A venture capitalist, a former regulator, a lawyer and a pair of entrepreneurs — Bitcoin evangelists all — gathered on Tuesday in the private dining room of an upscale Manhattan restaurant to discuss their vision of a world in which the currency plays a role in mainstream finance.
It may be a far-fetched notion — Bitcoin, despite the attention it has received in recent months, is still largely a plaything for speculators online, with stomach-turning price swings — but it is one that these men have bet millions of dollars can be achieved.
“The rising value of Bitcoin is a put option, or a bet, that Bitcoin gets adopted as a medium of exchange,” said Jeremy Allaire, the founder of Circle Internet Financial, a start-up in Boston that seeks to be a payment-processing system for Bitcoin. Mr. Allaire, who sponsored the gathering, said he had a modest position in Bitcoin, which he did not disclose.