The Bitcoin2014conference gets underway on Thursday 15 May in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Organized by theBitcoin Foundation, the event brings together an almost unparalleled variety ofexperts and professionals from both the cypto-currency space and the financeindustry.
“It's where investors, technologists,regulators, executives, entrepreneurs, developers, and policymakers gather tocollectively shape the future of cryptographic money worldwide,” a statement on the official website reads.
Awards and diversity
The three-daygathering will also play host to the First Annual Blockchain Awards, a jointventure supported by the Bitcoin Foundation and Blockchain.info.
The scheme aims tosupport standout startups and “celebrateinnovation and excellence in the bitcoin community.” Over a thousandnominations were received for the ten categories eligible to receive an award,which include ‘Most Insightful Journalist’, ‘Most Influential Investor’ and‘Bitcoin Champion’.
According to the eventwebsite, “Blockchain.info will donate 1BTC to each category winner, and the award will be permanently and historicallywritten into the Block Chain as proof of ownership.”
Many well-known faceswill be in attendance at the conference, including BTC China CEO Bobby Lee andEthereum co-founder Gavin Wood. Keynote speaker is Dr Patrick M Byrne, CEO ofinternational online retailer Overstock.com, which started accepting Bitcoin inJanuary and in March reported Bitcoin transactions of over US$1 million.
Amsterdam is fastgaining notoriety as a haven for Bitcoin innovation, with Canadian philosopherStefan Molyneux’s speech at The Next Web conference last month allegedlyresulting in his YouTube account being censored.
The event is set tocapitalize on and foster the relentless surge of enthusiasm for Bitcoin, andCointelegraph will be there talking to some of the most influential figuresshaping the space today.
Keep an eye on ourpage for updates and interviews from Bitcoin2014 later this week.