Fintech Meetups Melbourne

Bitcoin Basics - Altcoins & Tax

**Bitcoin Basics -** Altcoins & Tax This is a Melbourne based, live event. Limited seating, booking required. Hosted by Craig A Guest Speaker: Sam Accetta from Haines Muir Hill, Member of the Institute, Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand **What You’ll Learn:** * The Bitcoin Basics related to; * What is Bitcoin * Bitcoin comparison to Altcoins. * Bitcoin and Altcoin historical performance. * What makes Bitcoin special? * Basis of Taxation * Ordinary Income * Capital Gains * Capital Gains Tax Example * Personal Use Assets * Stablecoins * Leaving Australia - Tax Xonsequences AML/CTF Rules. * Questions and answers. At the upcoming live Bitcoin event, attendees will gain an understanding of the fundamentals of Bitcoin, with a focus on how it compares to altcoins and the key taxation considerations involved. The session will explore the historical performance of Bitcoin and altcoins, as well as the unique characteristics that set Bitcoin apart. It will also provide an overview of how Bitcoin is taxed, including ordinary income and capital gains, supported by practical capital gains tax examples. In addition, attendees will learn about special considerations such as personal use assets, stablecoins, the potential tax consequences of leaving Australia, and important AML/CTF rules. A dedicated Q&A segment will allow participants to ask questions and engage directly with knowledgeable speakers. This is a free community event designed to promote education around Bitcoin and support the growth of the local Bitcoin community. With limited seats available, early booking is highly recommended to secure your spot. Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding of Bitcoin in a practical, hands-on setting. Please send us a message if there is someting in particular you would like to hear about and we will aim to include it within the presentation on the night. **IMPORTANT** please arrive by 5:45pm to ensure we can let you in at ground level and to access the lifts. Thereafter, we may not have someone available to let you in the building. **Location: Melbourne Connect - Level 7 Manhari Room 7212.** **Address: 700 Swanston St, Carlton VIC 3053** How to get there? Take the tram from Melbourne Central Station, there are multiple bus options or paid parking is available at Ace Parking, Cardigan House. Detailed Directions: [Directions Link](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-KL-V_FoEyLkfWzGtFXMNOzSfTI_8K6e/view?usp=sharing) The event will be catered. There'll be some finger food/snacks and drinks available. Please register early so we can allow for everyone. If there is something in particular you would like to learn about, send us a message and we will do our best to include it in the presentation. *\*Final details are subject to change.*

Mel<video> with Netflix, Fastly and Eluvio @ Kick HQ. Melbourne Video Tech

We are back for our second of four meetups in 2026. Whether you’re deep in the code or just curious about the future of streaming, it's a perfect chance to grab a slice of pizza, a cold drink, and catch up with the local engineering scene, make some friends and check out Kick.com (Easygo) HQ. Talks in May are from two leaders in Video Technology Industry sharing: **[Garrett Singer (US Remote) - Software Engineer @ Netflix](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gesinger/)** Garrett shared technical strategies and insights on reducing toil and debugging video-related operations in software engineering pipelines. **[Zac Shenker (US) - Senior Director, Media Strategy @ Fastly](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacshenker/)** We’re making the most of a rare visit from the States from Zac Shenker- a genuinely great guy and renowned leading expert in video streaming who is currently shaping the industry's most ambitious new streaming architectures by drawing on his experience from events like the Super Bowl. **[Sean Curran - APAC Director @ Eluvio](https://www.linkedin.com/in/curransean/)** *Kill the Encode Farm: The Case for Just-in-Time Video* Eluvio is a decentralised, blockchain-backed distribution network that replaces traditional CDNs and cloud stacks by streaming premium video directly from source objects with just-in-time transcoding and built-in monetisation. 📍 Easygo – 271 Collins Street Melbourne 📅 Tuesday 26 May, 6:00–8:00pm 👉 RSVP is essential for Easygo building access **Sponsors** Our thanks to **Easygo** for hosting and sponsoring pizza + drinks at the venue. Melbourne Video Technology is a volunteer group, as part of many groups independently run around the world. Tonight’s hosts will be: [Jeremy Brown - Kick](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremybrownau/), [Nick MacPherson - Fastly](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasmacpherson1/) and [James Broberg - StreamShark](https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-broberg-8654052/)

