Inside Bitcoins Conference Kicks Off With Excitement in Las Vegas

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In a packed room at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, seemingly everyone who knows anything about Bitcoin is attending the Inside Bitcoins conference.

Read: Inside Bitcoins Conference Leads the Way to the Future of Money

Jared Kenna, founder and CEO of Tradehill, took the stage to keynote the conference and presented a look back at the major milestones for Bitcoin over the last few years.

In an entertaining presentation, Kenna described some of the “early” milestones, looking back less than one year ago. Here are the highlights:

• In February, Bitcoin digital wallet Coinbase generated $1 million when Bitcoin was worth $22 per coin.
• In March, FinCEN issued guidance describing Bitcoin as money transmission, pushing the regulation to the states. Coinbase passed 50,000 users in the same month and the price rose to $100.
• In April, Bitcoin cloud wallet provider Blockchain.info broke 200,000 users. The price rose to $260 and then crashed to $70.
• In May, gift card provider Gyft launched a service that brought Bitcoin to 50,000 brick and mortar stores. Coinbase acquired its 100,000th customer. Seattle startup CoinLab sued Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox for $75 million
• In June, the Bitcoin foundation received a cease and desist letter from California, and responded.
• In July, the Winklevoss twins announce their plans to launch a Bitcoin fund.
• In August, Mt.Gox had millions of dollars seized, knocking the exchange and paving the way for BTC China to take a leadership position among Bitcoin exchanges.
• In September, Coinbase grew to 250.000 users and Mt.Gox continued to lose market share.
• In October, international drug marketplace Silk Road was shut down and its owner arrested. Bitcoin broke $200 for the second time.
• In November, Coinbase and Blockchain.info both grew to 500,000 customers. The price of Bitcoin climbed from $200 to $1200. And the U.S. Senate held hearings on the digital currency.
• In December, Roger Ver donated 1000 Bitcoin to charity. Switzerland is preparing to vote on Bitcoin as a currency. The price hit a new floor of $580 and then grew again.

Stay tuned for news from the rest of the conference!

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