From June 30 to July 1, the Palais des Festivals in Cannes deciphers cryptocurrency

After the success of the Cannes Lions at the Palais des Festivals, it's time for the Ethereum community conference from June 30 to July ^1. In other words, four days "where developers and investors meet in Cannes to discuss new blockchain developments," says Régis Faure, sales director invited to the Cannes Radio-Nice-matin lunches. Particularly in terms of cryptocurrency, in order to carry out transactions without banking intermediaries since Ethereum rivals Bitcoin. But not only that... "It's on the blockchain that the most applications in the world are currently being developed," says Régis Faure, who expects more than 10,000 participants, including 6,500 accredited. Of course, the debates will be very technical and the 200 to 300 "events" organized in parallel in hotels, restaurants or yachts are not open to the general public either, because "it remains an area for insiders."

But this event is also part of the City's web.3 strategy, which aims to support the development of new technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, rather than being swept away by them like a tidal wave. "The EthCC confirms the importance our destination has taken on in this area, with trade shows on AI, data centers that store data (Editor's note: with a project to set up in Mougins and another under discussion in Sophia-Antipolis), and cryptocurrency," says Régis Courvoisier, communications director, who confesses to having himself invested... one hundred euros in cryptocurrency, "more to satisfy my curiosity and see how it works than to get rich!" In any case, workshops led by specialists were set up for Cannes' socio-professionals in February and April, "and the enthusiasm is real since seventy now accept cryptocurrency payments, including fifteen private beaches, a pharmacy, a Carrefour market, and hoteliers ," underlines Régis Courvoisier.

Records broken every year

Advantage? "For a certain clientele, from the Middle East or the United States, who come to the Croisette, cryptocurrency is an additional source of attraction. For the merchant, there is no risk of volatility and they receive the corresponding euros in their bank account," adds Régis. "In the monetary system, there have often been such revolutions, as with the appearance of the bank card in its time, which did not completely replace cash. Cryptocurrency is another means of payment, but there is no replacement for the others in the short term." In any case, " the Palais is riding a very good wave of momentum, with records being broken every year since the end of Covid, thanks to important and recurring events such as medical congresses, the Film Festival, Mipim, the Taxfree trade fair, or Cannes Lions, but also these new events ", rejoices Régis Faure who announces a turnover of 49.7 million euros in 2024, while the public service delegation granted by the City (in return for a rent established by contract and investments) runs until 2030.

Work is planned at the Palais to renovate the Salon des Ambassadeurs, where the "interior street" with its escalators, which will be added to the Atmos sound in the Grand Auditorium, and the redesign of the Riviera terrace. However, the new large screening room planned to replace the temporary Varda room (with helicopter sounds) during the Film Festival is no longer on the agenda.