On 16 May 2024, the third tech, AI and blockchain conference “Block in the Park” took place in the heart of Europe. At this year’s event, which was organised by the Eintracht Tech GmbH team, participants were once again able to gain insights into the world of artificial intelligence, blockchain, Web3, ESG, digital currencies and assets as well as tokenisation in various expert panels and inspiring keynotes.
The moderator duo Hannah Klose and Hubertus Väth led through the exciting programme of the conference day. Against the impressive backdrop of Deutsche Bank Park, participants were able to follow six panel discussions, two keynotes and even a podcast recording. After the conference was opened by Eintracht Frankfurt’s CEO Axel Hellmann, Wired journalist Jeremy White gave the audience in the stadium an insight into how AI and blockchain can be used as a competitive advantage in industry and society.
In the first half of the day, participants were able to choose between two panels on two different stages – either in the “Pitch” with a stadium atmosphere or in the “Business Club”:
After the lunch break, which offered time for networking and discussion, the stage was transformed into a podcast studio because, as in previous years, a new episode of the FAZ D:Economy podcast was recorded at Block im Park. Hosts Carsten Knop and Alexander Armbruster spoke with Prof Dr Kristian Kersting from TU Darmstadt about the economic and social impact of Responsible AI.
Another high-calibre panel was dedicated to the topic of digital euros and stablecoins. Under the moderation of Hubertus Väth, Prof. Dr Joachim Wuermeling (ESMT Berlin), Carlos Gómez-Sáez (VR Payment), Patrick Hansen (Circle) and Dr Heike Winter (Deutsche Bundesbank) discussed how tokenisation will change payment transactions and our assets. In the last panel of the day, Hannah Klose spoke with Matthias Weissl (Web3 Investor), Sascha Dölker (dwpbank) and Nadja Hofmann (Bricksdock) about blockchain-based applications in finance, real estate and investments.
The final keynote speech was a successful conclusion to the event: in “Kick it like AI – we are the architects, not the victims”, Prof Dr Peter Gentsch showed what artificial intelligence is capable of now and in the future. He argued in favour of moving away from pure efficiency thinking in relation to AI and instead focusing on the inspiration and process support that AI can bring us.
A day full of inspiration and information came to an end. Inken Schönauer (FAZ) summed up the day and summarised the most important points for the participants. In particular, the interaction between blockchain and artificial intelligence was a much-discussed topic that offers great potential. It also became clear that more use cases are needed: New technologies and innovations are discussed and explained a lot, but only application examples show how it can really work. Especially in the area of digital currencies and assets, regulation was repeatedly discussed – Schönauer described this “as a dance – sometimes one leads, sometimes the other”.
We have captured the highlights of this year’s Block in the Park conference in the following photo gallery – enjoy clicking through!
Photo gallery
Save the date: Block im Park on 15.05.2025
Find more information on the homepage of Eintracht Frankfurt.
Text and photos: FMF team
