The BitcoinExpo conference has finished in Vienna. Officials, academics, and businessmen came together to discuss pressing problems issues, says Coinfox CEO Yury Yemshanov.
Yury Yemshanov went to the Bitcoin Expo and enjoyed the event:
“I liked the conference, it was very intensive. The organizers managed to bring together representatives of many interested groups,” noted Yemshanov.
The conference united “industry organizers, officials, developers, lawyers, and venture capital fund representatives” for a day-long discussion at the University of Vienna. Several academics from the university and the Austrian Academy of Sciences also participated in the event.
“I can’t remember any heated debate. Discussion was focused and calm,” says Yemshanov. “What I really liked in Vienna it’s that people listened to each other carefully.”
The bitcoin event in Vienna finished last evening. Many participants will meet each other in Berlin tomorrow, when the Inside Bitcoins conference opens its doors. CoinFox will participate in this conference as an exhibitor.
Vienna is the traditional financial centre of Central and Eastern Europe. The Austrian government demonstrates a certain amount of interest towards bitcoin. The Central Bank of Austria stage-managed the first bitcoin event in the country around a year ago.
Last summer, bitcoin debates began in the Austrian government: two ministers expressed opposing opinions about bitcoin. Minister of Finance Michael Spindelegger received an enquiry from the parliament about the status of bitcoin in the tax system. Spindelegger wrote in his reply that bitcoin was a fixed asset. Meanwhile, minister for science and development Reinhold Mittelehner stated that bitcoin is, in fact, a currency.
It is interesting to note that different answers did not affect the developing bitcoin industry in Vienna: in Austria, ministerial opinions do not have the power of law.
