Here is Bitcoinist’s coverage of the afternoon and evening sessions of the Inside Bitcoins day 2 coverage!
Also read: Inside Bitcoins NYC Presentation Day 1 (Morning till Noon)
DigitalFX: A New Asset Class for Investors
After the lunch break, Brian Kelly, contributor for CNBC’s Fast Money, Founder and Managing Member of Brian Kelly Capital LLC, and author of The Bitcoin Big Bang, took take the stage to talk about investing in Bitcoin and start-ups in the Bitcoin world. According to Kelly, Bitcoin is a payment system, a method for transferring value and information, and a tool for clearing and settlement.
However, Kelley also believes that Bitcoin’s potentials extend far beyond its use as a currency. At its core, Bitcoin depends on the blockchain technology, which is capable of of much more than facilitating monetary transactions. The blockchain can enable businesses and organizations eliminate middle men, potentially allowing them to streamline business and make commerce more efficient.
According to Kelley, Bitcoin’s birth happened in the right time and place. When Bitcoin was created, the world faced Economic upheaval, mistrust in the banking system, and demand from the Millennial generation for a different way of banking. Bitcoin, in the midst of these societal changes, offered the establishment of an entirely new financial sector. Additionally, the advent of Bitcoin offered a new asset class, an innovation resembling the rise of foreign currency trading in the 1970s.
Industrial Mining: Powered Warehouse Shell vs. Hosted Cloud Offerings
The next session was a panel that looked at industrial Bitcoin mining. The panel consisted of:
- Guy Corem CEO and Co-Founder, Spondoolies-Tech
- Juan Garavaglia CEO, 112 BIT LLC
- Francois Poupard Chief Editor, BitcoinVOX
- Marco Streng CEO and Co-Founder, Genesis Mining
- Jihan Wu Co-Founder, BitMain
- David A. Johnston Co-Founder, BitAngels and Managing Director, Decentralized Application Fund (Moderator)
One of the things discussed in this panel is the issue of whether or not Bitcoiners should buy directly from miners or from the market. The argument in favor of buying from miners maintained that large purchases on the market create disruptive fluctuations in Bitcoin’s purchasing power. On the other hand, buying directly from miners would likely allow the market to avoid enduring those purchasing power fluctuations. Furthermore, buying from miners creates the possibility of getting a better deal on Bitcoin.
The panel also discussed a problem of cloud mining. There are currently no validation systems implemented in the cloud mining industry, creating a large risk of fraud. According to panel speakers, this potential for fraud was responsible for the various Ponzi scheme’s uncovered in the cloud mining market. The panel advised that the best way to validate a firm’s validity is to ask for a tour of its facilities. Firms with hidden operators or facilities should be treated as a red flag.
The Economic Impact of the Blockchain on Institutional Investors
The next panel talked about Bitcoin as an investment. The members of this panel consisted of:
- Daniel H. Gallancy CEO and Founding Member, SolidX Partners
- David Namdar Partner and Head of Trading, SolidX Partners
- Garrett Nenner Managing Director, Rosenblatt Securities
- Michael Casey Senior Columnist, The Wall Street Journal (Moderator)
One of the main points that came from this discussion was that investors can look at the underlying value of Bitcoin and its current price in several ways. to look at the underlying value and the current price. Consensus and scarcity play a huge role in determining the health of Bitcoin from an investment perspective. Additionally, the important thing to focus on when investing in Bitcoin is not the tokens themselves, but the blockchain and the state of the ecosystem surrounding Bitcoin. It is essential that the ideas for potential applications of the Bitcoin technology actually come to fruition; if the ideas never develop beyond the brainstorming stage, then the ecosystem will not grow and Bitcoin will not be a strong investment. However, this development is a slow process, and investors should take that fact into consideration when deciding on whether or not to buy into Bitcoin.
In order for Bitcoin to get the attention of the institutional investment community, it needs to adopt a proof of identity system. A legitimate identity is essential to insitutional investors, because confirming an identity provides a level of certainty that a project can be trusted to handle an investment properly.
The Fight to Gain Mainstream Acceptance
This panel discussed the acceptance of Bitcoin by the general public. Bitcoin currently has a bad reputation that it needs to shed in order to achieve mainstream adoption. Furthermore, how many people in the mainstream actually know about Bitcoin? The panel explored the possibilities:
- Rob Cox: Global Editor in Chief, Reuters Breakingviews
- Grant Fondo: Partner, Securities Litigation and White Collar Defense Group, Privacy and Data Security Practice, Goodwin Procter LLP
- Juan Llanos:EVP of Strategic Partnerships & Chief Transparency Officer, Bitreserve.org
- Ted Rogers:Chief Strategy Officer, Xapo
Bitcoin is maturing partly thanks to the number of lawyers entering the digital currency space. As Bitcoin grows in popularity and continues to gain attention from regulators, lawyers will play a crucial role in representing the Bitcoin technology and its community, and ensuring that proper legislation is adopted.
