Satoshi Roundtable: What to Expect from Bitcoin and Cryptoassets in 2019

This conference, or ‘unconference’ as some participants termed it, allegedly included a number of influencers within the blockchain community. Diving into the things that they discussed may be of importance for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry in 2019 and beyond.

About the Event

To attend the Roundtable required a rare invitation. Not many people are selected to attend. Steve Beauregard, Partner and Chief Revenue Officer of Bloq, Inc., stated that the event included:

“A very carefully curated guest list of C-level executives that have operated exchanges, wallets, payment processors, ATMs, remittance companies and OTC trading desks, […} executives from Fortune 50 institutions, bankers, lawyers, developers, VCs and cryptographers.”

The Roundtable operates according to the Chatham House Rule. This means that while the information presented at the event may be used or discussed outside of the conference, the identity of attendees or their affiliations may not be revealed without explicit permission from that person. Even photos and videos are forbidden without approval from the person or persons being photographed or recorded. This is the fifth annual Satoshi Roundtable. The first took place between Feb 6 and 8, 2015. Three mini Roundtables have been announced to take place throughout 2019 within New Hampshire.

Thank you everyone who attended The Roundtable V!

Stay tuned in 2019 for three mini Roundtables: one focusing on digital securities, one focusing on Bitcoin and one more general — open to all, first come first serve tickets – limited in size – location for some will be NH

— The Satoshi Roundtable (@SatoshiRoundtbl) February 5, 2019

What Else To Expect in 2019

The biggest news from the Roundtable appears to come from Abra, a blockchain based investment app with a built-in cryptocurrency wallet. Supposedly, for as little as $5, users of the Abra app will soon be able to use Bitcoin as collateral to invest in a limited offering of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). A newcomer to the event Zane Witherspoon, CTO of Dispatch Labs went further than Abra and offered a list of some of the topics discussed. The BTC Elite hosted what appears to be multiple sessions dedicated toward brainstorming methods for mainstream adoption of cryptoassets, which Abra’s new product might help accomplish. Furthermore, a number of innovations to the blockchain were supposedly a major part of the conference with discussions on topics like ‘Stablecoins,’ ‘Grin and Privacy Tokens,’ ‘Sidechains and Scaling,’ and the ‘Blockchain Satellite Node.’ In addition, Wyoming and Bermuda were said to be used as case studies for a discussion on regulation. There was even a discussion on the relationship between psychedelics and cryptoassets. Witherspoon did not include details about any of these discussions. He did, however, offer a few pieces of insider information. First, he said that the majority of those at the Roundtable fell into one of two primary categories: either 1) they sold their cryptocurrency and cryptoasset holdings near the top or 2) they are currently engaged in active fundraising campaigns. Beyond the elite, Witherspoon reported a growing interest in blockchain development within the general society. He claimed that there is currently an abundance of talent. In addition, he stated that there is a growing number of artists and musicians using the blockchain for their creative ventures. Of economic pertinence, Witherspoon noted that the STO market may be overvalued and that participants at the Roundtable believe Grin (GRIN) is in a bubble. It also appears that those at the conference believe the death of Gerald Cotten may have been falsified as part of an exit scam orchestrated by Cotten and others at QuadrigaCX, a Canadian exchange which lost access to all funds when Cotten supposedly died. What do you think the information presented at the Satoshi Roundtable means for the cryptocurrency and cryptoasset markets? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!