D10e, the newly re-branded edition of the conference formerly known as Coin Congress, kicked off in the spacious and freshly painted rooms of Amsterdam's monumental Beurs van Berlage commodity exchange last Thursday. Fully focusing on decentralization, d10e featured an international lineup of speakers including Bloq CEO and Bitcoin developer Jeff Garzik, StartJoin co-founder and TV-personality Max Keiser, Singularity University analyst David Orban and many more.
The one-day congress was opened by d10e founder, Bitcoin Foundation chairman and Blockchain Capital venture capitalist Brock Pierce. Addressing some 150 attendees filling up most of the available chairs at nine in the morning, Pierce explained what d10e was set to bring to Amsterdam.
“D10e is the first conference of its kind, bringing together a mixture of like-minded individuals building decentralized technologies,” Pierce said. “Many of these concepts overlap each other, so we stand to benefit greatly by all being in the same place and learning from each other. Think of decentralizing finance with Bitcoin and blockchains, decentralizing commerce with marketplaces like OpenBazaar, decentralizing telecommunications with FireChat, and much more.”
D10e's former incarnation, Coin Congress, hosted conferences in San Francisco and Singapore throughout 2014 and 2015. Kicking off in the Dutch capital, the re-branded version established a partnership with gaming conference Casual Connect, and will continue to tag along in different cities around the world, focusing on fintech, disruptive technology, the sharing economy and the future of work.
Speaking to Bitcoin Magazine, d10e CEO and solutions strategist Tiffany Madison said:
���Coin Congress specifically focused on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, but that space has become very saturated over the years. And while a lot of these conferences are fascinating, they are often catered to and visited by a very similar group of people. To break out of that niche, to gear Bitcoin toward mass adoption – what we all want – we decided to include other disruptive technologies. From drones, to 3D-printing, to smart energy... anything furthering revolutionary ideas, and presented by speakers ranging from established thought leaders, to new blood at the forefront of evangelizing these new technologies. We hope to raise the expert level of all our attendees.”
The first edition of d10e was hosted in collaboration with the Bitcoin Embassy Amsterdam, the voluntary collaboration of Bitcoin enthusiasts evangelizing the technology from their cozy home-base cafe at the edge of the famous Red Light District. Speaking on behalf of the local embassy, proud host of the welcome reception as well as the closing party of the conference, co-founder and consultant for Mr. Bitcoin Martijn Wismeijer said:
“The setup of d10e is obviously quite different from our typical events. We typically draw in a mix of determined Bitcoin-enthusiasts, more casually interested sympathizers and newcomers who just heard about this technology and want to buy their first bitcoin. It's great to switch the tone up a bit and welcome a host of internationally renowned speakers and top-notch blockchain professionals this time. And working with the d10e team has been a great inspiration; as Bitcoin Embassy Amsterdam, we're proud to be part of this unique event.”
Despite the – for Amsterdam typical – cloudy, windy and rainy weather outside, Madison complied.
“Amsterdam is one of the hottest hubs for fintech startups in Europe, even in the world,” Madison said. “It's an innovative city, with an incredible support structure for Bitcoin. And it's probably even more advanced than San Francisco when it comes to the sharing economy. It's an ideal place to bring the early adopters of these radical technologies together. Connecting these people in an inspiring environment brings about magical results. We've therefore decided to make Amsterdam our sister city, and will come back every year.”