I finally got back! ComoLake 2025 was a valuable experience, bringing together a wide range of institutional and technical partners. I was glad for the opportunity to meet many interesting new people and to make connections across academia, industry, and public institutions. In contrast with the crypto events I’m generally used to, ComoLake was very institutional, featuring the presence of several Italian ministers and political representatives.
One of the highlights of the event was the announcement of the Q-Alliance initiative—an ambitious project to build the most powerful quantum hub in Italy. This milestone, detailed here, is an important step for Italy’s positioning in the global quantum landscape, and I am pleased—and a bit surprised to be honest—to see such commitment towards quantum innovation in my own country.
Our presentations
I participated in two panels during the event, both in Italian (as the overwhelming majority of the talks given).
Valute Digitali e Finanza Blockchain - Innovazione, Regolamentazione e Ruolo delle Piattaforme Pubbliche di Pagamento nell’Economia Decentralizzata
Moderated by: Riccardo Cavaliere, Rai News 24
Panelists included:
- Marcello Coppo, Member of the Italian Parliament, Lawyer
- Davide Costa, Engineer and Founder, Foodchain
- Thomas Darden, Founder, Cherokee Investment Partners, and CEO, IH Fusion
- Fabio Fiori, Chief Technology Officer, DAC Labs
- Antonio La Gatta, Head of Scientific Research and Expert in Technological Innovation, Presidency of the Council of Ministers (whom I had the privilege to replace)
This panel was about crypto in general, but we touched also on topics that are particularly important for NeverLocal, such as post-quantum cryptography. More importantly, we discussed the fundamental values of crypto and of the whole cypherpunk movement, such as the personal right to privacy. We stressed how these rights are being more and more endangered in Europe by acts such as the Chat Control Act, which I am personally strongly opposed to.
Quantum Money & Post-Quantum Cryptography
Moderated by: Anna Laura Maffei, La Repubblica
Panelists:
- Giovanni Acampora, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing, University of Naples Federico II
- Davide Costa, Engineer & Founder, Foodchain
- Gianluca Di Bella, Data Scientist & Founder, Moods Studio
- Marco Mangiulli, CIO & Head of Software Development, Aruba
- Mirko Perano, Business Sciences – Management and Innovation Systems, University of Salerno
- Le me
This panel was much closer to home. We touched on post-quantum crypto but, most importantly, I had the opportunity to explain what quantum money was and why it is important. Many people were indeed surprised that quantum could be used to build things as amazing as quantum money!
Wrapping up
All in all, it is encouraging to witness how Quantum Money and Post-Quantum Cryptography are now attracting serious global interest from both academia and industry alike. ComoLake 2025 made one point abundantly clear: the quantum transition is no longer a theoretical concept—it is happening now.
At NeverLocal Ltd., we are already actively building the infrastructure to make this transition a reality. Stay tuned for our upcoming releases, where we will explore how unforgeable money and contextual cryptography are shaping the next frontier of digital trust.