Bitcoin conferences are on the rise. It seems every week some city is host to a new expo on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. Mostly, these events have several keynote speakers sharing their views on certain aspects of the world of virtual currencies, but some events put focus on the very basics of Bitcoin as well. Some people are still new to this technology and they sometimes need a helping hand to guide them. MIT Bitcoin Expo wants to combine the best of both worlds.
Educating in Bitcoin technology
The Massachussets Institute of Technology is one of the most respected universities in the world. When reading their mission statement, it becomes clear why Bitcoin is not frowned upon within this institution’s walls.
The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century — whether the focus is cancer, energy, economics or literature.
Bitcoin brings several of these fields together, which makes it a very interesting technology. Even more so, it is paving the way for future money-handling. Whether it will be Bitcoin or another one, virtual currencies will not disappear. MIT realizes this as well and to help people get acquainted with this new technology, they decided to host the first MIT Bitcoin Expo.
RelatedNews
High-profile keynote speakers
The expo will be divided into three parts. At 9am sharp, the basics of Bitcoin will be covered and attendees can discover how the cryptocurrency works. After this initiation, leading academics and professionals will take the floor, sharing their perspectives and hoping to convince people why Bitcoin is the voice of the future. These sessions will provide a more in-depth look, covering the economic aspects as well as the technology behind virtual currencies. Among the speakers are prominent figures like Armory Technologies’ Alan Reiner , Gavin Andresen and Circle’s Sean Neville .
Finally, the event will conclude with several workshops. Expert practitioners will introduce the audience to tools that will allow them to work with Bitcoin.
The organization of the event will be covered by HackMIT , the MIT Bitcoin Club and the College Cryptocurrency Network . HackMIT is known to host one of the greatest hackathons in the world. MIT Bitcoin Club is a frequent organizer of Bitcoin related events at MIT. The College Cryptocurrency Network tries to bring college clubs all over the world together, dedicated to forming a robust network for cryptocurrency education, mining, trading, and start-ups.
What makes this expo stand out is its purpose to educate people who have not been heavily involved with Bitcoin before. There are lots of people out there who have high hopes for virtual currencies. They keep themselves informed every day and know how to work with Bitcoin. In between the yay- and naysayers is a big group that might be won for Bitcoin’s cause. They just don’t know enough about it yet. An event like MIT’s Bitcoin Expo tries to help these people bridge the gap. It’s the only way to spread the word all over the world and it is our obligation to Bitcoin. We need to educate people, so that everyone at least knows there are alternative currencies out there.
The MIT Bitcoin Expo will take place Saturday May 3rd at MIT’s Stata Center. If you’re thinking of attending but need a final push, have I mentioned that this event will be completely free?
Sean Neville photo by Twitter.com
