Morning Keynote: Bitcoin and The Future of CurrencyAs a more reliable merchant ecosystem is emerging within the Bitcoin community, the currency is also being more widely accepted as a form of payment at traditional merchants who are attracted to its increased security and reduced fees. As adoption spreads, it is becoming increasingly apparent that this peer-to-peer, decentralized currency is here to stay. Moreover, as the Bitcoin market begins to attract the attention of traditional financial institutions and Wall Street types, its potential for disruption seems limitless. Join us for an enlightening keynote and gain new insight into this burgeoning market and the financial paradigm shift that the Bitcoin economy is sparking.
Charlie ShremVice Chairman,
Bitcoinfoundation.org CEO, BitInstant
FinTech Business Trends That Will Make People MoneyThe Bitcoin industry is booming. Now that all of the basic trading platforms and payment processing companies have been created, how does one make money in the space? For entrepreneurs and investors not intricately involved in the Bitcoin community, it may seem difficult to generate new ideas that have the potential to become the next multi-million dollar Bitcoin business. Fortunately, there are other untapped technologies emerging around Bitcoin that compliment the currency and push it forward. We’ll present an overview of exciting trends and technologies in FinTech, as well as how to raise capital and create a business around them.
Jaron LukasiewiczChief Executive Officer,
Coinsetter
Building Bitcoin into the Core Architecture of the WebThe current monetary base of the Bitcoin market stands at around $1 billion USD. The monetary base of the US Dollar market is $3 trillion USD, a difference of 299,900%. Clearly, Bitcoin has a very long way to go to become a significant player in the currency market. One way to increase the feasibility of Bitcoin as a global currency is to increase the number of people that use it. So, how do we get Bitcoin into the hands of the 2.35 billion people not using it today? Is Bitcoin just the beginning of a shift to cryptographic currencies? Will the USD eventually shift to a cryptographic currency?
Manu SpornyCEO,
Digital Bazaar
Gold 2.0. The VC Take on BitcoinConsidering the recent gold rush surrounding peer-to-peer currency Bitcoin, it’s little surprise that some of Silicon Valley’s best-known venture firms are starting to place real bets on the crypto-currency. Join us for a highly informative and revealing discussion as veteran VCs with a real stake in some of the top Bitcoin start-ups shed light on what it takes to succeed. What investments are winning in this environment, and what can these industry watchers tell us about what’s coming next for the Bitcoin market? If you are an entrepreneur or a start-up, this is a session you can’t afford to miss!
Thompson ClarkEditor,
Agora Financial
Tuur DemeesterAuthor,
MacroTrends
Pamir GelenbeVenture Partner,
Hummingbird Ventures
Abelardo (A.B.) MendezDirector, Capital Markets,
Knight Capital Group / PE Source
Brock PierceExecutive Chairman,
Playzino
Managing Director,
Clearstone Global Gaming Fund
Drew LittleFounder,
The Illuminated Ventures Project LLC (The IllVP)
Producia (moderator)
Bitcoin and Freedom of SpeechBitcoin allowed Wikileaks to continue to receive donations after an extralegal political blockade prevented supporters from sending money to the organization via MasterCard, Visa or PayPal. One reason WordPress accepts Bitcoin payments for its premium service is that many bloggers live in countries that the credit card networks and PayPal do not serve, often for political reasons. “Financial transactions are speech,” according to John Perry Barlow, whose Freedom of the Press Foundation calls Bitcoin a potentially “censorship-resistant currency.” This panel will explore how peer-to-peer currencies like Bitcoin (combined with other crypto tools like the anonymized Tor web browser or encrypted emails) can help journalists, publishers, whistleblowers and politically disfavored groups resist or circumvent authoritarian measures. We will also address the limitations of these privacy-enhancing technologies.
Jonathan MohanFounder,
BitcoinNYC
Stephanie Murphy, PhDTalk Radio Host,
Let’s Talk Bitcoin!
Alan SafahiFounder and CEO,
ZipZap, Inc
Michael TerpinCo-Founder,
BitAngels
CEO
SocialRadius
Trevor TimmCo-Founder and Executive Director,
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Marc HochsteinExecutive Editor,
American Banker(moderator)
Legal and Regulatory Issues Facing Virtual Currency BusinessesVirtual Currencies, like Bitcoin, are driving innovation and new business models. Internet payments are faster, cheaper, and harder to censor. Anyone can build sophisticated cash management just by writing software. Regulators have started coming out and issuing guidance about the application of Banking law to this field. This panel will help technology companies building bitcoin software learn about the bounds of financial regulation.
Jerry BritoSenior Research Fellow,
Mercatus Center, George Mason University
Jacob S. FarberSenior Counsel,
Perkins Coie LLP
Patrick GriffinHead of Business Development,
OpenCoin
Greg SchveyManaging Editor,
The Genesis Block
James WhiteDirector, Tax Issues,
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Ryan SingerPresident and COO,
Tradehill (moderator)
Bitcoin Boom: The Business Adoption of BitcoinOne out of every 167 credit card transactions turns out to be fraudulent for domestic orders, and for international orders the rate is one out of every 50 transactions. Credit cards were never designed for the Internet. Every day, more companies are starting to see the value that bitcoin can bring to their business. This session will explore how accepting bitcoins for your business can reduce risk and mitigate fraud, expand international sales and improve efficiency.
Anthony GallippiCo-Founder and CEO,
BitPay
Gaining Currency: Opportunities in BitcoinIf you are thinking about starting a bitcoin business or wish to see how your could participate in the bitcoin space, this is a must attend session for you. Four time serial Entrepreneur Alan Safahi with 3 decades of start up experience in technology, communications and payment processing, will share his observations on what opportunities exist in the burgeoning bitcoin space and how you could take advantage of them.
- Alan SafahiFounder and CEO,
ZipZap, Inc
Bitcoin Best Practices: Reshaping the Payment LandscapeBitcoin and crypto-currencies solve a lot of issues faced by merchants and consumers who are buying products online. Bitcoin is fast, has low transactions fees and can easily be traded between borders without costly foreign exchange or capital controls. There are several key practices that the credit card industry uses that can help propel Bitcoin into everyday life. How can we take the best practices from each solution and create a solid payment system for merchants and consumers? Will Visa and Mastercard let Bitcoin enter our wallets?
Maria SparagisPresident,
DirectPayNet
Youtube is Broken: Rethinking Content Monetization with BitcoinThings are easy when you’re big. It’s the small projects who find themselves without the ability to monetize their good work! This is a problem Adam B. Levine is all too familiar with, but for the last year he’s been rethinking the logic behind content monetization, and the results are pretty wild. People should love their jobs, and by building a value for value culture on the internet with Bitcoin we can make that dream a reality. Passionate, talented people being compensated by their audience to do what they love.
Adam B. LevineEditor-in-Chief,
Let’s Talk Bitcoin!
Fireside Chat: The Future of Online TransactionsIn this intimate fireside chat, we talk to Shakil Khan, an angel investor, Head of Special Projects at Spotify, and founder of CoinDesk, a Bitcoin and digital currency news site. Join us for an illuminating conversation as we discuss the rise of Bitcoin along with the latest news and analysis on the trends, changes, technologies, companies and people in the Bitcoin world.
Shakil KhanHead of Special Projects,
Spotify
Founder, CoinDesk- Marc HochsteinExecutive Editor,
American Banker(moderator)