In what was Bitcoin Magazine’s first major event outside of the U.S., prominent speakers from around the world drew in a healthy number of attendees to attend Bitcoin Amsterdam 2022, a two-day event that took place from October 12 to 14 at the iconic Westergas venue in the vibrant neighborhood of Westerpark, which involved the exploration of a wide range of topics pertaining to the world’s first and largest decentralized cryptocurrency that is nearing its fourteenth year of existence. As reported on Cointelegraph.com, the topics of discussion during Bitcoin Amsterdam 2022 included Bitcoin (BTC) as an inflation hedge, energy issues in Europe, sidechains and Julian Assange’s Bitcoin story.
The way the news outlet explains it, former hedge fund manager Greg Foss and Prince Phillip of Serbia kicked off the event by highlighting the potential for Bitcoin as a safe haven asset, discussing its engineered scarcity when compared to a debt-driven economic system that has been fighting to combat inflation. Foss, who cut his teeth working at the Royal Bank of Canada and spent nearly 30 years trading credit, mentioned how Bitcoin fundamentally changed his outlook on the current economic challenges facing the world, as noted by Cointelegraph, stating, “I found Bitcoin in 2016. I’ve been researching it ever since, and in my opinion, it is the most important technological and financial solution to our looming debt crisis that we’re seeing coming true in real time right now.”
Another hot topic at the event was the energy situation in Europe, as noted by the news outlet, which has been exacerbated due to Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. CEO of mining firm White Rock Management, Andy Long, summed up the status of affairs on the continent, stating, as published by Cointelegraph, “Really, the only affordable resources for energy for mining in Europe are in locations where the energy is stranded. When you transport energy, you have losses in the grid, but you also need enough capacity in the distribution network,” adding that gas pipeline restrictions and powered down nuclear power plants adding further restraints, while renewable generation was not keeping pace, which translates to mining operators having difficulty finding locations with low cost, stable power.
Also among the notable speakers, Paul Sztorc, inventor of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 300, and renowned cryptographer, Hashcash inventor and Blockstream CEO Adam Back, pondered the future use of sidechains to improve the Bitcoin network going forward, as pointed out by the news outlet, with technologies such as OpCodes, Simplicity and zero-knowledge, or zk, SNARKS put forward by both speakers during their panel on the subject. Meanwhile, Sxtorc, whose BIP 300 creation proposes compressing three to six months of transaction data into a fixed 32-bytes, also agreed that sidechains could help scale Bitcoin’s network through the implementation of his BIP and other sidechain proposals, as published by the news outlet.
Lastly, but by no means less relevant, activist and Wikileaks Founder Julian Assange, who is currently incarcerated at Belmarsh prison in London, was represented by his wife, who addressed Bitcoin’s role in fighting censorship around the world, as published by Cointelegraph, explaining, “Bitcoin and its technology are trying to fight censorship in a similar way to how Wikileaks has fought censorship using cryptography. Julian started Wikileaks with incredible innovation, he is a pioneer who has changed the way journalism is done.” To conclude, the news outlet mentions how Assange’s work using cryptography was primarily focused on helping journalists relook at how they protect their sources and information in the internet age, adding that once Wikileaks began publishing information, the media company was shut off from major payment networks.
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- GuestSpeakersIncludedFormerHedgeFundManagerGregFoss&PrincePhillipOfSerbiaWhoHighlightedThePotentialForBitcoinAsSafeHavenAssetAndDiscussedItsEngineeredScarcityWhenComparedToDebtDrivenEconomicSystemThatHasBeenFightingToCombatInflation;AnotherHotTopicWasTheEnergySituationInEuropeWhichHasBeenExacerbatedDueToTheUkraineConflict
- MeanwhileInventorOfBIP300PaulSztorcAndRenownedCryptographer/HashcashInventorAndCEOofBlockstreamAdamBackPonderedTheFutureUseOfSidechainsToImproveTheBitcoinNetwork;TheWifeOfWikileaksFounderJulianAssangeWhoIsCurrentlyIncarceratedInLondonExplainedBitcoin’sRoleInFightingCensorshipGloballyThroughTheTamperproofPowerOfCryptography
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-amsterdam-2022-optimistic-outlook-for-btc-amid-shaky-economic-times