Bitcoin Wednesday #21 – The “Silk Road” Edition

For Bitcoin Wednesday #21, we’ll tackle one of the digital currency revolution’s dark sides.

On 4 March 2015 we’ll organize a special “Silk Road” edition. Silk Road is the anonymous marketplace where legal and illegal goods and services were sold for bitcoins.

This modern side effect of the digital currency revolution is frequently cited as one of the reasons for bringing Bitcoin under (new) regulatory regimes:

What danger does this phenomenon pose for society? How big is the problem?

From a pragmatic standpoint, are there any measures that could be effective against the sale of illegal goods and services on the Internet? What is the reality and what is just hype?

On this subject Matthijs Pontier, leader of the Dutch Pirate Party, will present his vision for the future. Mr. Pontier studied Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science at the VU before earning his Ph.D. on the use of Virtual Agents for Human Communication.

Then Cyber Crime specialist Ricky Gevers will cast his critical gaze over what is actually being done today (or could be done today) in terms of digital forensic detection and cybercrime enforcement in the world of cryptocurrencies.

Next Martijn Wismeijer, also known internationally as “Mr. Bitcoin” will give a presentation on his unique, prize-winning concept, LuckyEggs, with an electromechanical switch that converts coin-operated devices to Bitcoin-operated ones.

This month Bitcoin Wednesday also broadens its attention for non-financial applications of Blockchain technology with two new presentations:

One about the so-called “Trust Gap” which addresses issues of privacy, identity and trust, given by Valery Kholodkov of the Innovation Lab of the security software company AVG, and

Another one about Augur, a new prediction market solution presented by its lead developer Joey Krug from California.

Then Jeremy Gardner, Executive Director of the College Cryptocurrency Network (CCN), will be here from Silicon Valley to talk about how this student organization for digital currency might, like Facebook, conquer the world someday.

When the presentations are concluded we meet at the bar as usual to talk about the night’s events and to network with the Dutch digital currency community.

Bitcoin Wednesday is an accessible event for anyone who has interest in digital currencies or the related technologies, a great chance to meet other like-minded professionals, and exchange ideas in an informal atmosphere.

Mark it down in your agenda to join us on Wednesday at 18:30. The conference begins at 19:00, but we gather a little earlier in the cafe downstairs (at 18:30) for a round of drinks.

Reserve your place as early as possible with a free registration at Meetup.com/BitcoinWednesday

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For sponsorship and speaker opportunities mail: hello@bitcoinwednesday.com