Ukraine is becoming more and more open to the idea of digital currencies. As a result, the country’s first Bitcoin embassy has recently opened its doors in Kiev. The space, which was founded by Bitcoin businessman Michael Chobanyanu, is intended as a place where the Bitcoin community and Bitcoin Foundation Ukraine can hold meetings.
Furthermore, a special souvenir shop will sell different kinds of cryptocurrency-related souvenirs within the same building. Finally, there will be an ATM where anyone can buy Bitcoins. Mr. Chobanyanu is hoping that the Bitcoin embassy will not just be the acting grounds of meetings, but a tool to help educate people about digital currencies and to increase Bitcoin adoption in Ukraine as well.
A week before the embassy’s official opening, Mr. Chobanyanu had closed conversations with Qiwi. As a result, Bitcoin can be bought in any Qiwi terminal now. Mr. Chobanyanu is the founder of the first Bitcoin agency in Ukraine and is also an executive member of Ukraine’s Bitcoin Foundation. One of his future plans is to open a Bitcoin café next spring. Furthermore, he wants to organize debates, educational sessions and other events, and record Bitcoin-related video podcasts. He believes this should attract some new Bitcoin enthusiasts.
Mr. Chobanyanu is also trying to have Qiwi terminals installed all over the country and promised a dozen more by the end of the year. The terminals were supposed to be installed sooner, but there were a few problems with legislation terms which delayed the process. Mr. Chobanyanu does not know where the terminals are going to be installed exactly, but he is rather confident terminals will appear in the major Ukrainian cities. Michael Chobanyanu was also very proud to announce getting point-of-sale SIM card and mobile top-up shops to exchange Bitcoin. The matter is also being discussed with two more operators.
Mr. Chobanyanu hosted a series of seminars at the Bitcoin Conference Kiev that took place the 26th of September, which is why the Bitcoin embassy is not only supported by the Bitcoin community, but by university students as well.
The Bitcoin Conference Kiev took place in NSC Olimpiyskiy and was attended by 170 Bitcoin enthusiasts. Bitcoin Foundation Ukraine’s representatives Mikhail Chobanyan and Andrey Dubetskiy were very excited that Ukraine now has an event for people who are interested in working with Bitcoin. Ukraine is one of the leading countries when it comes to the amount of Bitcoin entrepreneurs due to its many well educated IT specialists.
Bitcoin entrepreneurs were invited to speak at the conference. Andrey Dubetskiy, Bitcoin enthusiast and co-founder of Bitcoin Foundation Ukraine discussed the current state of Bitcoin in Ukraine.
Another speaker, Pavel Sidelov, CTO at ZenAssets, PayPlug.In and head of the Ukrainian Electronic Business Association, talked about Bitcoin risks. He also discussed how Bitcoin can compete with conventional money. Finally, he spoke about Bitcoin’s practical applications.
Another important topic when it comes to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is mining. Joshua Zipkin, CEO at Advancedminers (USA) discussed precisely that. He talked about the state of the modern digital currency mining industry and how complex and uncertain it is.
Andrey Kolodyuk, managing partner and founder of AVentures Capital highlighted all the details when it comes to investing in Bitcoin projects. Furthermore, he discussed things that attract Bitcoin investors.
Other people who spoke at the conference include:
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Dmitriy Chuyko, founder and CEO of FUEC crypto currency exchanger;
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Mariya Salnikova, analyst at FOREX CLUB;
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Oleg Kudrenko, independent Bitcoin developer;
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Mikhail Chobanyan, founder of Kuna bitcoin agency;
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Natalia Revenko, Business Development Director at Offshore Pro Group in CIS;
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Stanislav Podyachev, btcu.biz project, Director at Acredit;
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Vyacheslav Ustimenko, СEO at law and consulting company LAWBOOT;
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Artem Afayan, lawyer, managing partner at Yuskutum.
The Bitcoin Conference Kiev was such a success that the organizers decided to make it an annual event. Russia is organizing a Bitcoin conference as well, which will take place December 4, 2014 in Saint-Petersburg.
The event’s photo gallery can be found here: http://bitcoinconf.com.ua/en/photo
*The Bitcoin Foundation Ukraine is currently filing for public and governmental recognition and trying to promote laws and start conversations with government agencies.
If you would like to know more, take a look at their website: http://www.bitcoinua.org/#about
Sources:
http://bitcoinconf.com.ua
http://cointelegraph.com/news/112653/bitcoin-conference-kiev-recap-236000-users-in-ukraine-and-growing
http://bitcoinconf.com.ua/en/post-release
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