Article

Bitcoin dominates discussion at CoinSummit

Virtual currency backers met in San Francisco to debate topics ranging from mainstream acceptance to regulation.

March 28, 2014 by Will Hernandez — Editor, NetWorld Media Group

Virtual currency enthusiasts gathered in San Francisco this week at CoinSummit, a two-day event intended to connect entrepreneurs, angel and venture capital investors, hedge fund professionals and others interested in the industry.

Virtual currencies, particularly Bitcoin, have been in the spotlight lately for all the wrong reasons, and CoinSummit speakers made their arguments for the positive ways this fledging payment method can become an asset to consumers worldwide.

Marc Andreessen, who created Netscape, is one of Bitcoin's most staunch supporters and has invested millions of dollars in startups that deal with virtual currencies. He was particularly critical of Warren Buffet's recent comment that Bitcoin is not sustainable in the long-term.

My actual quote: "Track record of old white men who don't understand tech crapping on tech they don't understand still at 100%."

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) March 25, 2014

Andreessen later backed off those comments somewhat, but remained critical of those people who are Bitcoin critics.

7/When people who don't understand tech attack new tech, it's fair game to call them on it. People should know what they're talking about.

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) March 26, 2014

Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners told attendees Bitcoin could prove more valuable in countries with declining currency values.

— Cryptonaut Ventures (@cryptonautvc) March 25, 2014

Tier 1 merchants are helping to drive virtual currency awareness as more consumers adopt it for everyday transactions. Merchants such as Overstock.com, TigerDirect and even Virgin Atlantic allow their customers to pay for goods with bitcoins. Overstock goes as far as offering more rewards points for bitcoin transactions.

Balajl Srinivasan, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, spoke about how Bitcoin could also help merchants that deal with microtransactions.

— Joe Robinson (@i8joe) March 25, 2014

Bitcoin backers were quick to note the currency will transform much in the same way the Internet has the last 20 years. A 2.0 version will eventually emerge, which enthusiasts predict will lead to greater mainstream adoption.

— CoinDesk (@coindesk) March 25, 2014

— Heather Somerville (@heathersomervil) March 25, 2014

Of course, regulation was a recurring theme throughout the summit and speakers there implied they were unsure what future standards for virtual currencies would entail. Everyone is keeping tabs on New York's proposed virtual currency exchange.

— Juan Llanos (@JuanLlanos) March 25, 2014

The Internal Revenue Service indirectly made the summit's chatter more interesting when the agency revealed Tuesday it deems virtual currency as property and not actual currency.

"In some environments, virtual currency operates like "real" currency — i.e., the coin and paper money of the United States or of any other country that is designated as legal tender, circulates, and is customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in the country of issuance — but it does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction.," the IRS said in statement.

Chamath Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist and former Facebook executive, was one of several speakers who believe the agency's ruling is positive for digital currencies.

— Danny Thorpe (@danny_thorpe) March 26, 2014

CoinSummit speakers also trumpeted some other bold predictions for Bitcoin, which ranged from what the currency's value can become to how all digital currencies can reach mainstream status with consumers.

— Niccolò Travia (@wodka00) March 26, 2014

Photo: Antana.

About Will Hernandez

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Will Hernandez has 14 years of experience ranging from newspapers to wire services and trade publications. Before becoming Editor of MobilePaymentsToday.com, he spent two years as the content manager for PaymentsJournal.com, a leading payments industry news aggregator and information hub published by Mercator Advisory Group. Will spent four years covering the payments industry as an associate editor for multiple publications in SourceMedia's Payments Group based in Chicago.

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