A Dundee businessman has outlined his plans for the UK’s first major Bitcoin conference, despite a fall in the value of cryptocurrencies.
Jim Duffy is best-known as co-founder of Entrepreneurial Spark, a business accelerator programme. He received an MBE for his services to the business community.
He started buying cryptocurrencies five years ago and is one of the hosts of the Bitcoin Collective podcast.
Now he is one of the organisers of a two-day Bitcoin conference, to be held in Edinburgh this October.
The event will have over 20 speakers from all over the world, who between them have millions of followers on social media.
Value of Bitcoin falls
It’s been a volatile year for cryptocurrencies, with most significantly falling in value.
Five years ago the price of a single Bitcoin was under £1,000 but this reached almost £69,000 in November last year. Now it is now trading for around £23,000.
Other cryptocurrencies have dropped even further. In May the collapse of Terra Luna, wiped off billions of pounds in value.
Jim said the value of his portfolio has more than halved since the start of this year, but he is optimistic about the future of Bitcoin.
He said: “Since November portfolios have been decimated. It’s been directly correlated to stock markets, the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. Some people who were invested have cashed out.
“The price collapse is scary if you are looking at a six month period. In the last four years everyone jumped on the crypto bandwagon – it was like a gold rush. It grew too quickly.
“My wallet is down by 50% this year, but if I look over four years it’s up hundreds of percent.
“I’ve traded in various coins, but I’m only holding Bitcoin now as it’s the only one where you can’t touch the code or control it. Every other crypto currency is open to human intervention.
“Long term, the price of Bitcoin will increase as there is more and more adoption. In some countries, such as Turkey or El Salvador, it’s a currency people use on a daily basis.”
Bitcoin conference
The Bitcoin Collective conference will be held at Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms on October 21 and 22.
Jim is hoping around 750 people interested in Bitcoin will attend.
He notes that the first USA Bitcoin conference in 2019 had 1,900 attendees and this year had 35,000 visitors.
He said the conference will cover the genesis of Bitcoin, its technology and its future.
Jim adds: “The aim of the conference is to educate and inform. I am not going to tell anybody they should have a Bitcoin wallet.
“What people should do is understand where Bitcoin sits in the financial system.
“Only last week, Blackrock, with $8 trillion under management entered the Bitcoin arena with a new Bitcoin Trust for its institutional clients.
“I see this as massive step towards the normalisation and adoption of Bitcoin.
“Personally, I’m continuing to buy Bitcoin every month.
“I’m not doing that to get rich quick in the next year. I’m looking at a horizon of at least five years.”
Conversation