Bitcoin values may be languishing at the $400 mark, but financial services interest in the crypto-currency shows no signs of abating, with two of the biggest shows in the banking calendar - Sibos and Money20/20 - devoting significant airtime to the technology.
At Sibos, Swift's Innotribe innovation unit is devoting a full day to Bitcoin, with representatives from The Bitcoin Foundation, Ripple, Circle, Ethereum, and the MIT Bitcoin Project, all slated to appear.
Acknowledging the regulatory interest in the currency, Innotribe has also invited a group of experts from across the industry, including the EBA, Promontory Financial Group, US Department of the Treasury, the Bitcoin Foundation, Digital Asset Transfer Authority, and the Bitcoin Investment Trust to debate why, when and how cryptocurrencies will be regulated, looking at anti-money laundering risks and to see if self-regulation is possible.
"There have been doubts and dips about cryptocurrencies since their inception, but they seem to represent a cataclysmic shift in financial services that is real and here to stay," states the Innotribe preview page. "We will be asking the audience of financial professionals whether they will ignore this phase-change, or embrace it for the greater interest for the industry and the customers it serves."
Sibos 2014 is taking place in Boston next week, with more than 6000 banking and technology professionals from across the globe expected to be in attendance.
Attention then shifts to the next big event in the calendar, the giant Money20/20 show in Las Vegas at the beginning of November. Here, the event organisers have decided to launch (Bit)CoinWorld as a dedicated forum for coverage of the technology and its disruptive potential.
The Money20/20 crew started accepting bitcoin as payment for sponsorships in early 2013 and plans to broaden its acceptance to include attendee registrations in the near future.
The event boasts an all-star line-up for its Bitcoin agenda, headed by keynote speaker Benjamin Lawsky, of the New York State Department of Financial Services, who is charged with driving through the city's bitcoin licensing scheme.
Finextra will be out in force at both shows, with a full TV crew stationed at Sibos, and reporters on the ground covering all the big news from Money20/20.