Press Release: December 3, 2014

O'Reilly Media Announces New Event--Bitcoin & The Blockchain: An O'Reilly Radar Summit

SEBASTOPOL, CA, December 3, 2014—A new event from O'Reilly Media, Bitcoin & The Blockchain: An O'Reilly Radar Summit, will be held January 27, 2015, at Fort Mason in San Francisco, CA.

Bitcoin & The Blockchain is the first O'Reilly Radar Summit. This new series of one-day events, offered quarterly, addresses emerging topics that are on the cusp of changing business. Each O'Reilly Radar Summit delivers a coherent overview of a not-quite-yet-mainstream topic that presents significant opportunities and challenges for both startups and existing companies. Curated by O'Reilly's editorial team, the speaker roster draws from the company's remarkable network of "alpha geeks," deep thinkers, and entrepreneurs.

O'Reilly chose bitcoin as the topic of their first Radar Summit because bitcoin--and the blockchain that enables it--has the potential to disrupt many industries, but it is still widely misunderstood, according to Ben Lorica, Director of Content Strategy at O'Reilly.

"The blockchain behind bitcoin is a fundamental technological breakthrough," Lorica said. "It seems obvious that it will transform the financial services and retail industries. But there are some serious challenges we’ll face before it does, plus there are still plenty of unrecognized opportunities. What’s less obvious is the way the blockchain can impact things like micro-payments, contracts, health records, and government services. The time is ripe to gather the innovators in the bitcoin and blockchain space to provide a coherent overview of where it is now, and what the implications and opportunities are going forward."

Attendees can even register for Bitcoin & The Blockchain using bitcoin--O'Reilly has partnered with bitcoin wallet provider Coinbase to accept to accept the cryptocurrency for this event (along with the usual, traditional payment methods). O'Reilly also has plans to begin accepting bitcoin for its US-based conferences, books, videos, and other products in early 2015.

About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its Safari learning platform, books, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

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