Virtual Currencies: Gold Rush or Fools' Gold, The Rise of Bitcoin in a Digital Economy



Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Munger Bldg 4, Paul Brest Hall, 555 Salvatierra Walk, Stanford Univ Introduction Susan Athey, Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business Moderator Kashmir Hill, Senior Online Editor, Forbes Panelists Fred Ehrsam, Co-founder, Coinbase Chris Larsen, CEO and Co-Founder, OpenCoin, the company developing the Ripple protocol Wendy Cheung, Director of Compliance and BSA Officer, Silicon Valley Bank Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Principals, Winklevoss Capital Event Description What if currency wasn't something that exchanged hands physically, but moved instantaneously between networks, countries, and continents? What if it wasn't regulated by a government, system of banks, or any entity at all? And, what if it was completely open source? This disruption of what we view as currency isn't just theory, it is already a $1.5 billion dollar movement. Leading the charge is Bitcoin. Launched in 2009, Bitcoin moved to decentralize currency in a big way by leveraging cryptography (instead of government authority) to digitally coin and transfer money. Users can choose to use the currency veiled in anonymity while steadily gaining ground as a valuable, peer-to-peer currency. With over 11M bitcoins in circulation, the virtual currency is gaining significant traction. Thousands of companies and online retailers, and as many as 140 non-profits currently accept payment in bitcoins. The market value of a single bitcoin was as low as pennies at the outset, has risen as high as $266 and now hovers in the $100-120 range. The emergence of an alternative currency has had a domino effect. As more people "mine" (create) new bitcoins, more retailers and organizations scramble to adopt the infrastructure to accept this new form of payment. Non-profits have also been early adopters and virtual currencies have provided new ways to fund and extend their work. The spike in consumer interest has also lead to new currency exchange systems like Mt. Gox---the current most popular online exchange, and Ripple--an emerging platform that calls itself the world's first open transaction network to facilitate exchanges between all kinds of currencies, including Bitcoin. And the rise of Bitcoin has also spurred new similar virtual currencies such as Litecoin. The interest has not gone unnoticed by VC's. Andreessen Horowitz recently completed an angel round for an undisclosed amount to fund OpenCoin, the developer of Ripple. This fascinating area is also fraught with its own concerns. The characteristic potential anonymity of Bitcoin has led to virtually untraceable funding of illicit activities. The government, which has been slow to recognize virtual currencies, is starting to take notice considering the booming growth of this largely untaxed, unregulated currency. Whether you are bitcoiner yourself or are brand new to virtual currencies, join a panel of experts on June 18th 2013, to learn about the past and future potential of virtual currencies.

Comments

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  2. It looks like the first two lady's will be out of a job soon!
  3. hi
  4. the bank women was realy worryed :) lol hackers are excited about 3d printing and bitcoin... :)
  5. Please take the microphone out of your mouth.
  6. why doesn't the sound and the lips match?
  7. It was a good discussion on Virtual Currencies. Apart from being an Employer and Entrepreneur, I do mine coins on some levels by keeping "Low Power" in mind.

    I've a pointer to +vlabvideos and others such as +Kashmir Hill et al. Please stop referring to countries across Atlantic as Second or Third world. We don't have the right to indulge in such classification, and also Cold War has been long dead. Thank you.
  8. well. Its too early to try live on bitcoins thats why you lost some weight ;D but there is alot of ways to live with btcs if you know how to and spendin them for anything you want, but you need internet for that. One day there gona be alot of business and shops/stores wich use crypto currencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin for example. Qr code will be used as payment method. There been a lot of speaking to add payment system and all bank cards to android wallet and propably thats what cryptocurrencies gonna do. Cryptos gonna be the future of payment method! Easy and secure!
  9. Great bitcoin video
  10. You try this http://cur.lv/5tm59 or this http://cur.lv/62lys for a FREE BITCOIN!
  11. I miss bitinstant
  12. Y
  13. Bitcoin $1600 US - still up and down but it has seen $1600
  14. ripple is a fucking scam fuck ripple, centralized bullshit
  15. Have You ever try this? http://freebitco.in/?r=28016 u can play it with free and earn free bitcoin. 
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  16. Mining without hardware! Look at cex.io/r/1/nohow82/0/
  17. Hi Kashmir
    i would like to thank you and appreciate you for this nice debate/Group talk.
    I am trying to read and hear as much i can in a single day and have 140 tabs on bitcoin open on firefox. phew  i feel like i was living under a rock as i  was unaware or dint take interest in Bitcoin concept all these years.
    Ok now as much i read,it dosnt take much to figure out its more of of money laundering vessel for money thats not accountable by any person.
    Banks like HSBC CITIBANK are doing it big time in INDIA now same people will buy BITCOINS.U see how this works for negative usage.
    There are no checks and balances to check source of money as any tom dick and harry running xchange like mr Fred here will be intrested in 1% or 2% and will not even bother to find source of cash getting converted to BITCOIN.Thats how bank managers and directors run the money laundering.In INDIA its big business to get wealth out of country.
    Now BIT COINS are more handy and much cheaper way to get money across.Happy corrupt politicians and businessman can stash their billions and noone knows as its anonymous.
    Same will be for drug dealer/gold smuggler or even for terrorist funding.
    There should be checks and balances.
    And ask those twins to take a Hike they are loosers then(facebook ) and now in this talk.the fact they are hungry and greedy to make a quick buck is very easily visible as to why they are really in this.
    The concept is really good for people who remit their hard earned money back home or to make purchases minus Westn Union/paypal who take a huge chunk but as of now i feel very few people who are actually using it for nefarious activities very clear from silk route.
    Also there is no regulatory body who can do deep investigation about flash crash where someone triggered it and bought BITCOINS at x peanuts.
  18. Great job Kashmir! You did an amazing job.
  19. Try a new virtual currency. Get 10 credits for free. Search for myUnits


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