Digital Currency Conference to Follow Australian G20 Leaders' Summit

Industry lobby group the Australian Digital Currency Association (ADCCA) will host a special cryptocurrency-focused event that will overlap with the G20 Leaders' Summit taking place in Brisbane later this week.

Called the Global Digital Currency Conversation (GDCC), the forum will take place on 16th–17th November at the close of the Leaders' Summit, which is noted as the most important event on the G20's annual calendar.

The GDCC will feature speakers and panelists representing both the digital currency industry and government policymakers, including the chair of Australia's inquiry into digital currencies Senator Sam Dastyari, Perianne Boring of the US Chamber of Digital Commerce (CDC), bitcoin legal academic Elizabeth Stark and former Central Bank of Ireland director Peter Oakes.

Engaging stakeholders

Australia has held the G20's rotating presidency since last December, a term that ends this month.

ADCCA

chairman Ron Tucker, who also heads local bitcoin exchange Bit Trade Australia, said that the conference gives Australia the opportunity to position itself as a world leader in the most formal discussion yet of digital currencies held worldwide.

He said:

"With Australia chairing the G20 this year, there is no better time to engage with relevant stakeholders to make sure the digital currency industry can continue to grow and prosper at home and globally."

The opportunity extended beyond just digital currencies and into the wider FinTech sector, Tucker said.

He explained that Australia's model, which blends self-regulation and government oversight, would appeal to the rest of the world and the GDCC forum would showcase what can be achieved if this model is applied to bitcoin and blockchain technology.

The international response to the conference has been good so far, he added, even in the short time since it was announced. There has been a lot of enthusiasm from similar lobby groups in other countries, such as the US. With bitcoin moving "at the speed of light" it was important for stakeholders to respond just as quickly.

"It is my intention that this forum will serve as a springboard to another conference at the next G20 conference in Turkey where a global digital currency structure can be more formalised."

International forum

The G20

, or Group of 20, brings together leaders from the world's 19 largest national economies, the European Union, and invited guest countries on a regular basis to discuss economic issues.

The group formed in 1999 as a response to the Asian financial crisis. It has since expanded beyond its original scope as a meeting of financial ministers and central bank governors to become a full-fledged international forum of its member countries' heads of government.

The ADCCA, which formed in mid-2014, has played an instrumental role in informing Australian government stakeholders on digital currency issues with seminars, calls for taxation clarity, and promoting the idea of a self-regulatory model for the industry.

Brisbane image via Shutterstock