New Challengers Seek Election to UK Digital Currency Group Board

A non-profit organisation in the UK that counts some of the country's more prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and advocates will soon hold its first board elections.

Ten candidates will stand for five positions on the board of the UK Digital Currencies Association (UKDCA) during the election, which takes place on 26th September.

Paul Ferris, who leads the association's communications working group, said:

"They're very important elections. They are the first elections of the board, the [current] board members have been acting so far as interim [board members] until we get the democracy side of things in place."

The UKDCA was formed in November by about 50 individuals and businesses.

It is currently run by an 'interim board' whose members were appointed during the association's formation. From the start, the UKDCA planned to replace the interim board with an elected group.

New faces on candidates slate

The new board will shrink by two seats. All seven current board members are standing for election. They are joined by Taboola's Nadav Rosenberg, Bitnet's Akif Khan and Richard Folsom of Kemp Little LLP, newcomers who promise to intensify competition.

The 10 candidates standing for election are:

• Eric Benz, GoCoin
• Adam Cleary, Bullion Bitcoin
• Simon Dixon, BankToTheFuture.com
• Richard Folsom, Kemp Little LLP
• Paul Gordon, Coinscrum
• Eitan Jankelewitz, Sheridans
• Akif Kahn, Bitnet
• Tom Robinson, Elliptic
• Nadav Rosenberg, Taboola
• Adam Vaziri, Diacle.

Folsom, a technology lawyer, said in his statement of intent for the election that he participated to increase transparency within the association and that he would work to make regulators' informal guidance to the UKDCA more available to members if elected.

Khan brings a decade's worth of experience with payments processor CyberSource, which was acquired by Visa for $2bn in 2010. He said he "speaks the language" of players in the payments and e-commerce worlds in his statement of intent.

Rosenberg, who is general manager for Europe at Taboola, which makes content recommendation tools for publishers, also brings experience leading Groupon's expansion efforts in Europe. He is an investor in XBTerminal, the digital currency point-of-sale terminal. He said he will focus on "demystifying" digital currencies if he is elected.

Association furthers its cause

The 10 candidates will compete for votes from an electorate of 80 dues-paying voting members. The association also has 120 'supporter' members, who have joined for free but who cannot cast a vote in the elections.

Membership dues

at the UKDCA cost individuals £20 a year or £400 for a lifetime membership; startups £200 a year; and established businesses £1,000 a year.

According to Ferris, the group has "not inconsiderable" resources today, and working groups have found themselves busier than expected as the cryptocurrency landscape develops at a rapid pace.

"There is a lot to do. If we're going to do this properly, we need people to put in more than a couple of days a month," he said.

While some organisations – like the Bitcoin Association, another non-profit group – have publicly stated that they will decentralise their organisations using the Ethereum platform, the UKDCA hasn't taken such a step yet. But Ferris says the group has "wide ambitions" to do so eventually. However, the board has to be elected before such a move can be made, he added, concluding:

"If we said this is how we're gong to do it before the board itself is elected, that would be the wrong thing to do."

Union Jack image via Shutterstock