Blockchain 2016: Post conference results of the Prague conference

On May 19, 2016 Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Prague – the second annual conference dedicated to cryptocurrency and blockchain technology took place in the Czech Republic. In 2016 to the conference former name (Bitcoin Conference) the word ‘Blockchain’ was added, since it is data structure blocks that developers, investors and financial institutions have focused on.

The conference was divided into three parts, dedicated to cryptocurrency trends, innovations and practical implementation of blockchain.

Besides the conference there was exhibition area, presenting financial and technical products, designed to simplify business operations and improve service quality from clients’ perspective. These solutions are:

• Bitwala service for bank transfers using Bitcoins.
• HashCoins hardware and software for mining.
• 7Elephant service for business operations based on blockchain.
• Wirex – Personal financial platform.
• Tom Horn Gaming software for gaming.
• Nanocard debit card.
• CoinsBank products.

12 speakers from 8 countries covered issues that were lively discussed in 2016 by blockchain community. Various blockchain systems outside the context of cryptocurrencies were featured in the spotlights of the conference. Taken into account were not only Bitcoin-based blockchains, but also Ethereum-based blockchains that are rapidly gaining popularity.

An important part of the event was the application function of blockchains: representatives of financial and IT industry moved beyond the theory and presented services that will simplify lives of end customers.

Ronny Boesing (CEO CoinsBank, Denmark) spoke about the benefits of decentralized technologies, including their transparency and integrity. The speaker gave an example of company’s flexibility at the national markets: CoinsBank products are adapted to legislations and banking systems of different countries.

A detailed report on investment in Bitcoins was presented by Jack Tatar (businessman, head of GEM Research Solutions & People Tested Media Research Company, USA). Audience received answers to their questions about risks of investing and how to protect yourself when investing in cryptocurrency.

Security issues, topical for transaction participants were covered by Pavel Niedoba (owner of SimpleCoin, Czech Republic). He spoke about the most common schemes of stealing bitcoins out of electronic wallets and gave advice on how to keep your savings safe.

George Basiladze (founder of Cryptopay, Russia/UK) presented a report about the future of cross-border payments in Bitcoins. Speed and low transaction costs contribute to the fact that the number of cross-border payments made in this cryptocurrency will grow rapidly.

Using the example of their company, Edgar Bers and Vitali Pavlov (representatives of HashCoins, Estonia) gave a step by step explanation of how blockchain works. The company is developing hardware and software for mining, allowing users to mine cryptocurrency without extensive knowledge of it.

Sergey Primachik (representative of 7Elephant, Russia) presented his vision of advantages and disadvantages of Ethereum exemplified by the implemented project. Sergey presented his topic not on the behalf of developers, but discussed services from a business perspective. Audience learned about the difficulties that Ethereum-based project clients faced with.

Meinhard Benn (CEO SatoshiPay, Germany) spoke about business prospects, opened by nanopayments in bitcoins – transactions equal to one cent or even less. Conference participants learned about benefits of the service that provides instant transfer of funds and high frequency of transactions. Users are able to pay in one-click (or automatically) for only that very part of content that is really interesting for them.

Global changes that will be made by blockchain were discussed within the presentation of Amin Rafiee (Bination, Australia). The speaker stressed that the technology will lead to a conceptual restructure of law, management and other fields.

Pavel Matveev (founder of Wirex Limited, Russia) explained how to combine card infrastructure and Bitcoin. Until the day comes when people are able to pay all goods and services with digital money, Bitcoin remains a niche product, the main objective of which is to bring together cryptocurrency and credit cards.

Bharath Rao (CEO Coinpit Inc, USA) spoke about how to secure transactions and storage of digital money from cybercriminals. He gave advice on how to keep safe personal information on the network.

The next event on blockchain and cryptocurrency organized by Smile expo will be Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Kiev and the Bitcoin Embassy hopes to welcome you in the Ukrainian capital on September 22, 2016. Plan your visit to Kiev early, we hope to see you all in September!