Bob Burnett

I am fortunate to have been invited to speak at many Bitcoin conferences over the years, and recently I had two engagements just a few weeks apart. One was The Bitcoin Conference held in Miami in late May and it was followed by BTC Prague in early June in the Czech Republic. Interestingly, there was a marked contrast in the composition and the attitudes of the attendees, a contrast that offers insights into how perceptions of Bitcoin change in different areas of the world.

Just reading the word Bitcoin may have created anxiety-laced thoughts like: Ponzi scheme, speculative bubble, criminal tool, internet play money. If so, you are not alone. Warren Buffett said Bitcoin is “probably rat poison squared.” Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan's CEO, has called it a “hyped-up fraud.” It doesn’t take much research to assemble a list of other prominent detractors including Joe Biden, Janet Yellen, Charlie Munger, Christine Legarde and Elizabeth Warren.