There is a version of this conversation that never gets past the price chart. Bitcoin goes up, people get excited. It goes down, people say they knew all along. And somewhere in the middle, the actual substance gets lost.

That is precisely why P1 Investment Management is proud to be a signature sponsor of the UK's first major Bitcoin Conference, hosted in Edinburgh on 21st and 22nd October, organised by The Bitcoin Collective.

There is a version of this conversation that never gets past the price chart. Bitcoin goes up, people get excited. It goes down, people say they knew all along. And somewhere in the middle, the actual substance gets lost.

That is precisely why P1 Investment Management is proud to be a signature sponsor of the UK's first major Bitcoin Conference, hosted in Edinburgh on 21st and 22nd October, organised by The Bitcoin Collective.

The Event

The conference brings together some of the most credible voices in the Bitcoin and digital assets space, including Jeff Booth, Greg Foss and James Lavish CFA, alongside UK-based professionals and a growing community of the genuinely curious. The theme is simple: educate and inform.

This is not a promotional event for Bitcoin as an investment. It is not about encouraging anyone to rush out and buy it. It is about understanding what the Bitcoin network actually is, how it works, and why the technology underpinning it has the attention of some of the world's largest financial institutions.

Why We Are Getting Involved

P1 is an investment manager and platform provider. We are regulated by the FCA, focused on lowering costs for clients, and committed to embracing new technologies that genuinely move the industry forward. So why are we sponsoring a Bitcoin conference?

Because we believe the technology is directly relevant to what we do, and what our clients will increasingly ask us about.

Consider this: eighty-one of the world's top one hundred institutions, from Alphabet and Alibaba to Mastercard and JP Morgan, are already using or actively exploring blockchain technology. Closer to home, Abrdn recently took a majority stake in digital exchange Archax, and Blackrock announced a deal with Coinbase to facilitate Bitcoin trading for its institutional clients. This is not fringe activity. It is the financial mainstream beginning to move.

From a platform perspective, we also believe blockchain technology will reshape how shares and funds are traded. Account transfers, settlement processes and fund trading are all areas where distributed ledger technology could meaningfully lower costs and improve efficiency. That has a direct bearing on what we build and how we serve advisers and their clients.

The Adviser Conversation That Needs to Happen

The FCA's 2021 study found that 82% of UK adults have heard of Bitcoin, and there are now an estimated 2.3 million UK holders. Over 40% of those holders earn above £50,000, with 30% viewing digital assets as part of a broader investment portfolio. These are not speculative retail punters on the fringes. Many of them are existing or prospective clients of financial advisers.

Yet the professional conversation remains thin. There is a lot of noise in the wider crypto space, and most of it is not helpful. The vast majority of coins and tokens have little genuine utility, and the media tends to cover the price rather than the technology. That makes it harder, not easier, for advisers to form a considered view.

We want to change that.

Looking Past the Price

James Priday, P1's CEO and a speaker at the event, put it plainly: money has evolved, and the internet has already transformed banking, payments and how we think about cash. The question of what comes next, and what role Bitcoin and blockchain play in that evolution, deserves a serious and open-minded examination.

P1 is not here to tell advisers what to think about Bitcoin. We are not in the business of pushing people towards a particular position. But we do believe that ignoring it entirely is no longer a reasonable stance, and that the best thing any professional in this industry can do right now is get informed.

Whether you are a committed sceptic, quietly curious, or already convinced, the event will challenge you to think carefully about why this technology has attracted the serious attention it has.

The conference brings together some of the most credible voices in the Bitcoin and digital assets space, including Jeff Booth, Greg Foss and James Lavish CFA, alongside UK-based professionals and a growing community of the genuinely curious. The theme is simple: educate and inform.

This is not a promotional event for Bitcoin as an investment. It is not about encouraging anyone to rush out and buy it. It is about understanding what the Bitcoin network actually is, how it works, and why the technology underpinning it has the attention of some of the world's largest financial institutions.

Why We Are Getting Involved

P1 is an investment manager and platform provider. We are regulated by the FCA, focused on lowering costs for clients, and committed to embracing new technologies that genuinely move the industry forward. So why are we sponsoring a Bitcoin conference?

Because we believe the technology is directly relevant to what we do, and what our clients will increasingly ask us about.

Consider this: eighty-one of the world's top one hundred institutions, from Alphabet and Alibaba to Mastercard and JP Morgan, are already using or actively exploring blockchain technology. Closer to home, Abrdn recently took a majority stake in digital exchange Archax, and Blackrock announced a deal with Coinbase to facilitate Bitcoin trading for its institutional clients. This is not fringe activity. It is the financial mainstream beginning to move.

From a platform perspective, we also believe blockchain technology will reshape how shares and funds are traded. Account transfers, settlement processes and fund trading are all areas where distributed ledger technology could meaningfully lower costs and improve efficiency. That has a direct bearing on what we build and how we serve advisers and their clients.

The Adviser Conversation That Needs to Happen

The FCA's 2021 study found that 82% of UK adults have heard of Bitcoin, and there are now an estimated 2.3 million UK holders. Over 40% of those holders earn above £50,000, with 30% viewing digital assets as part of a broader investment portfolio. These are not speculative retail punters on the fringes. Many of them are existing or prospective clients of financial advisers.

Yet the professional conversation remains thin. There is a lot of noise in the wider crypto space, and most of it is not helpful. The vast majority of coins and tokens have little genuine utility, and the media tends to cover the price rather than the technology. That makes it harder, not easier, for advisers to form a considered view.

We want to change that.

Looking Past the Price

James Priday, P1's CEO and a speaker at the event, put it plainly: money has evolved, and the internet has already transformed banking, payments and how we think about cash. The question of what comes next, and what role Bitcoin and blockchain play in that evolution, deserves a serious and open-minded examination.

P1 is not here to tell advisers what to think about Bitcoin. We are not in the business of pushing people towards a particular position. But we do believe that ignoring it entirely is no longer a reasonable stance, and that the best thing any professional in this industry can do right now is get informed.

Whether you are a committed sceptic, quietly curious, or already convinced, the event will challenge you to think carefully about why this technology has attracted the serious attention it has.