The Bitcoin Foundation is presenting Bitcoin 2013: The Future of Payments in San Jose, CA this weekend. While logistics and timing limited many bitcoin enthusiasts from reaching the big event, there is no lack of local happenings taking place around the world. In Israel, the country’s first bitcoin hackathon was announced for the end of the month, starting May 30. As stated on the event’s site “the BITCOIN Hackathon is a 48-hour coding marathon. The purpose of the hackathon is to give developers, designers, entrepreneurs and BITCOIN-fans the chance to pitch ideas involving only BITCOIN - form teams - build a prototype of their idea, all within only 48 hours!”
An interesting spin on the hackathon is that it will be hosted by social trading broker eToro, in its Israeli offices. The broker and its CEO Yoni Assia have been vocal in their support for both bitcoins and hackathons, so the choice of venue isn’t a surprise. This past February, eToro ran an internal hackathon for its employees to produce innovative ideas for the broker to implement in its offerings. In regards to bitcoins, eToro has spoken positively about the digital currency and has mentioned plans to offer bitcoin deposits. However, until now, bitcoin related talk has been just that, talk. As such, with their involvement in the event, it will be interesting to see if they will also provide influence and resources for the promotion of trading related bitcoin products.
Forex Magnates reached out to the broker for more information on their involvement with the event and their future plans for bitcoin. Answering, Yoni Assia, eToro CEO and Founder said to Forex Magnates "Since early on, we were very interested in Bitcoin. This new kind of currency stands for everything eToro believes in: an open, transparent and boundaryless financial world. We are excited to host Israel's first Bitcoin Hackathon, and positive that the Israeli entrepreneurial mind will come up with amazing new ideas that will continue to influence and contribute to the growing Bitcoin vision and community."
