If you look at the distribution of current bitcoin nodes, a huge proportion are already in the US.

So I vote for anywhere outside the US as a conference location.

But not Pakistan.

That is a fantastic idea.  Make it into a bounty that a charity can claim by allowing Bitcoin donations via their normal method for a set period of time, say 6 months or a year.

There is a lot of good discussion back and forth on this thread and some good points too.

To my thinking there is just one main hurdle above all others:

Legal - Bernard von Nothaus was convicted of counterfeiting US money because he issued pure silver dollars that superficially 'looked' like US circulated coins. (How you can counterfeit something that's worth more than the real thing is beyond me.) What it boiled down to was competition from private currencies against the US Dollar from within the US. Once there is a large enough user base OR some random criminal is caught in some Bitcoin sting then you will see the media criticism ramp up and the attacks will begin against Bitcoin.

The current administration in Washington has made repeated statements, quite recently, that the President needs the ability to "shutdown" the internet. The President also has wide emergency powers. A President could be persuaded, perhaps by Treasury or Fed officials, that this Bitcoin is a threat to the economy. The President could declare it illegal and direct ISP's to filter, block and report all Bitcoin traffic.

Granted, this is an extreme scenario -- these are extreme times however. The fact remains: until we have a legal, competitive currency structure any virtual currency will face hurdles to mainstream acceptance.

Why would a reputable member send to someone who has two posts. Tell me your logic.