CoinFest, the decentralized convention for alternative currency, has been announced for April 3-9 in 2017. As decided by popular vote, CoinFest will now begin on the first Monday of April each year and last one week, further cementing the tradition of the annual event.

CoinFest started in 2013, and was last held April 5-10 of this year. It consists of free-to-attend events held simultaneously around the world, interlinked by common activities and a virtual International Hangout. All branding is open source, and the organization is slowly morphing into a DAO as the required technology emerges.

CoinFest has played host to many crypto firsts, which NewsBTC has covered in partnership since 2015. It began by converting a Waves Coffee House in Vancouver to Bitcoin, where the Bitcoiniacs later installed the world’s first Bitcoin ATM. It then spread around the world, bringing the first Bitcoin ATM to Botswana, defying a Bitcoin ban in Russia, and adopting advanced multisignature cryptography.

In 2016, CoinFest had one of its largest-ever events in Manchester, the epicenter of CoinFest UK, which lasted two days and saw hundreds of guests. It also covered the United States for the first time, and spread to Asia in Bangalore, Shanghai and Seoul. Airbitz partnered with the CoinFest Global to give away preloaded BTC wallets, and the International Hangout included notable speakers like Andreas Antonopoulos, Paul Snow and Susanne Tempelhof.

Unfortunately, an unexpected shutdown by CoinKite put a little bit of a damper on the festivities, reducing the wallet’s signatory count by more than half and interfering with the Transparency System. As such, CoinFest’s founder and community are now focused on the infrastructure of its decentralized autonomous organization. Although CoinFest has always accepted all liquid alternative currencies, it had previously converted to and denominated them in Bitcoin. That will soon change.

As Ethereum has quickly grown to become the #2 cryptocurrency with a +$1 billion USD market cap and demonstrated advanced smart contract and automation capabilities, it is currently the immediate area of investigation. An Ethereum address will soon be listed on the main website as a placeholder while the DAO functionality possible within CoinFest’s available budget and manpower is being determined. Those who wish to help should reach out ASAP!

The other major area of focus is the decentralized activities. The International Hangout–which simultaneously beams speakers to projector screens at CoinFest events around the world–will be greatly expanded. Prize-giving attractions like the Wheel of Bitcoin and Decentralized Arcade will return, and more are currently being brainstormed and discussed on the newly-created CoinFest forum.

The physical event itself is expected to grow even further, covering every habitable continent for the first time thanks to some new fans in Australia. Most of the organizers from 2016 are already planning even greater events, and CoinFest International already has over 2.8 BTC in donations for next year, so remember to mark your calendars.