The Bitcoin Associations New President: Gregory Simon
The Bitcoin Association recently announced the appointment of their new president Gregory Simon, Co-Founder and CFO at Ribbit.me. Simon is one of the original founding members of the Association, and looks to the community for unmet needs and to fuel the Bitcoin Community.
The Bitcoin Association recently announced the appointment of their new president Gregory Simon, Co-Founder and CFO at Ribbit.me. Simon is one of the original founding members of the Association, and looks to the community for unmet needs and to fuel the Bitcoin Community. Brave New Coin had the opportunity to speak with Simon regarding his new role in the industry.
The Bitcoin Association was an idea driven by Bruce Fenton, who was recently appointed Executive Director of the Bitcoin Foundation, along with Simon and other founding members. The idea behind the project was to create a non-profit Bitcoin and blockchain technology advocacy organization, with a focus on adoption and educating individuals in the ever growing global community.
The Bitcoin Association operates with the philosophy that Bitcoin, as a digital currency utilizing blockchain technology, may be the key to the disruption of traditional systems. In turn, Bitcoin has the potential to create jobs and drive positive economic growth, lift the poor from poverty and propel developed economies.
According to Simon, decentralization and transparency were two paramount factors from the get go. “The goal has been and remains to one day incorporate blockchain technology to establish the Bitcoin Association as a Distributed Autonomous Organization,” expressed Simon.
A distributed Autonomous Organization, commonly referred to as a DAO, is a corporation or organization run without any human involvement. This is achieved by operating under an incorruptible set of business rules, governed by group consensus. “If achieved, the role of president would become insignificant anyways. I’m not sure how long getting from here to there will take yet though,” said Simon
“Ideally I would like to see the Bitcoin Association adopt a DAO infrastructure distributing control to the community where it belongs.”
— – Simon
As Bitcoin Association President, Simon reported in a press release he will be reaching out to the community with three key focuses. To determine where there may be a community need not being adequately met, establish channels of collaboration with other existing advocacy organizations, and determine how to structure the Bitcoin Association in the most decentralized and transparent way possible.
Simon also hopes to collaborate and unify existing organizations, “My vision is for all of these groups, in aggregate, to be promoting the adoption of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. If there is a role for the Bitcoin Association to play a value added part in assisting in that greater effort I would like to see that role be achieved.”
“I think there are many well run advocacy groups in the Bitcoin Industry doing some fantastic work,”
— – Simon
Simon explains that he believes Bitcoin has brought us the commoditization of trust. “The importance of this development for human society cannot be overstated,” he said. “It has facilitated the creation of an entirely new market, a market to access commoditized trust through the Bitcoin blockchain and other distributed ledger solutions.”
“This market for distributed ledger solutions is about to grow exponentially into every aspect of our lives currency and beyond. The potential opportunities are almost unlimited.”
— – Simon
Simon’s observation is that too many people in the community currently see alternative distributed ledger solutions as competition to Bitcoin. “This can lead to an unproductive use of limited resources and efforts,” said Simon. “For example, Ripple and Stellar potentially could be ideally used as inter-bank settlement infrastructure, while Bitcoin, or my company’s RibbitRewards, perhaps are better at meeting the needs of consumers.”
In perspective, Simon thinks all of these solutions together compromise what could be referred to as a distributed ledger industry, each meeting unique consumer needs. “In the end Bitcoin is a direct benefactor of the overall growth of the industry resulting from innovative solutions. I would like to see a change to this perspective,” said Simon
In a the recent press release Bruce Fenton expressed his confidence in Simon to take on the presidency role. "His passion for the technology and leadership skills will result in continuing our efforts to build a strong organization and increasing membership.”
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