There are at least three Bitcoin events that I know of in NYC today. I do not think any of them are public events but the fact that there are three in a single day is interesting to me.
This morning, NYC’s Economic Development Corporation is hosting a Bitcoin breakfast with some of the leading banks and financial services companies in NYC to discuss Bitcoin. My partner Albert will be attending that.
Also in lower manhattan, Ben Lawsky, New York State’s Superintendant of Financial Services, will be holding hearings about Bitcoin. I have been asked to testify and will do so, at 11:30 along with Barry Silbert, Jeremy Liew, and maybe a couple others, in a panel of investors.
Then at 6pm this evening, in the USV event space, Wells Fargo is hosting a discussion about Bitcoin. My partner Albert will be part of the expert panel. I plan to attend the first part and then duck out to see the Knicks play the Celtics in the battle for the cellar in the east. This is a public event, but it has been sold out for weeks and if you are not already attending, unfortunately you can’t.
It certainly feels like there is a whirlwind of attention and discussion and debate about Bitcoin in the air in New York City. Last week Marc Andreessen penned a piece in the New York Times titled “Why Bitcoin Matters.” Later in the week, JP Morgan’s CEOdismissed Bitcoin on CNBC. And over the weekend, well known NYC Bitcoin entrepreneur Charlie Shrem, shown in this AVC post from this summer, was arrested for knowingly transacting in Bitcoin with drug dealers (or something close to that, the complaint is here).
So there is a lot going on at the intersection of the Bitcoin world and the world of finance and money and regulators right now. I am happy that USV is engaged and involved in these discussions. They are important and necessary.
