A stone’s throw from the New York Stock Exchange, in the heart of New York’s financial district, is a 6,000-square-foot facility called the New York Bitcoin Center.
The Bitcoin Center is known for educating the public on Bitcoin and crypto-economics at their events and inviting high-profile speakers. It has become a central part of the global Bitcoin movement in it’s own right and was recently featured on CNN in Morgan Spurlock’s Inside Man.
This year, they are working on their new incubator.
John Lilic, the Head of Investor Relations and Operations at the Bitcoin Center, spoke to me about the Bitcoin Center’s new direction.
“We are very busy with our incubator and seed accelerator,” Lilic said. The Bitcoin Center has invested in a number of “exciting and compelling” tech startups working on blockchain innovations, he said.
“We are uniquely positioned to observe the incredibly rapid growth of this sector. Smart money venture capital and Wall Street has already moved in to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollar, and this is just the very beginning,” Lilic said. “We are positioning ourselves by investing in our companies.”
The Bitcoin Center is striving to be an industrious place with industrious developers, he said, adding that the Center has pivoted toward a more developer-centric space with a strong focus on its tech incubator.
“We feel very good about the portfolio of companies we’ve got at the moment,” he said.
Some of the startups Bitcoin Center has invested in include:
- Cryptos – A U.S.-based digital currency exchange powered by the AlphaPoint trading engine. It offers users access to deep liquidity and volume, leading-edge security and maximum performance.
- LiveryCab – LiveryCab’s system connects passengers to drivers by allowing passengers to enter their destination and drivers to bid on rides.
- Digital Asset Vending Enterprises (D.A.V.E) – A Bitcoin ATM, lightweight, secure, modular, open source and running as an Android app.
- Blockchain Apparatus – An incorruptible voting system designed on blockchain technology.
An adage in the Bitcoin world is that innovation occurs at a much faster rate than in other industries. This holds true for the Bitcoin Center, as they begin kick-starting new businesses.
In its first year, the Bitcoin Exchange hosted “every single important group or person in the Bitcoin world,” ranging from developers, corporate innovators and politicians to prominent nonprofit leaders, Lilic said. In its second year, it plans to expand operations by developing its portfolio of companies and “offering the market exciting opportunities.”
“Our objective,” Lilic says, “is to continue to be a force for positive change and innovation in the new blockchain paradigm.”
The doors at the Bitcoin Center are always open. Just go to 40 Broad Street.
All photos courtesy of the Bitcoin Center.
