02 Jan 2014 / Kansas.com – U.S. Senate informational panels deemed it legitimate. Detractors dismiss it as unstable and a vehicle for criminal trade. China has banned new deposits on its largest exchange.
Bitcoin, the international digital payment system and currency and one of the hottest technology and finance topics this past year, could become a widespread vehicle for trade, believe the leaders of a Miami group. To further that view, Miami International Bitcoin will be participating in the North American Bitcoin Conference slated for Miami Beach in January.
“The thing that’s really exciting about bitcoin is that, here in South Florida, we have a half billion people to the south of us who do not have access to a banking system that works well, capital markets, credit – things that we take for granted,” said Charles Evans, business professor at Florida Atlantic University and one of the founders of Miami International Bitcoin.
“I fully expect that Miami could become the ‘Silicon Valley’ of small-scale international finance,” said Evans, who will speak at the conference. “I defy anybody to do business in South Florida without doing international business.”
Bitcoin began in 2009 as an electronic payment system and currency allowing for peer-to-peer payments and financial exchanges without financial regulation or a third party, such as a bank. Users establish an online wallet using their local currency and exchange with other bitcoin owners.
The 2014 conference will take place Jan. 24-26, and is expected to draw more than 500 members of the bitcoin community…… Read more
