Tickets are still available for this week’s Bitcoin Finance Conference in Dublin, where some of the biggest names in finance, banking, payments and other areas related to cryptocurrencies will meet to discuss applications and opportunities.
Confirmed speakers for the two-day event spanning Thursday and Friday include leaders and representatives from Circle, Realex Payments, the Central Bank of Ireland, Stripe and the Wall Street Journal.
Last week, it was also announced that Jay Bregman, CEO of London taxi app Hailo, would attend to “offer his personal view on the coming ‘tidal wave’ of financial innovation that bitcoin will drive.”
Conference organizers point out the auspiciousness of the event’s timing relative to Bitcoin’s busy 2014 so far:
“Half a dozen companies have raised more than $10 million in venture capital funding in the first six months of the year vs. just one in all of 2013. Bitcoin saw its first IPO via Australian mining and trading venture, DigitalBTC, which currently trades at a 70% premium to its prospectus price from just last week.
“Bloomberg, Yahoo and Google now allow users to track bitcoin prices. Fidelity Investments is allowing its customers to invest in bitcoin via self-directed IRAs. We might see, not one, but two publicly-traded bitcoin ETFs come to market before the end of the year, via the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust and SecondMarket's Bitcoin Investment Trust. And the recent leak from the US Marshall's Office shows the wide array of parties participating in the US government's upcoming Silk Road bitcoin auction.”
What’s more, organizers suggest that Bitcoin skeptics would do well to attend, too:
“Direct your toughest questions towards the experts and entrepreneurs in the bitcoin trenches, and the payments and banking professionals who are starting to explore the possibilities. Skeptical finance veterans are welcome. You just might leave a convert.”
Bitcoin Finance will be held July 3 and 4 at the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin. A full schedule for the conference can be found here. Tickets are 249 EUR, which includes VAT.