The coming eCom21 conference is devoted to one of the prospective and topical trends of e-commerce – electronic money and crypto-currencies.
As the Organising Committee informs, a presentation from the Executive Director and Member of the Board of Bitcoin Jon Matonis is expected. The top manager of this innovative company and the recognised leader of the industry of crypto-currencies will raise the most important questions regarding the evolution of this new virtual money, including legal aspects of the industry, the role of the regulators and other subjects.
In late September Jon Matonis participated in discussion in Boston at the Sibos conference, where he, in particular, touched upon the problem of interrelations and collaboration between regulators and innovators – the controversial but inevitable dialogue between them.
“Crypto-currency can give many pluses for its users, such as protection from monetary voluntarism and excessive commission, as well as a possibility to keep one’s assets in an independent currency system. All of these pluses are the direct consequence of the fact that these currencies are decentralised. However, decentralisation also entails certain risks which have to be taken into account. Therefore, the keen interest in this market on the part of the regulators is clear. And the innovators are not less interested in a productive dialogue and the development of legal solutions that protect the end user, as this is a guarantee of their trust in new financial products,” says Mr Matonis.
According to another participant of the conference, Deputy Head of the eCom21 Organising Committee Ilya Shevchenko, the agenda of the Boston forum not only included practical issues, but also conceptual and strategic aspects of e-money development. In particular, this subject was raised and addressed in an original way in a speech of Bill Gates, who is currently the Co-Chairman of the biggest charitable fund in the world, whose activity, apart from other things, is directed to the development of socially responsible projects.
In the opinion of Mr Gates, e-money can become a great stimulus in economic development, especially in the poorest countries of the world. “People of African countries, which practically have no financial and banking infrastructure, are deprived of the simplest and most fundamental financial opportunities – to make accruals for the education of their children, to get loans for purchasing seed grain or farming equipment; they cannot insure their harvest in the event of unfavourable weather conditions. All of these not only thwart the progress of economic development, they practically give no chance for it to occur. In order to organise the financial infrastructure in countries such as Somali and Nigeria, huge investments and expenses will be required. Whereas, the marginal cost of money transactions in a virtual currency is very small and the system as such is widely accessible and opens huge opportunities for economic development. We are very excited by the opportunities of e-money – they are fantastic.”
As Ilya Shevchenko notes, “By observing the tendencies and moods we see on the global market of e-commerce, I can note that the subject of this year for eCom21 – electronic money – has been very correctly chosen, as it is in the avant-garde of the topical issues of the market. We look forward to the presentations of international experts, leading specialists and representatives of state regulators here in Riga, in order to discuss this issue as broadly and comprehensively as possible, and in an interesting way.”
Sibos (SWIFT International Banking Operations Seminar) – the biggest international financial forum, which gathers together over seven thousand representatives of the world’s leading credit and financial organisations. The event unites a conference, an exhibition and a seminar on interbank payments from the organiser – SWIFT.
This year the conference will be dedicated to one of the most topical and prospective trends of e-commerce – electronic money.