Bitcoiners Down Under: Crypto-currency in Australia

Published On June 12, 2013 at 09:58 BST | By Alice Truong. To prepare for a bitcoin meetup in Sydney, Jason Williams has been scrounging to find a bar that will accept the cryptocurrency. No such luck, though. Nonetheless, he’s looking forward to connecting face to face with his fellow Aussie Bitcoin enthusiasts over beers on June 19. Ahead of the event, the gathering has even caught the eyes of investors who are keen on funding the next big Bitcoin startup.

China has been stealing the limelight on the international Bitcoin scene for its recent spike in downloads of the original Satoshi client. However, Bitcoin has had a small but consistent stronghold in Australia for a few years now. The Land Down Under ranked number eight globally in downloads in May, the same rank as last year at that time.

As an early adopter, Max Kaye had viewed Bitcoin as an “unstoppable technology” akin to BitTorrent and Tor. The Sydney resident first transacted in bitcoins in December 2010, convinced of the cryptocurrency’s security after reading about it in Slashdot.

“Immediately it occurred to me that it was something to get involved with and learn about, because if it took off it would be so very significant,” he said. And take off it did. Since Kaye first discovered Bitcoin, the currency’s value had grown by leaps and bounds, ballooning from 21 cents (US) to more than $100 today. - Read more here: http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoiners-down-under-crypto-currency-in-australia