Tawanda Kembo is the CEO and founder of the crypto exchange Golix, based in Zimbabwe, which is currently one of the longest-running exchanges on the continent. Concerned by the hyperinflation in his country, Kembo founded Golix to try and solve the problem of crypto liquidity in Africa, and discussed some of the challenges and successes of this project.

Jesse Powell is the founder and CEO of Kraken, an exchange that deals heavily in the U.S. and the EU, and he provided insight into the world of more established crypto markets.

Maggie Hsu, part of the business development team at AirSwap, focused her discussion points on the possibilities of decentralized exchanges, as many central exchanges can hold disproportionate influence.

Each of these speakers brings a special focus to the topic of worldwide cryptocurrency exchanges, and their panel goes into great detail on a variety of topics. For the full discussion, and panels on a diverse range of topics in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, visit Distributed’s YouTube channel.