With the help of Coinbase and Blockstream, we explained to an audience of over 700 policymakers and DC insiders the potential we see in Bitcoin, and answered questions about policy implications for the technology.
Yesterday we attended State of the Net, the biggest technology and Internet policy conference in the country. The annual DC event has become the central forum for technologists and policymakers to discuss the most important policy issues facing tech. This year, Coin Center partnered with the Congressional Internet Caucus, which hosts the conference, to produce a solid Bitcoin agenda for the event. With the help of Coinbase and Blockstream, we explained to an audience of over 700 policymakers and DC insiders the potential we see in Bitcoin, and answered questions about policy implications for the technology.
Great discussion w/ @FEhrsam on #bitcoin and the future of digital currency at #SOTN15. pic.twitter.com/dXqunEIl1i — Bob Goodlatte (@RepGoodlatte) January 27, 2015
First, Fred Ehrsam of Coinbase sat down with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte for a keynote discussion on Bitcoin and Coinbase’s role in the Bitcoin ecosystem. I was pleased to see that the conversation was able to move quickly on from the basics and move deeper into the subject, covering the recent announcement of Coinbase’s US-based exchange, as well as what some potential future applications of Bitcoin technology could look like. Perhaps most notably, Rep. Goodlatte shared with the audience that he is a Bitcoin user and has a Coinbase wallet. The full video of Fred Ehrsam’s keynote is available here.
.@jerrybrito moderates “The Bitcoin Policy Prescription” panel on policy future for the technology at #sotn15 pic.twitter.com/FFtxOQiJsc — Coin Center (@coincenter) January 27, 2015
Later, I moderated a panel entitled “The Bitcoin Policy Prescription” which explored the success of “light touch” regulation in the days of the early Internet and asked how we could apply the lessons learned then to Bitcoin today. I was joined on the panel by Alex Fowler of Blockstream, Eli Dourado of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Vanessa Kargenian of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and Chip Poncy of the Financial Integrity Network. There was a great diversity of background and opinion represented there which made for a lively discussion.