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Bitcoin foundation in uproar

San Francisco - As the most prominent trade group pushing adoption of the electronic currency Bitcoin has begun its annual conference, embroiled in controversy.

At least 10 members of the non-profit Bitcoin Foundation have resigned over last week's election of onetime Disney child star and current Bitcoin entrepreneur and financier Brock Pierce as a new director, officials at the group say.

Sexual conduct

Some of the members cited Pierce's troubled past. That includes allegations in lawsuits from three of Pierce's first company, bankrupt web video business Digital Entertainment Network and that he provided drugs and pressured them for sex when they were minors.

Pierce has denied the accusations, which first surfaced in 2000.

"The allegations against me are not true, and I have never had intimate or sexual contact with any of the people who made those allegations," said Pierce.

While Bitcoin Foundation officials played down the defections, several members who resigned from the Foundation assailed its governance track record.

Electronic currency

"The track record of prominent Bitcoin Foundation members has been abysmal," said Patrick Alexander, a resigning Foundation member in a post on its discussion pages.

"I no longer want to be associated with these people."

Though it is highly volatile, the value of the electronic currency in existence has skyrocketed into the billions of dollars as the number of businesses accepting it has increased and investors have sought to create new ways for it to be used.

More than 1 000 Bitcoin investors, business people and enthusiasts are expected to attend the conference in Amsterdam.

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