When the organizers of the CoinCity conference on Friday took up a collection for the families of slain RCMP officers, the attendees could contribute in one of two ways – conventional money or Bitcoin.
It was fitting that the organizers of the Moncton event paid tribute to the fallen Mounties hours after their suspected murderer had been captured. It was also fitting that they used the collection to show the flexibility of Bitcoin.
Commonly known as digital currency, Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer payment system introduced as open-source software in 2009. It is a decentralized currency controlled by no central bank and can be transferred electronically between parties anywhere in the world. And there are a group of entrepreneurs dedicated to making Moncton a Bitcon hub.
Entrepreneur Raphael Paulin-Daigle organized CoinCity to explain the potential of the new technology and currency, and possibly to lay the foundation for new businesses based on the Bitcoin protocol.
“We’re hoping some entrepreneurs with passion for Bitcoin will learn more about it and take the lead,” said Paulin-Daigle as the session wound up. “There’s still tons of stuff you can do with Bitcoin.”
He has established his own consultancy called DucatFlow, which will advise companies on all aspects of adopting bitcoin. He is assembling a team of programmers to take care of the technical aspects, and has struck partnerships with a lawyer in New York and accountant in Ottawa for professional services.
Held in the new offices of Venn Innovation (formerly Tech Southeast), the conference featured explanatory talks by Haseeb Awan, CEO and co-founder of BitAccess, an Ottawa startup that makes Bitcoin ATMs, and Michael Curry, co-founder of Vault of Satoshi, a Brantford, Ont.-based exchange that allows trading of traditional and digital currencies.
And on display was Moncton’s first Bitcoin ATM, which will be installed today in the Main Street location of Freshii, the Moncton-based health-food deli. Freshii is the first Moncton retail company to accept Bitcoin, and it has the first two-way ATM (it can accept deposits and dispense Bitcoin) in the region.
About 100 people attended the conference – a great number considering much of the city was in lockdown 15 hours earlier. And the crowd ranged from local entrepreneurs to reps from the local startup-focused PR agency Onboardly to members of the new Crypto-Currency Club of Dalhousie University.
Clarity Founder and CEO Dan Martell, one of the region’s greatest proponents of Bitcoin, said his own bullishness on Bitcoin is based on three factors: first, everyone understands money so it’s not like you have explain a concept no one gets; second, anyone can participate; and third, there are clear opportunities for innovation.
“This city has the potential to adopt the technology to adopt the technology and move it forward,” said Martell.
Venn Innovation President and CEO Doug Robertson agreed.
“If there’s a decent chance that this is going to fly, then we’ve got the right people, the right mindset,” he said. “It’s a golden opportunity for us to seize.”
