Conference on digital money and decentralised currencies

Digital money, the future of finance and the opportunities and risks for decentralised currencies will be the topics of a two-day Bitcoin conference in Dublin this week.

According to Bitfin founder and conference organiser Fergal Murray: “The Bitcoin Finance conference, which is taking place on the RDS on Thursday and Friday, will bring together international financial, technical, regulatory, political and economic experts to discuss how digital currency will shape the future of payments, banking and finance.

“There are still usability problems to be addressed and international regulatory uncertainty, but the ecosystem is maturing rapidly. Bitcoin Finance will provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of digital currencies.”

He says attendees will leave with a unique understanding of the opportunities and risks that digital currency presents to payments networks, financial institutions, corporations, and regulatory authorities.

“There are big questions to consider. How will financial institutions adapt to a technology that threatens their dominance? What happens if inflationary and deflationary currencies collide at scale? What does it mean for law enforcement, national security and civil liberties? How can we strike a balance between openness and regulation?”

Speakers, who include Blockchain. info chief executive Nicolas Cary; Circle chief executive Jeremy Allaire; CurrencyFair chief executive Brett Meyers; Realex Payments chief executive Colm Lyon and Stripe chief technical officer, Greg Brockman. They will address issues surrounding decentralised currencies, including opportunities and risks for financial institutions, corporations and citizens.

In Dublin today, meanwhile, the focus will be on successful women in technology. The Female Founders Forum will look at the future of investment in female-led high-potential start-ups in Ireland. Speakers include Eventbrite co-founder Julia Hartz; Global Invest Her founder Anne Ravanona; Enterprise Ireland chief executive Julie Sinnamon; Viddyad founder Gráinne Barron and Frockadvisor co-founder, Sonya Lennon. Later, there will be a reception celebrating 100 top women in science, technology, engineering and maths at the Guinness Storehouse.