(Radio Iowa) – What was billed as the state’s first-ever cryptocurrency summit was hosted in Sioux City Monday by the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce. Bitcoin Foundation chairman Brock Pierce met with leaders of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota to discuss the multi-TRILLION dollar bitcoin industry. Pierce says Wyoming has already passed 19 laws regarding cryptocurrency and he talks with a lot of states about the issue.

“I’ve been spending time with legislators in Alaska, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Florida, all over the place, and that’s part of why I am here,” Pierce says, “is to make sure these three states understand A — what is happening, what is this all about what does it means? And to hopefully provide them with knowledge of what the opportunity is here and how that could benefit the states.” He says while some are still unsure of bitcoin — the newness has worn off and the number of investors has surged.

“This thing is going mainstream right now. There are hundreds of millions of people now who have cryptocurrency — probably ten percent of the population of the United States. And when bitcoin hits a hundred thousand dollars, a majority of the world’s billionaires will have made their money from bitcoin. Kind of a big deal,” Pierce says.

Pierce got his start in videogaming and when they became networked like World of Warcraft, he started a company to mine the virtual currency. He is considered one of the foremost national authorities on cryptocurrency and is a member of Forbes’ list of the richest in crypto.