The Bitcoin Foundation has officially announced “Bitcoin 2014: Building the Digital Economy”, an international exhibition centred on digital currencies.
The event will be held at the Passenger Terminal venue in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from 15th-17th May. Registration is now open at bitcoin2014.com.
Bitcoin 2014 follows last year’s inaugural event in San Jose, California, which drew more than 1,000 attendees over the course of its three-day run, and covered the future of payments as its overarching topic.
Speakers for this year’s event have not yet been announced, however, attendees in 2013 included principals of Winklevoss Capital Management Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss; Bitcoin Foundation chief scientist Gavin Andresen; and BitPay co-founder and CEO Tony Gallippi, among others.
Jon Matonis, executive director at the Bitcoin Foundation, said this year’s event will be a “must attend” for not only bitcoin industry professionals, but those from the broader financial technology industry as well:
“It’s where we facilitate the cross-pollination of traditional executives with industry experts and where we collectively envision and practically develop a roadmap to the future.”
The venue
If the choice of venue is any indication, the Bitcoin Foundation anticipates a higher turnout for this year’s proceedings, as Passenger Terminal can accommodate up to 3,000 event visitors.
The official city port for cruise ships, Passenger Terminal is located just outside of the centre of Amsterdam and boasts impressive views of the nearby canals.
The venue is located just 19 minutes from Schiphol Amsterdam Airport by car, and is also accessible by public transportation.
For more information on accessing Passenger Terminal by car and public transport, visit Amsterdam Cruise Port’s guide here.
The itinerary
The official release disclosed only a rough outline of the event’s content, noting that feature presenters will “cast vision for the long-term potential of bitcoin”, while panel discussions will address “immediate challenges”.
Notably, day one will be partly devoted to helping the Bitcoin Foundation further its international partnerships, with related proceedings taking place in the morning and ending at lunch time.
The organisation added its first two international affiliate chapters in December.
Last year’s event
Though the release provides a broad outline for the event, what remains to be seen is how sharply Bitcoin 2014 will differ from its predecessor, which gave representation to recently labeled “fringe elements” of the community, such as libertarians and medical marijuana activists.
This could be a sensitive subject, since January’s bitcoin hearings in New York saw major investors distance themselves from such groups.
Less controversial will likely be the inclusion of corporate booths meant to inform attendees about more basic elements of bitcoin.
While not confirmed, the presence of vendors – such as last year’s lineup of Coinbase, OpenCoin (now Ripple) and CoinLab – as well as other major corporate names in bitcoin, can likely be expected.
Passenger Terminal image via Shutterstock