‘We Don’t Accept Shady Coins’ – Baltic Honey Badger Conference [Interview]

THELOGICALINDIAN - This aint your archetypal Bitcoin and Blockchain conferenceBitcoinist batten with the organizers of the Baltic Honey Badger Conference who explained what makes this accident appropriate and what to apprehend at this years accident in Riga

Bitcoinist bent up with Max Keidun and Roman Snitko, CEO and CTO of HodlHodl, the organizers of this year’s Baltic Honey Badger conference that will be captivated September 22-23 in Latvia’s capital, Riga.

Keidun and Snitko explain that back the Baltic Honey Badger accident attracts some of the brightest minds in Bitcoin back it doesn’t acquire ICOs, adumbral bill or blockchain snake-oil salesmen.

Bitcoinist: What makes the Baltic Honey Badger appointment altered from added Bitcoin/blockchain conferences?

HodlHodl: We do not acquire ICOs, adumbral bill or blockchain projects as sponsors. But the best important point, we capital to abduction that cypherpunk spirit, accumulate all the best bodies in the industry to allotment their knowledge, wisdom, and ideas. It’s not a promotional event. We do accept some sponsors, but not too many.

Bitcoinist: How did the abstraction for a “conference apprenticed by the cypherpunk movement” appear about? Who was amenable for it?

HodlHodl: It was aloof me and my co-founder. We were sitting in the kitchen calm and I was cogent him about how air-conditioned the 2024 San Jose Bitcoin appointment was and that there’s annihilation like it anymore. We anticipation why not accept it in Latvia? Surely it’s a baby country but it’s appropriate there in the middle, amid Europe and Asia, it’s admirable and not expensive. And so the Baltic Honeybadger was born.

Bitcoinist: Did you apprehend aftermost year’s countdown accident to be such a huge success?

HodlHodl: Not really, took us by abruptness it was so able-bodied received.

Bitcoinist: Who was your admired speaker?

HodlHodl: Admired speaker? Don’t anticipate there’s a favorite, but it was actual agitative to accept all those people, whom you mostly apperceive from Twitter and YouTube, appear to the appointment and allocution to them and see what they’re like in absolute life. There are all sorts of absorbing capacity to apprentice about them: some of them alone eat meat while some of them are vegetarians, for example.

And we are beholden for this adventitious to accommodated them all.

Bitcoinist: What changes can we apprehend this year compared to aftermost year?

HodlHodl: Day 1 and 2 will be captivated at the aforementioned venue. It’s not downtown, but it’s abundant beyond to board a beyond audience. We additionally abstruse our assignment from the afterparty aftermost year, the music was too loud, so that’s not activity to appear this year. And, of course, it’s activity to be abundant abundant warmer this year, because it’s September and it’s absolutely the best time to appointment Riga.

Bitcoinist: Why is Riga the host burghal for the additional year in a row? Do you accept affairs to host it about abroad in the future?

HodlHodl: Why change the area that actually formed aftermost time? I anticipate the accepted abstraction is that we’re activity to authority (or hodl, really) Honeybadgers in Riga exclusively. After all, it’s a Baltic Honeybadger.

Bitcoinist: How bitcoin-friendly is Latvia in general? Would you acclaim application BalticAir, for example, which was the aboriginal airline to acquire bitcoin directly?

HodlHodl: I wouldn’t say there are a lot of merchants but there are a brace of places city you can pay with BTC. And there’s absolutely absolutely a cardinal of Bitcoin projects that originated in Latvia and the Baltic countries.

Some apartments in Riga acquire BTC and yes, Airbaltic accepts bitcoin directly. I would acclaim application either AirBaltic or CheapAir though because AirBaltic doesn’t awning all flight destinations. There are no Bitcoin-accepting hotels, but there are few apartments that acquire BTC.

Bitcoinist: There’s apparently beneath sponsors for an accident like this accustomed the absence of altcoins, blockchain snake oil salesmen, ICO shills, and cyberbanking institutions. Is it difficult to armamentarium such an event? Who are the sponsors?

HodlHodl: The sponsors that we accept are all listed on the website. It was added difficult to armamentarium the alike aftermost year. This year it’s hardly easier because we already knew the appeal for tickets was there and we absolutely awash our aboriginal 100 tickets in the aboriginal brace of canicule afterwards the announcement.

Bitcoinist: Can you accord a bastard blink of what the calendar will be? In added words, what are the best acute issues that should be in focus at this year’s event?

HodlHodl: The abounding calendar was aloof appear on the website.

Bitcoinist: What speaker(s) do you attending advanced to the best this year?

HodlHodl: I anticipate Saifedean Ammous and Eric Voskuil will be absorbing to watch, they accept some opposing angle on the abstraction that Bitcoin will become the new assets bill and both are actual acute and able people, admitting advancing from altered backgrounds. And their talks are appointed on the aboriginal day in the morning, one afterwards another.

Bitcoinist: Do you anticipate the archetypal ‘blockchain’ conferences frequented by coffer reps, ICOs, and blockchain ‘influencers’ have been benign or adverse to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies?

HodlHodl: I anticipate it’s fine. People who go there realize, eventually or later, it’s all useless. Kind of a acquirements experience.

At Baltic Honeybadger we absolutely abash pitching. That’s not what the appointment is about.

Bitcoinist: Your accident strives to be advisory and educational to new Bitcoin users. What is the best important affair that newcomers should accept about Bitcoin afore annihilation else? What do you acquaint bodies to get them absorbed in Bitcoin?

HodlHodl: My claimed acquaintance is that altered bodies are absorbed in Bitcoin for abounding altered reasons. If you appetite to get addition interested, acquisition out what absolutely affairs to them and if Bitcoin can action article that would change their activity for the better, again that’s what you charge to explain.

Bitcoinist: Anything abroad you’d like to add?

HodlHodl: Yes. We still accept apprentice tickets which go at 100 EUR. If you’re a student, you get a cogent discount, so appear accompany us and apprentice about Bitcoin.

Will you be accessory this year’s Baltic Honey Badger conference? Let us apperceive below!

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