(Forgot to post my first CoinDesk piece last week. Here it is!)
Last month, over 600 people congregated in Las Vegas for the Inside Bitcoins conference, including yours truly. The critical mass of Bitcoin pioneers and thought leaders was stunning, and I wrote about the top 10 movers and shakers I had the chance to meet in person. This past weekend, nearly twice as many people attended the North American Bitcoin Conference in Miami, and I was equally impressed by the enthusiasm, creativity, and yes, diversity of the crowd. As I flew back to Boston, I was struck with the realization that the palpable energy at the conference had just as much to do with the quality of the “average” ten attendees as it did with the high-octane presenters and exhibitors. Forget the celebrities. Let’s talk about ten people you’ll meet in Bitcoin.
One of the first people I meet on Friday night is Charlie. He’s 42, but he looks 30, and is about as easy-going as they come. We share a few stories before the invariable question of “how long have you been in Bitcoin?” pops up, and he nonchalantly says that he invested in “a bunch” when bitcoin traded for $4.50. Today, he calls himself retired, travels the world and doesn’t worry about a whole heck of a lot.
Incredibly, Charlie is not unique in this crowd. Dozens of paper and actual millionaires, hackers, entrepreneurs, legal experts, miners and journalists mingle at the roof deck party at the Clevelander Hotel in Miami Beach. It’s an eclectic mix of individuals with a common passion for cryptos, but vastly different backgrounds and motivations for embracing Bitcoin.
There’s David, an entrepreneur who is as passionate about “beekeeping as he is about bitcoin.” He and his seven year old son have made all-natural honey since 2011, which they only sell for bitcoin. In fact, it’s a completely cashless operation (aside from taxes), where David’s packager, web-designer and sugar suppliers are all paid in Bitcoin. There’s Gary, a man determined to sell his ‘93 Mercedes Benz 300 CE Convertible at the conference in order to demonstrate how easy, inexpensive and trustless bitcoin transactions can be. I’ll see him again the very next day grinning ear-to-ear in front of the conference hall after successfully auctioning the car for 9.25 bitcoin. Then there’s Kevin, a baby-faced hacker interning for wallet service provider, Blockchain. He’s won several hacking competitions related to cyber-security and has been thinking about applying for an NSA scholarship to help defray the costs of Penn State, but he’s here now because he knows that he too might strike digital gold if he stays in this industry.
I’m pleasantly surprised to see that the community is evolving beyond the “white males club” many complain about. Although the first person that most attendees see on Friday is a blonde bombshell model clad in little more than gold body paint (that certainly didn’t help silence the critics), the other females at the conference are definitely more than mere “plus ones.” The women on the BitPay team are sharp and counter (let’s be honest, correct) the technical criticisms I have of their product. Rena, the co-founder of New York’s Mint Combine incubator, talks about Bitcoin’s likely regulatory path and her motivation for incubating young bitcoin enterprises. And Beth, a former NASA engineer and current Virgin Galactic “astronaut trainer” (who also helped assemble the international space station), tells me about her mining rig (“just a few Jupiters”). Even during conversations with actual significant others such as Emily, it’s refreshing to hear a woman tease her “good ole boy” colleagues for not understanding bitcoin and investing in the currency as aggressively as she has.
Even the gold-painted model, Maili, proves to be a new convert to the community. When one person suggests she should try to collect tips in bitcoin, she tells him that she plans to put a QR code on her website.
My experience tells me that would be a smart move. The Bitcoin community is as generous as it is passionate. When I made the last minute decision to attend the conference, I foolishly underestimated how crowded Miami Beach would be during mid-January. Yet after one blast email and fifteen minutes, I had a host. Jeffrey, a fellow writer, conference presenter, and entrepreneur (his Liberty.me IndieGogo campaign recently eclipsed the $100k mark) split his hotel room with me for two nights. We met for the first time, when I knocked on his door. At another point in the conference, I extended my hand to Tim, the Bitcoin Seattle meetup organizer for a stick of gum. Instead of the gum, he handed me a Bitcoin-engraved silver coin. When I explained that I had only meant to ask for a stick of gum, he shrugged and said, “That’s all right. I really like your writing. Consider it a tip.”
For every Jeremy Allaire and Brian Armstrong and Barry Silbert, there are 10 equally passionate people you don’t know like Tim, Rena and David. It’s these people that make the industry so vibrant and exciting, and you will only meet them at large conferences like this one. They are having so much fun tackling some of the biggest challenges in Bitcoin, it’s hard to see them abandoning the industry anytime soon. Every single one of them understands how risky Bitcoin is, but they see today’s risks as tomorrow’s opportunities. They are certain that the community will persevere through any hiccups and produce new crops of Allaires, Armstrongs and Silberts.
They just aren’t worried about a whole heck of a lot.
February 04, 2014 at 11:56PM