Melbourne BitDevs

Melbourne BitDevs is an in-person meetup held monthly for discussing: Bitcoin software, tools, research, protocol upgrades (BIPs), mining and more. ⚡💻 Held on the last Thursday of the month. Current venue is upstairs at the Fox Hotel in Collingwood. Arrive anytime from 6pm, with a **prompt start at 6:30**. Website: https://bitdevs.com.au Telegram: https://t.me/btcmelbourne Discussion topics (please add!): https://github.com/MelbourneBitDevs/MelbBitDevs/issues/

Spanish English Intercambio/Language Exchange - My Language My Story

Join us for 30 minutes Spanish conversation then 30 minutes in English Conversaremos 30 minutos en español y luego 30 minutos en inglés. Stay on afterwards for more conversation if you wish. Quédate después para conversar más si lo deseas. We'd love to catch up with you and hear your news in Spanish and English. Looking forward to meeting you there. Nos encantaría pasar el tiempo y escuchar tus historias en español e inglés. Esperamos verte allí. ***Please note:*** *For attendance outdoors see disclaimer below:* *By participation in this Spanish English Intercambio Meetup today I agree to do so at my own risk. I know that my attendance and this agreement operates to exclude any liability in negligence for harm that I may suffer. I have been warned that this recreational activity may cause physical harm to me or to someone under my control or accompanying me, and I confirm that I do not have a condition, medical or physical, that could prevent me from, or be aggravated by, participating in this activity. Examples of the risks I have been warned about include: tripping; Tripping, slipping and falling • Collision with someone or something • Something giving way unexpectedly • Back injury, strains • Spillage and burns • Trip hazardBites and stings • Sun • Injury from falling branches*

Building the wrong things faster. AI and the Build Trap

**🏢 Hosted at:** Fabric Group **🚀 Building the Wrong Thing Faster: AI and the Build Trap** AI has dramatically compressed the time it takes to build software. But it hasn't stopped us building products that nobody wants. If anything, it's accelerated the problem - to the point we've invented a new word for the output: ***slop***. Drawing on observations from Brendan's consulting work and conversations with friends at ***Google, Meta and Spotify***, He'll explore how this ***isn't really a new problem*** and why now, more than ever, we need human centricity, sound product strategy and product discovery. **🎤 Speakers:** ***Brendan Marsh*** is a Product & Org Advisor and Director at ***Organa***, where he helps organisations improve product strategy, org design and execution at scale. He previously served as ***Chief Product Officer*** of a mental health non-profit and spent five years at ***Spotify*** during its hyper-growth phase, first as an ***Agile Coach*** supporting innovation and product discovery teams and later as a ***Product Manager*** responsible for the Mac and Windows clients (40M+ MAU). ***Ruben Cardoso*** is the ***Head of Product & Design*** at ***Fabric Group***. An experienced UX/UI designer specialising in product design and delivery, with a strong track record running discovery-to-delivery cycles for large enterprise clients. ***Dzmitry Yaltykhau*** is the ***Delivery Practice Lead*** at ***Fabric Group.*** Leads large-scale product design and delivery programs end-to-end from presales through discovery, build and rollout while driving best practices, coaching and AI-accelerated ways of working across the team. **🗓 Agenda:** Arrival and light refreshments Featured Talk Panel discussion with contributions from Fabric and the audience

