Richard Branson Holding Digital Currency Summit on Private Caribbean IslandFrom May 25 to 28, the Virgin Group founder will co-host a forum about the future of Blockchain and Bitcoin.
ByNina Zipkin•
Most people wouldn't turn down a few days in the Caribbean, but the sunny locale isn't necessarily the first place that comes to mind when you think of cryptocurrency.
But this May, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson is set to hold theBlockchain Summiton Necker Island, his 74-acre private island in the British Virgin Islands, to discuss the future ofBitcoin, Blockchain anddigital currency. (Blockchainis the software infrastructure that supports Bitcoin transactions -- not to be confused with Blockchain.info, which is a digital wallet service.)
Related:Is Bitcoin Speculative Foolery or a Financial Services Breakthrough?
Branson is sharing hosting duties with Valery Vavilov, the CEO ofBitfury, a company that develops servers for "Blockchain transaction processing," Pro kiteboarder Suzi Mai and VC Bill Tai, the co-founders ofMaiTai Globaland George Kikvadze, the managing director of the Georgian Co-Investment Fund.
The Summit participants -- who are likely to be on the receiving end of Branson'spenchant for practical jokes-- hail from the worlds of venture capital, finance and technology, including Lars Rasmussen, Facebook's former engineering director and inventor of Google Maps, futurist Marshall Thurber, James Newsome, a former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Matthew Roszak, the founder of Tally Capital and Young Sohn, the president and CSO of Samsung Electronics.
The discussions will be moderated byThe Wall Street Journalsenior columnist Michael J. Casey,The Economist'sGlobalization Editor Matthew Bishop and Hernando de Soto, president of theInstitute for Liberty and Democracy.
Branson has been a supporter of exploring Bitcoin for some time. Last fall, ahead of the firstthe Global Digital Currency Conversation Forumin Australia, Branson explained his rationale forinvestingin the cryptocurrency, writing "There's a real desire for greater levels of control, freedom and scrutiny over what happens with our money, Bitcoin addresses these concerns and that is why so many people believe it represents the future."
Related:“天觉得年”:摩根·斯普尔洛克发现什么When He Tried to Survive on Bitcoin for a Week
