Controversy Looms as IMD Lausanne Awaits Bitcoin Evangelist: MBA News | TopMBA.com

Controversy Looms as IMD Lausanne Awaits Bitcoin Evangelist: MBA News

By Tim Dhoul

Updated Updated

A controversial and self-confessed bitcoin evangelist is to preach on behalf of the renowned cryptocurrency’s future at IMD Lausanne next month.

The October event forms part of the Global Leaders Signature Series that in the past has seen influential figures such as Bill Clinton and Warren Buffett speak at the Swiss business school, IMD Lausanne.

In ‘Bitcoin: Boom or Bust?’ Roger Ver – a millionaire bitcoin investor, former US citizen, convict and anarchist will share his opinion on the future of what he holds to be ‘the most important invention in the history of the world since the internet.’

Bitcoin has grown in popularity, as well as notoriety, since its emergence in 2009.

On the one hand, more companies have taken to accepting bitcoin payment and ATMs for the cryptocurrency have even begun to appear in the past year in locations such as Manhattan, Geneva and Taipei. Roger Ver himself discovered bitcoin as recently as 2011 and is now the CEO of a technology firm that accepts this form of payment.

On the other hand, the cryptocurrency has frequently been associated with illegal activity and there are concerns over its market volatility - its value has fluctuated from US$0.30 to $1135 since its creation since 2009, according to IMD Lausanne.

Roger Ver and IMD professor on the cryptocurrency’s future  

Alongside Roger Ver, Artur Bris – a finance professor at IMD Lausanne and director of the school’s World Competitiveness Center – will discuss the merits and potential pitfalls facing bitcoin and other virtual currencies like it.

Those attending the event at IMD Lausanne will then have a chance to debate whether bitcoin represents a worthy or risky investment - and whether the cryptocurrency has a future of salvation ahead, or if it is doomed to disintegration instead.  

Proponents for bitcoin, including Roger Ver, recently released the following video inspired by ‘The Declaration of Bitcoin’s Independence’ – an essay by Julia Tourianski, who runs a website called Brave the World:  

This article was originally published in . It was last updated in

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