The Badminton Hub Coaching - Adults Thursday INTERMEDIATE

Real‑time & Batch on Fabric

* **Topic:** Real‑time & Batch on Microsoft Fabric * **Date:** Thursday 28th May 2026 at 6.00 pm - 8.00 pm * **Networking:** 6 pm - 6.30 pm and 7.20 - 8 pm * **Presentation Time**: 6.30 pm - 7.20 pm *(includes welcome, presentation 30 mins & community marketplace)* * **Location:** Thoughtworks HQ Level 35/360 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000 * **Ticket:** Free of cost, however, registrations and RSVP are required! * **Sponsor:** Thoughtworks **Real‑time & Batch on Fabric** This session presents the end state of a mixed real‑time and batch analytics platform on **Microsoft Fabric**. Live event streams are handled using KQL/Eventhouse, enabling low‑latency dashboards and operational insights with minimal processing overhead. In parallel, near real‑time and batch data is processed using governed, lightweight Fabric patterns designed for efficiency and scale. The outcome is a single, capacity‑aware Fabric platform where real‑time and analytical workloads coexist cleanly, with Power BI as the unified consumption layer. **About The Speaker** Arjun Shankar has over a decade of experience turning data challenges into scalable, cloud-first platforms that drive real business decisions. He has worked across banking, finance, transport, insurance, and energy, specialising in the Azure stack: Synapse, Data Factory, Databricks, PySpark, and Fabric. From reducing platform costs, to accelerating delivery, and putting self-service analytics in the hands of the people who need it. Outside work, he's usually out on a trail, training for his next marathon, or keeping up with two young boys. We’re excited to bring the Data Engineering Melbourne Meetup group together for an evening with Arjun and his insights!

Legal Professionals and Accountants Meetup Group

Join us for an exclusive evening of networking with Melbourne’s legal, accounting, finance, and business professionals at 30ML Bar & Eatery. Whether you're a lawyer, accountant, consultant, business owner, graduate, or entrepreneur, this event is the perfect opportunity to meet ambitious and like-minded professionals in a relaxed and sophisticated setting. Enjoy great conversations, expand your professional circle, and connect with people across different industries — all while enjoying Melbourne waterfront vibes. ✨ Free Entry 🍸 Food & drinks available for purchase at the bar 📍 30ML Bar & Eatery, Docklands 📅 Friday, 29 May 2026 ⏰ 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM **Dress**: Smart Casual / Business Come solo or bring colleagues and friends — networking should feel natural, social, and enjoyable. ***Because the best opportunities often start with a conversation.***

Women in Cloud - Building Resilient AI

We’re excited to bring our community together again — this time with a focus on **Building resilient AI**. As LLM-powered applications move from experimentation to production, a new challenge emerges: **how do we secure what we don’t fully understand yet?** In this session, we’ll explore two critical layers of AI defense—**protection** and **proactive testing**—through real-world practices and practical demos. **Topics** **1\. Shielding your LLMs with AWS Bedrock Guardrails** Ever felt like deploying an LLM is a bit like letting a genius but unpredictable intern talk to your customers? Join me as we explore how to move past the unregulated nature of unregulated AI using AWS Bedrock Guardrails. We’ll dive into the six pillars of AI safety and deploying guardrails to build AI that isn't just smart, but is fundamentally trustworthy and brand-safe. **About the speaker** [Maitreyi Singh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maitreyisingh/) is a Data Scientist at [REA Group](https://www.realestate.com.au/), currently working on developing AI agents and intelligent systems. She has experience in Generative AI and enjoys exploring innovative applications of AI in real-world solutions. Outside of her professional work, Maitreyi enjoys painting as a creative hobby. **2\. Red Team Your LLM App Before the Bad Guys Do** As LLM-powered apps become more common, they're also becoming bigger targets. Prompt injection, jailbreaks, and harmful content exploits are real threats — and most developers don't discover them until it's too late. In this talk, we'll cover why guardrails are essential for any production LLM app, and why red teaming is one of the most effective ways to uncover vulnerabilities before bad actors do. We'll then put theory into practice with a live demo: a vibe-coded AI app on Amazon Bedrock, attacked using an open source red teaming tool — first without guardrails, then with them. The difference will speak for itself. **About the speaker** [Vanessa](https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-kong-8069601a7/) is a Senior Product Security Engineer at [REA Group](https://www.realestate.com.au/) with five years of experience spanning cloud infrastructure security, security tooling and automation, and AI security. She specialised in building secure systems end-to-end, automating security workflows, wiring up tools to catch issues earlier in the pipeline, and exploring the evolving security challenges that come with AI-powered applications. She loves getting into the weeds of how things break — and helping people build them more securely. **Agenda** 5:30pm – Food and networking 6:00pm – Presentation 1. Shielding your LLMs with AWS Bedrock Guardrails 6:30pm – Presentation 2. Red Team Your LLM App Before the Bad Guys Do 7:00pm – Networking We’re incredibly grateful to our sponsor — [REA group](https://www.rea-group.com/) for supporting our community and making this event possible. Join us for an evening of learning, meaningful conversations, and great company, we can’t wait to see you there!

