Ripple Labs stroopwafels! Photo: Geert Weening

The first day of Bitcoin 2014 in Amsterdam is over and it’s been a blast!

The Ripple Labs booth was super busy with non-stop action all day long. There was plenty of interest from potential gateways as well as other services (like wallets). Overwhelmingly, people have heard of Ripple and generally were curious to learn more.

Co-Founder and CEO Chris Larsen and Chief Risk Officer Greg Kidd both participated in afternoon panels. Some highlights:

Chris Larsen, Establishing and Maintaining Bank Relationships

“Banks aren’t out to crush this movement. Lots of other new fintech services face the same challenges like P2P lending. For banks, these are small opportunities with unmeasurable risk.”

“Keep reevaluating the list of banks, they could change their minds. Revisit and don’t give up; constantly shift on your feet; engage multiple players at once.”

“We’re talking about banking as a business, but we’re also excited about banks as partners. Key for the industry to take off: business development, then tech review, compliance, then marketing.”

“Get the first bank and then you see a cascading effect.”

“The process itself builds credibility—even if you get a lot of nos.”

“Talk about building, not disrupting. The industry wants innovation but also inclusively.”

“The fear is not irrational. The risk is huge in finance—law enforcement (financial crimes).”

“Luxembourg is looking like a great jurisdiction”

Chris Larsen has the “best shoes at the show” according to panel moderator Joesph Cutler of Perkins Coie. Photo: Monica Long

Greg Kidd, Anti-Money Laundering on a Transparent Network

“Can we apply the wisdom from the world of banking to Internet protocol technology and improve upon the legacy way?”

“A system that balances security and privacy.”

“We live in a post-Target world. The onus of handling millions of customers’ data is a huge risk.”

“Could we decentralize identity, move KYC from the silo of the company to the global ledger?”

“KYC the person through attestors (institutions like Jumio, miiCard, Experian), so people maintain individual ownership of their identities.”

Stefan Thomas and David Schwartz will also be participating in panels tomorrow morning. In the afternoon begins the Startup Challenge. Don’t miss it!

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See also: Ripple Labs at Bitcoin 2014 in Amsterdam