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Inside Bitcoins NYC Recap – Bitcoin Future is Bright, But Uncertain
Bitcoin Conference Speakers Share Mixed Views on the Future, But Optimism on Work Underway
“Bitcoin looks like Facebook today, but so did Friendster in its day.” — Brock Pierce, Managing Director of Clearstone Global
The Inside Bitcoins NYC conference dealt with a broad swath of topics from business models and profitability concerns to how Bitcoin can be an enabler of social freedoms.
And yet, much of the speaker focus and audience concern surrounded how Bitcoin can become more mainstream, how will it interact with or change the current infrastructure, and what (and who) will be the winning business model.
While there were discussions by the VC panel (Gold 2.0) and the keynote speaker, Charlie Shrem, on altcoins and other fiat currencies, the overwhelming consensus is that Bitcoin will be the dominant currency in the space.
As Brock Pierce, Managing Director of Clearstone Global, cautions “is Bitcoin Friendster, Myspace or Facebook? It looks like Facebook today, but so did Friendster in its day.”
Looking at the state of the Bitcoin community today, many of the companies are still nascent – a number of the represented firms have had recent shutdowns/relaunches or are soon to launch private betas. There continues to be a strong interest in education about legal and regulatory issues, today particular emphasized by the interest in the overview of major legal topics by Jacob S. Farber, Senior Counsel at Perkins Coie LLP.
Also represented on the post-lunch panel was James White, Director Tax Issues for the US Government Accountability Office, demonstrating how the government is taking a more active interest in the space.
Overall, the conference explored the major topics that entrepreneurs and potential financial investors are grappling with. Among the motivations discussed by Anthony Gallippi, Co-Founder and CEO of BitPay (site), is the reduction of credit card payment fraud (estimated at $100 billion per year) and ability to accept payments from a much larger international consumer base.
Stephanie Murphy, from Let’s Talk Bitcoin, and Alan Safahi, founder and CEO of ZipZap, see the value in enabling freedom of speech through transactions outside the control of governments or without third-parties recording personal information.
However, for Bitcoin to become a mainstream monetary transfer mechanism, a number of issues need to be addressed, such as the noted legal uncertainties or the evolution of the current legacy infrastructure discussed by Maria Sparagis, President of DirectPayNet.
Ultimately, the major questions of adoption, future direction and industry winners continue to be hashed out.
Authored by Michael Smouha and Ronan Murphy, Contributors to On Bitcoin
Read other articles from the conference:
- Inside Bitcoins NYC Keynote: Is Bitcoin the New Financial Order?
- Finding Business Model Opportunities in Bitcoin – Inside Bitcoins NYC
- Building Bitcoin into the Core Architecture of the Web – Inside Bitcoins NYC
Inside Bitcoins Conference Adds Virtual Currency Regulatory Panel
Learn about Legal and Regulatory Issues Facing Bitcoin Businesses
Mediabistro announced that James White, Director, Tax Issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, has joined the panel Legal and Regulatory Issues Facing Virtual Currency Businesses at its upcoming Inside Bitcoins conference on July 30 in New York City.
Mr. White’s bio from the IRS is below:
Mr. White is a Director at GAO responsible for work on IRS, tax administration and tax policy. He has held this position since July 1998. Previous positions at GAO include Associate Director and Acting Chief Economist. Mr. White joined GAO is 1990 from Hamilton College where he was an Associate Professor in the economics department, teaching public finance. Prior positions include faculty appointments at Williams College and New York University, plus a Senior Fellowship with the Rockefeller Institute of Government. Mr. White has a Ph.D. in economics, with a concentration in public finance, from Columbia University. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Virtual currencies, like Bitcoin, are driving innovation and new business models. This panel will help technology companies building Bitcoin software learn about the bounds of financial regulation.
Additional panel speakers include Jerry Brito, Senior Research Fellow at Mercatus Center of George Mason University, Jacob S. Farber, Senior Counsel at Perkins Coie LLP, Chris Larsen, CEO and Co-founder of OpenCoin, Greg Schvey, Managing Editor of The Genesis Block, and Ryan Singer, President and COO of Tradehill.
Enter On Bitcoin’s discount code: ONBC to save 15% on your conference pass. For the best rates, register before July 11.