TechWalking - Networking Event for Tech Professionals

**"TechWalking" - Networking + Walking** Are you a tech professional looking to network beyond the screen? Look no further than my upcoming #TechWalking event! ‍ Join us for a refreshing walk around the scenic Albert Park Lake. It’s the perfect chance to connect with industry peers while getting in some steps! I know many of you have been tuning in to my online events, but we've never had the opportunity to meet in person. Let's change that! Check out the video from the last event: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MovUsNFg-qk We'll kick things off at **10 am sharp** at the Albert Park Fitness Station. Please, don't be late! We're hitting the trail around the lake as soon as we gather. And trust me, you won't want to miss it – unless you're up for a bit of a sprint to catch up! (we're going anti-clockwise) This event is pet and kid-friendly, as long as your little ones and furry friends can manage a 5 km walk, they're more than welcome to join. Looking forward to meeting you all in real life! Join the TechWalking group on LinkedIn! [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/](https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14477058/) \*\*\* Follow me on LinkedIn for more information: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-martens/) Just moved to Australia? Grab your FREE guide to land your tech job! [https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/](https://yanamartens.com/first-tech-job-in-australia/) Subscribe to YouTube Channel: [https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia](https://www.youtube.com/@ITCareerinAustralia)

Bitcoin Pub Meetup

Let's drink to **Internet Money and the quiet revolution**! Come and meet like-minded people and learn about bitcoin. This night is for newbies and regulars alike (don't worry, we don't bite!). Note that this is a very informal event, so you may need to ask the bar staff to find where the group is. There are no speakers or activities, just a casual pub session. \*NOTE: The Fox Hotel accepts Bitcoin via the lightning network, so come with sats! An easy way to get started is to download a compatible wallet, for example Wallet of Satoshi. This is the regular monthly pub session for the Melbourne Bitcoin community. We recommend new comers check out https://bitcoin.rocks/ and https://bitcoin-intro.com Find out more by visiting our telegram chat channel: https://t.me/btcmelbourne *(yes, telegram is not our favourite solution, but it's stuck so far)*

Melbourne AI Enthusiasts x AI Engineer Melbourne — AI Week 2026

You've built the POC. Leadership loved it. Now what? The gap between a working AI demo and a production system is where most projects quietly die. This event tackles the hard part, the decisions that come after the proof of concept gets the green light. Hosted by Zendesk! **What we're covering:** 🏗️ Architecture decisions that don't show up in tutorials when to build, when to buy, when to stitch things together 💰 Cost and efficiency trade-offs, what it actually costs to run AI at scale, and how teams are managing it 🔒 Governance and guardrails, who owns the model in production, and what happens when it breaks 🎤 Talks, panel, and Q&A from practitioners who've shipped AI into production, not just theorised about it **Our panel of experts:** * Darragh Kennedy, Director - Software Engineering, Zendesk * Fernando Mourão, Head of Responsible AI, Seek * Brad Ryan, Chief AI Officer, i-screen, Ex AI Lead - AWS * Romina Sharifpour, AI Engineering Lead, CBA **Details:** 📅 Thursday 4 June 2026 🕕 6:00 – 8:30pm 📍 Zendesk Office Level 13/550 Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000 **Format:** Talks + Panel + Q&A (6:00–7:30pm) → Networking & drinks (7:30–8:30pm) This event is part of AI Week Melbourne (June 1–7) and is run in partnership with Web Directions / AI Engineer Melbourne. Whether you're an engineer wrestling with inference costs, a leader trying to get your AI strategy past the pilot stage, or just curious about what production AI actually looks like, this one's for you. Spots are limited. RSVP to secure yours.