Robocoin CEO to Demonstrate Bitcoin in Action at Italian Parliament

Robocoin CEO Jordan Kelley will speak about bitcoin in a public hearing at the Italian parliament in Rome later this week, before demonstrating one of his company’s bitcoin ATMs via live video stream.

The 26th June meeting called ‘Bitcoin in the Real Economy’, will form part of the fourth annual ‘No Cash Day’ – a trademarked event promoted by Italian Parliament member Sergio Boccadutri and organized by CashlessWay, an e-payment lobby group.

The news comes soon after the developers of Italy’s first home-grown bitcoin ATM, CoinCapital and Bit-Wallet, met with a dozen lawmakers and representatives of other institutions at the country’s parliament on 11th June.

“[Bitcoin in the Real Economy] is an opportunity to help educate and have meaningful conversations with Italy’s influential government. Italy is full of cultural tastemakers and has a rich history in banking and finance. These all support Robocoin’s goal of helping proliferate bitcoin,” Kelley explained.

Group effort

At the public hearing, Kelley will be joined by industry leaders from Hyperion, UniCredit, the Italian Banking Association, MasterCard, and others.

Present will be lawmakers, bankers, public utility representatives and other entrepreneurs debating bitcoin’s potential in the nation’s economy, including recommendations for a legal framework to aid integration.

Participants will also examine a variety of cryptocurrency-focused topics, including business opportunities, tax implications and controls to avoid criminal activities.

Streamed demo

After his presentation at the parliament, Kelley will leave and then rejoin the event via live stream to activate Italy’s first Robocoin ATM, demonstrating its anti-money-laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) technology.

Speaking to CoinDesk, Robocoin indicated that much of the credit for organising the event goes to Federico Pecoraro, a 30-year-old businessman and founder of Robocoin Italy.

The machine will be located at Luiss EnLabs, a leading Italian incubator housed inside Rome’s Termini station.

Back in April, Robocoin temporarily installed one of its bitcoin ATMs in Rayburn House on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. More than 50 members of the US Congress lined up to test out the machine.

Hurdles to acceptance

Franco Cimatti, president of Bitcoin Foundation Italy, explained that, while bitcoin may be slowly increasing in popularity in the country, it still has some large problems to overcome.

“The problem in Italy is that cashless payments and the Internet are still not present throughout the country, which makes it difficult for bitcoin to be accepted,” he said.

Another issue, he said, is that many business operators are afraid to accept bitcoin because they think that the state will interfere.

“Because of this, many are requesting a statement from the state that indicates the lines and limits that a business operator can’t go beyond,” Cimatti explained.

Image via Luciano Mortula / Shutterstock