Next week, Media Bistro kicks off their global tour for ‘Inside Bitcoin,’ stopping in nine innovative hubs such as Tel Aviv, Singapore and NYC – just to name a few.
It should come as no surprise that the first leg of ‘Asia’s Largest Bitcoin Conference’ starts in Hong Kong, the financial center that has been teeming with FinTech startups. Besides the launch of the city’s first Bitcoin retail store and the cropping up of ATMs all around town, entrepreneurs in the virtual currency space have been flocking to Hong Kong to build a startup, largely thanks to its relaxed regulatory environment.
With over 50 speakers running the gamut of Bitcoin investors, entrepreneurs and engineers, we sat down for a chat with Leonhard Weese, one ‘Inside Bitcoins’ speaker, to learn more about the virtual currency that’s taking the world by storm. See the full speaker list here.
As president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong, a self-proclaimed Bitcoin enthusiast, (or humorously so) evangelist and missionary, Leonhard is deeply passionate about the virtual currency and sees it not only as ‘liberating,’ but also a way to level the playing field.
“There are millions of people that aren’t able to take part in this banking world, whether not having proof of address, proper ID or credit scores. In the Philippines and India, a huge chunk of their national income is wired from overseas where they pay 10-15% transaction fees to wire money back home,” said Leonhard. “In Hong Kong, we allow our credit card companies to take 3% from our economic wealth, from something we produce.”
Frustrated by high transaction costs paid out to credit card companies, Leonhard uses Bitcoin as a credit card replacement, mostly to make online purchases. As Bitcoin becomes more and more widely used, Leonhard believes that the virtual currency will empower all users to take ownership over their digital property – as they’ve never been able to before. “We haven’t had property as it comes to money in a long time, because debit and credit cards and paper money – that’s really just debt we have to some entity. And very often, that debt comes with a very long list of terms and conditions,” he said.
As Leonhard will be speaking about the issues and challenges in Bitcoin regulation, he said that startups have been drawn to Hong Kong because it is historically cautious when updating their laws. “No matter how the government is going to classify Bitcoin, it is very unlikely that Hong Kong is suddenly going to introduce capital gains tax for Bitcoin,” he said. “It’s what startups love more than getting big grants from the government. They want to start building their product, not read through a ton of legislation first.”
According to Leonhard, Hong Kong will follow the lead of other countries before implementing any kind of regulation in the Bitcoin space, so startups can rest assured. “It’s something [the government] has publicly stated. There’s no need to regulate right now and they will focus on the banks,” he said. “If they do feel the need to regulate, they will regulate the banks and the way they deal with Bitcoin – but not the currency itself.”
Besides regulatory issues facing Hong Kong in the Bitcoin space, conference speakers will also tackle hot topics such as the ‘Bitcoin Ecosystem Investing: Do’s and Don’ts,” ‘Bitcoins vs. Altcoins,’ and the ‘Promise of Decentralized Technology.’ Also, there will be a panel discussion focused on Hong Kong’s Bitcoin startup ecosystem as well.
‘Early Bird’ tickets before June 23rd are still available, and Media Bistro has now made passes to the networking sessions free.
