The Bitcoin2014 Conference kicks off today at the Passenger Terminal venue in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

With the general theme of ‘Building the Digital Economy’, the event will provide an extensive schedule of big name speakers from across the bitcoin, financial, technological and entrepreneurial worlds (see a selection below).

The CoinDesk team will be covering the conference over its three days, so keep an eye on the home page for the latest news and updates.

Furthermore, we will be travelling to Amsterdam’s ‘Bitcoin Boulevard‘ and publishing video footage of events on our YouTube channel.

If you’ve not made it to Amsterdam for the conference, you can still follow the action on CoinDesk’s Twitter feed (@CoinDesk), or the live tweet stream from the #bitcoin2014 hashtag below.

Tweets about “#bitcoin2014”



Highlights of the Conference

Thursday 15th May

6:00 pm -8:00 pm

Welcome Reception

Start off the night by getting to know your fellow attendees.

PTA Upper (Panorama) Deck

Friday 16th May

9:00 am – 10:45 am

Keynote Speech: Dr Patrick Byrne, Overstock

500 Years of Liberalism from the Netherlands to Cryptocurrency

Unmissable keynote from the Overstock CEO.

PTA Main Deck

11:30 am – 12:00 pm

Feature Presentation: Lars Christensen

Bitcoin and banking – competition or cooperation?

This is an interesting subject which often divides the bitcoin community.

PTA Backstage area

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Panel: Blue Sky Thinking – Imagining the Possibilities

The panel of experts will give a vision of what the future of the digital economy may hold now that the use of Bitcoin is on the rise.

PTA Backstage area

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Feature Presentation – Gavin Andresen

Annual State of Bitcoin address

Hear the word direct from the Bitcoin Foundation’s Chief Scientist and Lead Developer on the state of the bitcoin protocol.

2:40 pm – 3:10 pm

Feature Presentation: Wences Casares, Xapo

Getting to a Billion Bitcoin Users

Xapo founder and CEO Wences Casares explains how bitcoin can get to a billion users by investigating the past.

PTA Waterfront room

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Panel: Bitcoin – The Wish List

Panel: Gavin Andresen, Jeff Garzik, Oleg Andreev, Peter Vessenes, Thomas Voegtlin

A group of developers and technologists discuss their Bitcoin ‘Wish List’ of exciting and cutting-edge technical possibilities.

Movenpick Hotel – Zurich 2

4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Panel: Tools for Global Financial Inclusion

This panel looks at what practical steps are being taken to bring the unbanked into the global financial system.

Panel: Alan Safahi, Peter Smith, Richard Boase, Rodolfo Andragnes, Yoni Assia

PTA Backstage area

5:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Blockchain Awards

These awards aim to celebrate innovation and excellence in the Bitcoin community.

PTA Main Deck

Saturday 17th May

9:00 am – 9:30am

Bobby Lee – Bitcoin’s Rise and Regulation in China

Bobby Lee will give an insiders view of what the future holds for bitcoin businesses in China after the many regulatory issues faced in recent months.

PTA Backstage area

10:45 am – 11:45 am

Panel: Developer Q&A

An excellent chance to ask some of the ‘brains behind bitcoin’ your technical questions and brainstorm ideas.

Panel: Flavien Charin, Gavin Andresen, Hakim Mamoni, Peter Todd, Stefan Thomas, Tamas Blummer

Movenpick Hotel – Zurich 2

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Panel: Secure Coins – Building Trust in the Digital Economy

This panel should give a fascinating insight into the technical challenges of building a secure, safe and transparent network.

Panel: Frederic Thenault, Jason Thomas, Luke Sully, Mike Hearn, Ryan X. Charles

Movenpick Hotel – Zurich 2

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Mike Hearn – Taking Bitcoin Development to the Next Level

Those interested in bitcoin development will not want to miss this.

Movenpick Hotel – Zurich 2

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm

State of the Bitcoin Mining ‘Arms Race’

Panel: Benny Gorlick, Jez San, Josh Zerlan, Marco Streng, Mike Terpin, Sam Cole

The Q/A section will be worth waiting for, I imagine.

Movenpick Hotel – Zurich 2

This is just a small selection of what is happening. You can view the complete schedule here.

If your lucky enough to be at Bitcoin2014, why not download the BTCF app for an interactive guide to the event?