The Week Ahead in Crypto Feb. 12: Conferences, News, and a Market Rebound

Every week there are exciting events impacting the cryptocurrency markets, and these waves of hype lead to positive and negative sentiment. The week beginning February 12 has many positive events that should boost confidence in a market that has had recent setbacks. A calendar stacked with five conferences in seven days demonstrate the sheer interest and publicity that will be produced in the next week.

The Week of February 12, 2018

Cryptocurrency events and conferences dominate the week straight through the weekend. From St. Petersburg Russia to Calgary, to Silicon Valley, to the second Dubai conference in thirty days, to Acapulco, and back the Dallas SuperConference and their sold out “Soft Fork,” the upcoming week holds major positive sentiment events. Cryptocurrencies overreact to both positive and negative news. This is why hacks (where less than one percent of the total crypto market cap is stolen) can cause the market to correct five percent.

Crypto markets love to overreact to negative events, but similarly, they overreact to positive events. A week of positive conferences shall provide the crypto markets an important catalyst to continue their rebound.

The beginning of January was full of FUD heading straight into the beginning of February. Bitcoin (BTC) lost over sixty percent of its value from its December high and rebounded since the bottom of just under $6,000 per coin. This week should see BTC and the entire crypto markets yield above-average returns as we have major conferences on three continents each hosting thousands of individuals.

Conferences: St. Petersburg, Dubai, Dallas, Calgary, Acapulco, & Silicon Valley

St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg is hosting a blockchain conference beginning February 13, 2018. Russia is one of the greater proponents of the technology sector, especially blockchain. Similarly to many countries, including the United States, it seems they are taking the approach of regulation instead of an outright ban. A conference in the middle of the work week is never the best idea for the purposes of attendance, but they are charging 15,000 Rubles for general admittance and 30,000 Rubles for VIP, approximately $250 and $500 respectively.

For the smaller of the conferences this week St. Petersburg kicks off the week driving publicity and attention to BTC with four other major conferences following. Russia is home to many ICOs and the stronger the regulations, the stronger the protections for investors of the highest risk asset class in cryptocurrencies.

Calgary

A blockchain event that has been under the radar until recently was the 2018 Blockchain, IoT, and Machine Learning in Oil and Gas Canada. The event is being held in Calgary, Alberta, and is being hosted and attended by the biggest names in both blockchain and oil and gas. Honeywell is sponsoring with registered and presenting companies including the likes of Shell, General Electric, Honeywell, Devon Energy, and many tech entrepreneurs in the blockchain sector. This conference is February 13 and 14 providing exposure for the second time for BTC and the blockchain due to a major conference in under one week.

Both the Calgary conference and the St. Petersburg conference are taking place in the middle of the work week and still are attracting major names in their respected specializations. Calgary’s conference will open up blockchain technologies and machine learning via the blockchain to many of the largest corporations in the oil and gas industries.

Dubai

The Dubai FX Cryptocurrency – ICO Conference and Expo is February 16 and February 17. They are already completely sold out of visitor passes and expect more than 1500 attendees. What is even more surprising is this is Dubai’s second blockchain conference in under one month. This conference is focused less on the specific technology of the blockchain and more focused on FOREX – foreign exchange of fiat currencies – along with ICOs.

China and Europe have seen a huge number of ICOs with the United States finally catching up but lagging due to SEC regulations. Dubai and much of the Middle East is yet to become heavily invested in cryptocurrencies and two major conventions in one month demonstrate their building desire to enter these markets.

Dallas

The conference that is generating more publicity than the other four combined is, Dallas. The Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Blockchain SuperConference. Maybe it is because this event is in the United States or because they plan on having the most public attendees. It may be because their main venue sold out almost a month in advance with tickets going for over $500 and the “Soft Fork” being an entirely second venue that was added solely because so many BTC enthusiasts had planned to come in, but the main venue had already sold out.

Regardless of why this event is generating so much publicity the reality is this is very positive news for the cryptocurrency markets. It demonstrates the interest is as high as ever and thousands of attendees are going to be educated about cryptos for the first time, while many others continue to receive the exposure they have desired.

The SuperConference in Dallas is the largest of the conferences this week and will be taking place from February 16-18. The list of presenters includes the now infamous and sometimes outlandish, but always entertaining, John McAfee. Tim Draper from Draper Associates and Draper University will be presenting along with the founder and CEO of ShapeShift. This conference is bringing the biggest names in the blockchain industry together for a true mega conference.

The name is fitting as it truly will be a SuperConference. Cryptos that will be hosting, presenting, or sponsoring in some form include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, DASH, ZCash, Monero, and STRATIS along with many of the smaller market cap coins. The publicity the SuperConference provides the blockchain community can easily surpass the rest of the major conferences combined.

Acapulco

While all eyes are on Dallas, the true financial revolutionaries will be meeting in Acapulco. Once again the conference is cleverly named, Anarchapulco 2018. This will be the fourth annual conference and not surprisingly has been sold out for weeks.

Although Dallas will be the headliner this weekend, Acapulco will not be forgotten. Nor should it be looked at as the second tier convention. The biggest public names will be at the Dallas convention, but the most important individuals in the blockchain technology sector will be in Acapulco. The event is February 15-18, but tickets sold out completely at $245 per ticket. However, the $200 live stream is still available for those interested in watching from afar.

Silicon Valley

The final conference of the week and likely the one that will receive the least publicity, although it’s importance is significant, takes place in Silicon Valley. Exploring the Future of FinTech, ICOs, Blockchain, Sharing Economy, Future of Work and Disruptive Culture. This conference takes place February 15-18 with a $100,000 ICO pitch competition. The headliners at this conference are not founders of top coins or names the layman would know like John McAfee.

However, this is a conference regarding technology being held for those interested in being blockchain developers and leaders in the ICO realm. The full conference ticket costs $395 with an additional $5,000 required if your team is to be considered for the ICO competition. Silicon Valley, although not the conference for the anarchists, or the general public, it will be a spectacular conference for the development of blockchain technology.

Conference Conclusion: Weekly Prediction

Having conferences on three continents and four countries, in under seven days, with attendees that include the likes of Shell demonstrate how truly significant blockchain technology is becoming.

The blockchain is not a fad from 2008 that is slowly fading. It has solidified itself as a technology that will slowly penetrate all forms of industry as it is the safest, cheapest, and most transparent way to transact. For those who believe bitcoin is dead, look at the conference calendars, the sentiment is about to change as the rebound has already begun. The upcoming week looks exceptionally positive for bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency markets to continue their rebound. The bottom of the price dip was touched at just under $6,000 for bitcoin, and the momentum should push the price of bitcoin above $9,000 heading through the week of conferences.

The King’s prediction is the week beginning February 12, 2018 will be one led by a BTC recovery coupled with an entire rise in the cryptocurrency markets correlating to BTC’s overall gains. The altcoins usually gain more when bitcoin recovers and loose more when it corrects. Having bitcoin’s recovery already begun and a week of conference should provide all the proper catalysts to see the cryptocurrency pierce $9,000 and possibly back over $10,000.

To read the King’s prior articles, to find out which ICOs he currently recommends, or to get in contact directly with the King, you can on Twitter (@JbtheCryptoKing) or Reddit (ICO updates and Daily Reports).