This summer, the UK will play host to a two-day conference aiming to connect entrepreneurs, angel and VC investors, hedge fund professionals and others with an interest in the growing digital currency ecosystem.
CoinSummit London will take place on 10th-11th July at the East Wintergarden venue, right on the Thames waterfront, and as with previous CoinSummit events, will present a number of headline speakers from the spheres of digital currencies, startups and investment.
This will be the third event from CoinSummit, which was founded by husband and wife team Pamir Gelenbe, entrepreneur and partner at Hummingbird Ventures, and Gulnar Hasnain, former head of environment and sustainability strategy for the mayor of London.
“CoinSummit aims to create a high quality and intimate gathering for industry and thought leaders. We are not aiming to be a big trade show with many booths, but instead focus on bringing together the best entrepreneurs, investors, and key stakeholders in the cryptocurrency space,” Gelenbe told CoinDesk.
A look ahead
Kicking the event off on day one, Stripe’s Greg Brockman will be giving the opening speech, entitled ‘How Cryptocurrencies Can Succeed: The Stripe Perspective’.
A packed day of panel discussions will follow, covering everything from investment in digital currency startups to cryptocurrency mining and bitcoin derivatives. Notable panelists will include angel investor Roger Ver; Will O’Brien, CEO at BitGo; and MaidSafe head,
Day two will get underway with a talk by Jonathan Levin from Coinometrics on the topic ‘Will Bitcoin Last the Distance?’. This will be followed by panels discussing topics from investment opportunities to regulatory challenges and bitcoin exchanges, with speakers to include Bobby Lee, CEO of BTC China; Jesse Powell, CEO of bitcoin exchange Kraken; and Rui Ma, Venture Partner at accelerator 500 Startups.
“We will be announcing more speakers as we get closer to the event in the next few weeks,” said Gelenbe, adding:
“Our last event, CoinSummit San Francisco, was sold out. All session videos [from that event] can be viewed online. CoinSummit London will also be live streamed for those that can’t be at the conference in person.”
Startup showcase
CoinSummit will also be offering 15 startups the opportunity to present in front of the entire London audience.
According to the organizers, startups will be selected on the basis of the size and attractiveness of the opportunity they are pursuing; the strength of their team; and their traction, metrics and achievements.
The judging panel includes entrepreneurs Jimmy Furland and Ben Davenport; Firat Ileri, an investor at Hummingbird Ventures; Martin Mignot, an investor at Index Ventures; Jez San, an angel investor and the founder of PKR.com; and CoinSummit’s Pamir Gelenbe.
“The CoinSummit startup showcase provides an opportunity for the best startups in the industry to present in front of our entire audience,” said Gelenbe. Startups can apply here for a chance to appear at the event.
Provisional agenda
Day 1: Thursday 10th July
9:30 – 9:45
Opening remarks and greetings
Pamir Gelenbe, CoinSummit
09:45 – 10:05
How Cryptocurrencies Can Succeed: The Stripe Perspective
Greg Brockman, Stripe
10:05 – 10:50
Panel session: VC Panel: Investment Opportunities in the Bitcoin Space
Jan Hammer, Index Ventures; Matthew Roszak, Silk Road Equity; Barend van den Brande, Hummingbird Ventures.
Moderator TBC
11:20 – 12:05
Panel session: Decentralized Applications and Appcoins
David Johnston, Mastercoin Foundation; David Irvine, Maidsafe; Flavien Charlon, Coinprism
Moderated by Richard Gendal Brown
12:05 – 12:50
Panel session: Bitcoin Derivatives Markets – Where Next?
Aleksey Bragin, Icbit; George Samman, BTC.sx
Moderated by Jon Matonis, Bitcoin Foundation
13:50 – 14:50
Startup Showcase, Part 1
15:00 – 15:45
Panel session: Angel Investing in the Virtual Currency Ecosystem
Roger Ver, Angel Investor; Trace Mayer, Angel Investor; Brock Pierce, Angel Investor
Moderated by Shakil Khan, CoinDesk
16:15 – 17:15
Panel discussion: The Ever-Changing Landscape of Bitcoin Mining
Naveed Sherwani, Peernova; Timo Hanke, Cointerra; Dave Carlson, Megabigpower
Moderated by Jez San, Angel Investor
17:15 – 18:00
Panel discussion: The Future of Bitcoin Storage
Will O’Brien, BitGo; Simon Hamblin, Netagio; James Smith, Elliptic
Moderated by Martin Mignot, Index Ventures
Day 2: Friday 11th July
09:00 – 09:20
Will Bitcoin Last the Distance?
Jonathan Levin, Coinometrics
09:20 – 10:00
Panel discussion: Bitcoin Exchanges
Rich Teo, Itbit; Jesse Powell, Kraken; Mark Lamb, Coinfloor; Frank Schuil, Safello
Moderated by Luke Sully
10:00 – 10:20
Building Opportunities on Bitcoin 2.0
Robby Dermody, co-founder Counterparty.co
10:20 – 11:00
Panel discussion: Bitcoin in China
Bobby Lee, BTCChina; Rui Ma, 500 Startups; Jack Wang, Bifubao
Moderator TBC
11:50 – 12:45
Panel discussion: Merchant Adoption
Vinny Lingham, Gyft
Moderator TBC
13:45 – 14:15
Panel discussion: The Growth of Bitcoin ATMs
Zach Harvey, Lamassu; Tim Schuman, Project Skyhook
Moderator TBC
14.15 – 15:15
Startup Showcase, Part 2
15:45 – 16:15
Panel discussion: Legal and Regulatory Challenges
Constance Choi, Payward; Patrick Murck, Bitcoin Foundation; Michael Jackson, Mangrove
Moderated by Sveinn Valfells
16:15
Closing remarks
Pamir Gelenbe, CoinSummit
The CoinDesk team will be covering CoinSummit London in full, so keep an eye on the home page for all the latest news and updates.
You can follow CoinSummit London on twitter via @coinsummit and find full details about the event on the CoinSummit website.