2014 Schedule
Interactive: March 7–11  •  Film: March 7–15  •  Music: March 11–16

Is Bitcoin the Future of Money?

#sxsw #BITFuture

Interview with Fred Ehrsam, the co-founder of Coinbase, the largest and in many ways most "legit" start-up in the emerging Bitcoin economy. Coinbase manages Bitcoin wallets and transactions between people who hold the currency. Ehrsam is a former foreign exchange trader at Goldman Sachs who became entranced by the possibilities of Bitcoin, and he speaks elegantly and in great depth about why he believes digital currency will be revolutionary. I'll aim to ask him about Bitcoin's murky founding, its advantages and its shortcomings as currency, how to secure it, its political affinities, and whether it fundamentally changes how we think about money.

Presenters

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Fred Ehrsam

Co-Founder

Coinbase

Fred Ehrsam is the co-founder of Coinbase. He previously traded foreign exchange at Goldman, Sachs, and Co. in New York, and has also analyzed portfolios at BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, and worked in nonstructures research. He holds a BS in Computer Science and Economics, with honors and distinction, from Duke University.

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Rolfe Winkler

The Wall Street Journal

Rolfe Winkler is a technology reporter in the Journal’s San Francisco bureau, where his primary focus is Google and all the industries the company touches. Previously he wrote commentary for the Heard on the Street page, focusing on technology companies broadly.

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