Consensus 2018: Twitter's Jack Dorsey and Snoop Dogg Close Bitcoin Conference

While Consensus 2018 failed to deliver the Bitcoin price bump many had been waiting for, there was still plenty of news coming out of the world's biggest Bitcoin conference.

Here's a round up of the news from the last couple of days (you can read all about Consensus 2018 day one here).

Consensus 2018: Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey is still into crypto (but not necessarily Bitcoin)

Consensus 2018 attendees -- all 8,500 of them -- were eagerly awaiting Square and Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey's so-called fireside chat with Elizabeth Stark, the chief executive of Lightning Labs.

@jack sat down with Stark for the headline talk of the mammoth conference yesterday. 

Dorsey -- who said the original inspiration for payments processor Square was to make taking payments as easy as talking -- said he wants cryptocurrencies like bitcoin adopted as global means of payment.

Dorsey said: "I'm just approaching with the principle that the Internet deserves a native currency. It will have a native currency. I don't know if it will be Bitcoin."

Dorsey said Square is now seeing people using Square as their primary bank account, with retailer Walmart and fast food giant McDonald's its two biggest companies for payments.

Square was one of the first mainstream financial services companies to accept Bitcoin way back in 2014.

Square Cash began supporting Bitcoin at the end of last year.

"Any payment that comes across our table, the seller should be able to accept," Dorsey added.

Dorsey told Stark that where he grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, he was involved with a Usenet group called alt.cypherpunks -- which led to his first encounter with cryptocurrency and continued interest in it.

Consensus 2018: HTC wants to put your phone on the blockchain

Smartphone maker HTC is making an Android phone that will be powered by blockchain technology.

Featuring a universal wallet and a built-in secure hardware enclave to support cryptocurrencies and decentralised applications, the phone's development is being led by creator of HTC's virtual reality headset Vive, Phil Chen.

Chen said:

Through Exodus, we are excited to be supporting underlying protocols such as Bitcoin, Lightning Networks, Ethereum, Dfinity, and more. We would like to support the entire blockchain ecosystem, and in the next few months we’ll be announcing many more exciting partnerships together.

The company plans to create a native blockchain network with all exodus phones acting as nodes to facilitate cryptocurrency trading among the phone users.

The phone is being aimed at privacy-minded users who don't want to rely on major technology companies for cloud storage -- a smart move in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica-Facebook data sharing scandal.

"We think that the phone can be an agent in the future for decentralisation. We want you to hold your own key [through] a secure management method in our phones," Chen added.

HTC did not announce the price or the release date for Exodus.

Consensus 2018: Ethereum wants to make blockchain adoption easier

Ethereum's Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) -- which now has 500 member companies including founding banks Santander and JPMorgan -- has published a complete specification for enterprise Ethereum to ease adoption.

The EEA -- which focuses on improving the privacy, scalability, and security of Ethereum blockchain applications -- said the specification will help speed developer adoption and could ultimately lead to standards.

“The market wants competition,” said EEA executive director Ron Resnick. “It wants multiple vendors of choice.”

The EEA said: "By replacing costly and ineffective multi-protocol propriety approaches, enterprises everywhere can begin developing new ways to create customer value across entire markets – from banking, law, and healthcare to advertising, communications and more."

Consensus 2018: Bitcoin bling

Crypto Jewelry turned a lot of heads at Consensus 2018, showing off its bejewelled bitcoin rings. 

A Crypto Jewelry ring, listed on its website, is made with 18k gold and diamonds. It also is making a diamond encrusted Trezor Box, though it is not yet available.

One other Crypto Jewelry ring is listed for an eye-watering $16,300.

Consensus 2018: Snoop closes the show

Rapper Snoop Dogg -- who famously said in 2013 he would make his next record available in Bitcoin -- was brought in to close the conference by Ripple Labs at a invitation-only after party.

Snoop performed last night at a secret location in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.