After MtGox the exchanges changed their work methods and improves the security. However there are benefits from legislative and regulatory guidelines. There has to be some kind of collaboration of every partners out there. However this step might destroy the libertarian Bitcoin. IT is one of those path dependent choices unless the regulation solely on exchanges.
Emerging Issues in Regulatory Compliance and Law Enforcement Efforts
This is another great panel that covered recent developments in regulatory compliance and legislative actions concerning digital currency. The panel consisted of the following speakers:
- Jose Caldera VP of Marketing & Product, IdentityMind Global
- Angus Champion de Crespigny Senior Manager, Financial Services Office, Ernst & Young LLP
- Brian Klein Partner, Baker Marquart LLP
- Sarah Martin CEO, Boone Martin
- Amor Sexton Digital Currency Lawyer, Adroit Lawyer
- Marco Santori Attorney, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (Moderator)
B
ig banks are becoming a little more comfortable with Bitcoin from a compliance standpoint, with some big banks making substantial investments in Coinbase. However, complete Bitcoin acceptance from the banking industry will take some time, as the market looks to governments to make regulatory decisions regarding Bitcoin. Regulatory clarity will make it easier for Bitcoin companies to become compliant, which in reduces the risks banks face when investing in a Bitcoin project.
Start-Up Spitfire Session
After the panel concerning regulatory and legislative actions, the “spitfire” session allowed start-ups 5 minutes each to introduce themselves and the goals of their projects. The following companies participated in this session:
- Peter Alexander: CEO and Founder, ProDataLab.
- Jay Berg: Founder, Satoshi Fantasy.
- Luke Brown: Management Consultant, Growthink.
- David Miller: Founder, Leverage Holdings.
- Will O’Brien: Technology Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, and Crypto Currency Executive.
- Brock Pierce: Founder and Managing Partner, Blockchain Capital.
- Paul Puey: CEO and Co-Founder, Airbitz.
- Allen Scott: Chief Editor, CoinTelegraph.
- Michael Terpin: Chairman, BitAngels, Partner, AngelList Bitcoin Syndicate and CEO, Transform Group
- Steve Waterhouse: Partner, Pantera Capital.
Bitcoin 2.0 and Blockchain Startups: What Really Matters?
The next panel focused on the start-ups that are working towards linking the blockchain to other new technologies, such as smart contracts. The panel consisted of:
- Jonathan Chester Founder and COO, Bitwage
- Reggie Middleton Founder & CEO, Veritaseum
- Michael Perklin President, CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium (C4) and Director, Bitcoin Alliance of Canada.
- Micah Winkelspecht CEO and Founder, Gem.
- Rik Willard Co-Founder & CEO, MintCombine (Moderator)
Security is one of the main things that the panel hopes to see with Bitcoin 2.0 projects. Everyone claims they have state of the art security, but how do you measure that? According to the panel, the Bitcoin industry needs strong security standards so Bitcoin companies and projects can generate trust with their customers and society in general.
Can the blockchain technology actually be applied to these new innovations? Should everything be decentralized? Regardless of the ideal answer to the latter question, the blockchain will not be successfully integrated into every new innovation. Therefore, pockets of centralization will still exist, and the question of whether or not the blockchain can be implemented should be answered on a case-by-case basis. .
The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Economic Order
This keynote address was delivered by Michael Casey and Paul Vigna from The Wall Street Journal. These two speakers addressed “the age of cryptocurrency.” What made cryptocurrency so important? How did cryptocurrency become a force for innovation? According to Casey and Vigna, the core of cryptocurrency’s power lies in the blockchain.
Cryptocurrency provided an alternative means of transacting right in the middle of the devastating financial crisis of 2008. The unprecedented abilities of cryptocurrency generated a huge amount of interest, leading many people to believe that cryptocurrency would change the world. Consequently, Bitcoin and the blockchain technology have developed a cultural movement that continues to grow as Bitcoin progresses. In the middle of the crisis, 2008-2009, there is an alternative. It takes off and people believed they are going to change the world. So a cultural movement is growing around the Bitcoin and blockchain technology.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for day 3 coverage of Inside Bitcoins New York!
