Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne to Keynote Bitcoin 2014 Conference

Overstock.com CEO and bitcoin convert Patrick M Byrne will deliver the keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2014 conference on 15th-17th May at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam.

He is expected to speak about his vision for the future of bitcoin; its potential for global financial inclusion; non-currency uses like proving ownership of stocks and bonds; and the network's relation to society as a whole.

Jon Matonis, executive director of the Bitcoin Foundation, said:

"We are delighted to have one of bitcoin’s most prominent and prescient champions at our conference. Patrick’s decision to accept bitcoin has introduced it to mainstream society and increased understanding among consumers."

He added: "It’s going to be a great event; this conference is where visionary technology and mainstream commerce intersects."

Welcome advocate

Byrne has become a poster boy for bitcoin since announcing that Overstock.com would start accepting bitcoins in an offhand interview remark last December. Feeling pressure to deliver, he did exactly that with some intensive help by payment processing partner Coinbase, six months ahead of schedule.

Since then, the self-confessed libertarian and Austrian Economist has become one of bitcoin's biggest advocates. The first major online retailer to accept bitcoin, Overstock.com made more than $124,000 in bitcoin sales in its first day of accepting the currency, and by March had topped $1m in purchases.

The company has revised its bitcoin revenue projection for 2014 from an initial $3-5m to a jaw-dropping $20m.

"Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency inventions reduce costs for businesses – small or large – and thus enables firms to pass savings onto consumers," said Byrne earlier in the year.

"In addition, bitcoin shares the key virtue of gold: it is a form of money that cannot be easily manipulated or debased by central planners."

Bitcoin 2014

Bitcoin 2014 in Amsterdam is the annual international conference, exhibition and networking event organized by the Bitcoin Foundation.

The conference aims to provide a platform for all digital currency stakeholders: the investors, technologists, regulators, executives, entrepreneurs, developers and policymakers who will collectively shape the future of cryptographic money worldwide.

It follows last year’s inaugural event in San Jose, California, which drew more than 1,000 attendees over the course of its three-day run.

For more information visit the event website, here.