Over the course of next week, the European Parliament will host a four-day conference in an effort to educate members of the European Parliament about distributed ledgers and virtual currencies.

A non-commercial conference organized next week by the European Parliament is being put together to educate Members of European Parliament (MEPs) about the rapidly expanding and publicized fintech space. The conference and exhibition will specifically be focusing on blockchain and virtual currencies.

As reported by Finextra, the conference will see representatives from the likes of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bank for International Settlements, the United Nations and Europol.

The exhibition will also have industry-experts and employees, from established companies to startups as well as representatives of central banks. Next week’s conference will include presentations and roundtable discussions from several participating attendees.

A representative from popular bitcoin web-wallet provider Blockchain.info will be addressing MEPs.

MEP Syed Kamall, the host of the event said:

I am pleased to be hosting the exhibition on blockchain and virtual currencies in the European Parliament. Legislators internationally are now looking at this area and how to protect the consumer while stimulating innovation.

Serving as a co-organizer, Kamall has collaborated with the European Digital Currency & Blockchain Technology Forum (EDCAB), a Belgian public policy platform.

Speaking about the need for strong, supporting policies by European policymakers toward digital currencies and blockchain innovation, Siân Jones, co-founder of Brussels-based EDCAB stated:

For a strong and comprehensive policy and regulatory framework, collaboration based on in-depth understanding of the technology and open debate is vital.

In Feb 2016, the European Parliament saw a motion issued by its Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) that summarized the risks and opportunities with virtual currencies and distributed ledger technology (DLT). CCN.com covered the motion in detail, and can be read here.

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