Coming in mid-August, Bitcoin will take over the Carolinas. The conference, accurately named Cryptolina, will focus on bringing education and insight within what hopes to be the defining Bitcoin event for the Carolinas. The conference is taking place from August 15-16 in Raleigh, NC, and will be the first event bringing together entrepreneurs, startups, crowdfunders, financial professionals and VC and angel investors, all looking to network and learn more about Bitcoin and the cryptoeconomy.

Organizers of the event announced today that widely-known venture capitalist Adam Draper of Boost VC will be speaking to attendees at Cryptolina, and will also be providing advice to local startups and entrepreneurs within the cryptocurrency community.

Draper is the founder of Boost VC and is an investor and mentor for Bitcoin startups and entrepreneurs. He began his venture capital firm to focus on building the Bitcoin community and as a fourth generation venture investor, Draper has since invested in companies such as Coinbase and Practice Fusion. Boost VC has very ambitious plans for investing in Bitcoin companies, stating in March 2014 that it plans to invest in 100 bitcoin companies in the next three years, with over 250 total investments by 2017. Draper’s involvement in Cryptolina further validates the future usability of bitcoin as a payment protocol and a growing technology.

“I’m excited to visit Raleigh and be a part of the Cryptolina Bitcoin Expo,” said Draper regarding his involvement in the event. “This effort to push forward the future of Bitcoin, crowdfunding and startups will be very successful in such a flourishing market.”

Carolina’s first Bitcoin Expo will be held at the Raleigh Convention Center and will feature other big names from the cryptocurrency space, as well as Duke University Professor of Finance Campbell R. Harvey, PhD, and former Director of the United States Mint, Edmund C. Moy. Cryptolina will bring together more than 500 new faces from the Bitcoin community who are expected to attend, providing an opportunity to network and discuss the emerging digital currency industry. The event will feature more than two-dozen speakers discussing current issues pertaining to emerging bitcoin trends, technologies and regulation, in addition to crowdfunding, entrepreneurship and venture capital.

The Cryptolina Bitcoin Expo will take place in the Research Triangle region of downtown Raleigh, which is very close to the the worldwide headquarters of Red Hat and other growing tech companies like Citrix, Ipreo and Bandwidth. The area is becoming increasingly popular within tech circles and is surrounded by a flourishing startup scene and entertainment, a great place for the Bitcoin community to come together.

Early-bird registration is currently open for the event until July 15, with ticket prices ranging from $125USD for Students, $250USD for early-bird, which includes access to the Cryptolina Hackathon, and $275USD for standard admission. Tickets can only be purchased with Bitcoin. For more information on attending, sponsorship, scheduling and ticket prices visit http://www.cryptolina.com/.