At 26 years old, Perianne Boring is perhaps Bitcoin’s first real “mover & shaker” in Washington, D.C. She first came to the nation’s capital as a White House intern. Since then, she’s been a congressional staffer and policy analyst, transitioning to become a media financial specialist. She has appeared on international cable network news and has been a contributor to esteemed financial news publication, Forbes.com. Within the Bitcoin community she is noted for her involvement with projects like the Digital Asset Transfer Authority (DATA) – a self-regulatory body for the digital currency business community.





Ms. Boring’s latest project is the Chamber of Digital Commerce, a trade association for digital currencies. The Digital Chamber seeks to engage with Washington DC, to make sure that innovation and opportunities for these new technologies are not stifled. Boring announced the organization’s formation in Chicago at The North American Bitcoin Conference last weekend, where I had a chance to sit down with her afterward to discuss how she got into Bitcoin, the Digital Chamber, and other digital currency concerns.



PB: “I formerly worked on Capitol Hill - I was a Legislative Analyst. I did some work on the JOBS Act. That was the bill that brought us crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending. While Bitcoin was never adopted into the JOBS Act, we did have some discussions about Bitcoin on the Hill. From the moment I heard about Bitcoin it really sparked my interest. I dedicated my career early on to improving our country’s monetary policy, which led me to Bitcoin.

“I then moved into journalism. Previously, I was working as a financial services journalist and Bitcoin was a topic I covered regularly. Then 2013 happened - the year of Bitcoin - which was the greatest gift you could ever give to me as a journalist (laughs). The price went from $13 to $1300, sparking media interest. Then all the scandals hit. I had just come from working on the Hill and I recognized that there was nobody from the industry working with DC regulators helping to make the case, or standing up for, the industry. I really fell in love with bitcoin through my journalism work and felt very called take on this responsibility.”



HR: Another big challenge is user adoption. What are your thoughts on that?

PB: “How many people know how their car runs? I have no idea how my car works, but I trust it. A lot of people also send emails without understanding the data transmission process. Understanding the underlying technology is not the key. For Bitcoin to become mainstream it has to be user-friendly.

“We’re not quite there yet. We’re still in very early stages of Bitcoin, but as more investment comes in and as the industry matures, that will help fund the innovation and the technology that will grow Bitcoin’s ease of use. We are already starting to get a taste of new user-friendly products.”



HR: You just announced the forming of a ‘Digital Chamber of Commerce’ - What’s the driving idea behind it?

PB: “This is about having a seat at the table in Washington. The Chamber of Digital Commerce is a trade organization, an industry group. Every industry in the country has a trade association in DC, except the digital currency industry. And it’s just because we’re so new. But we have matured to a point that it is absolutely necessary to have formal representation in Washington D.C.”



HR: What’s going on in the Capitol?

PB: “The industry is going to decide, along with Washington: is this a hobbyist niche? Or is this going to be a legitimate industry? If we want to be a legitimate industry we have to have real representation. Regulators are there to regulate, it’s not their job to figure out how Bitcoin works, it is the Bitcoin community’s responsibility to work with them, to teach them how Bitcoin works, and why it’s useful.

“We are also fighting. Bitcoin does challenge the financial system that is currently in place. The remittance industry is a great example, credit cards and transaction fees are a great example. There is a lot of money on the table that’s at stake here. If you don’t think [they’re] going to fight for their business, you’re wrong. Bitcoin has to fight too - twice as hard, because we have these terrible reputational challenges to overcome as well.”