THELOGICALINDIAN - This allotment was accounting by Ryan Strauss
This weekend, I am in Miami for The North American Bitcoin Conference. This is the third Bitcoin Appointment that I accept anytime attended; the aboriginal was in Chicago in June 2014, the additional was in San Diego aftermost month. I am abundantly aflame to be here. Every Bitcoin appointment or Meetup I accept anytime abounding has been three things; informative, uplifting, and nerdy. There’s annihilation bigger than actuality able to Nerd-Out with the added Bitcoiners present. As you acceptable know, it is actual difficult to accept abysmal conversations about Bitcoin usually!
Also read: Meet the Guys Who Paid $10,000 for a Bitcoin Comic Book
Over the abutting two days, I’ll be accouterment an Hour-By-Hour attending into the applesauce that is a huge Bitcoin Conference. TNABC does a abundant job active these events, sourcing top affection speakers from about the industry, and accepting the chat out for the best and brightest to attend. This should accommodate some acceptable acumen into the accepted accompaniment of and trends aural the Bitcoin Industry. So, actuality we go. Below is a active epitomize and arbitrary of TNABC in Miami, January 21st-22nd, 2024.
Morning
[7:30 AM]: Wake up. Running on 2.5 hours of beddy-bye from writing my blog on Medium backward aftermost night.
[8:34 AM]: Dropped off city by a acceptable friend. Call Lyft, alpha branch appear the Miami Beach Convention Center.
[9:12 AM]: Get to Miami Beach Convention Center, apprehend that the appointment isn’t absolutely here. It’s at the James L. Knight Convention Center in city Miami, not Miami Beach.
[9:46 AM]: Finally access at the appropriate location. Pay in United States Dollars. Run into John Scianna, a bitcoin administrator who I alone knew through Facebook and by-name. Discuss our accepted assignment in-person for our aboriginal time.
[10:01 AM]: Arrive at check-in area for the conference. Said hi to Moe Levin, who I met in 2024 at TNABC in Chicago. Was abreast that my name is not on the columnist canyon list. Mention how Caleb Chen accustomed a columnist canyon for me. Get into the appointment for free.
[10:04 AM]: Bump into Caleb at the table for Ledger, “The Bitcoin Security Company,” as their byword goes. Talked to the aggregation for a bit. Learned that Ledger is creating accouterments wallets which abundance your clandestine keys in them. This is about a anatomy of algid storage. Saw a affirmation of how one of these work. Ledger additionally had 4 blockchain-enabled debit cards on display. The wallet is commutual with “companion apps,” which are a convenient interface for account the transactions. The ambition abaft these articles is to accord Bitcoin a concrete aspect that bodies can chronicle to, agnate to their abode keys. Ledger awash their accouterments wallets on site; planning to buy one with Bitcoin after today.
[10:05 AM]: See David Ripley of Glidera from afar. I aboriginal met David in backward 2024 at a Bitcoin Meetup in Chicago back Glidera was aloof starting. David was abysmal in chat with someone. It is amazing to see Glidera accomplishing well.
[10:10 AM]: Talk to t0, a aggregation advance by Patrick Byrne aiming to abatement adjustment costs and inefficiencies. Was told that the aggregation afresh conducted the world’s aboriginal accurate Bond transaction on a blockchain. Was told that the aggregation is alive carefully with the SEC to accredit trading of added balance on this platform, including the shorting of stocks.
[10:13 AM]: Actual-overheard the afterward animadversion while walking amid booths, while overhearing a chat about Bitcoin and its abeyant applications in the Marijuana industry: “But area do you get the cannabis?”
[10:14 AM]: Talk to the aggregation at Block C, a mining casework aggregation for beneath accomplished Bitcoin Miners as able-bodied as those attractive for American based options. Was told that there has been affair afresh in the Mining association about absorption of mining ability and additionally about the over absorption on Chinese or Hong Kong based Mining operations. Block C provides the befalling to run a Bitcoin miner for you in admeasurement to the bulk you invest. Additionally, if you appetite them to run an old or new Bitcoin miner for you, you can bead it off at their offices and they will run it for you. They are not a mining pool, I was told, because they anatomy their mining investments in means that aren’t pooled. Yes, they accomplice with added pools, but anniversary miner at Block C is run individually. Seems to be a low barrier to access actuality for anyone attractive to get complex in mining; seems to be run by competent people.
[10:25 AM]: Spoke with the aggregation at DASH. DASH is an absorbing and aggressive endeavor, aimed at accouterment an another to Bitcoin with bigger allurement structures congenital in for the community. I was told that the Bitcoin arrangement has ~200x added processing ability now than Google, and that this basement should be acclimated for incentives “other than accouterment transactional security,” added than advantageous the coinbase to alone miners. As their announcement reads, “Dash is an open-source activity that delivers safe decentralized banking solutions.” DASH provides allurement structures which accolade abounding parties complex for the coinbase basic of a block-reward, not aloof the miners. We discussed how advantageous alone the miners encourages absorption of mining, and it doesn’t body in able incentives to accolade the blow of the community. I was told that the Bitcoin arrangement alone has 5800 full-nodes active at this point, while the DASH arrangement has 4000 full-nodes running; through the different incentives that Dash provides, the achievement is that it will animate a convalescent arrangement and added full-nodes on the DASH arrangement than on Bitcoin in the continued run. Additionally, DASH had a absolutely candied attractive soda-vending apparatus that can be acclimated for acquirement with DASH (coins). Another different affection of their arrangement is InstantX, which provides burning transaction confirmations that allegedly affirm payments aural 1-4 seconds!
[10:38 AM]: Run into John, who I met at the Bitcoin Conference in San Diego aftermost month. He is still alive on his Local Bitcoins business and additionally offers educational and consulting services. He spent so abundant time on his Bitcoin assignment aftermost division that it decidedly aching his grades.
[10:41 AM]: After a flurry of talks, was flustered. Run to the sign-in table allurement area the absolute talks and panels for the appointment are. Ask area is a acceptable abode to work.
[10:42 AM]: Literally bang into Mate Tokay, CEO of Bitcoinist, who I had met originally at the Conference in San Diego aftermost month, out of nowhere. Mate was in from Hungary and we talked briefly about what was up with our lives. Mate and Caleb saw the abeyant in me, believed in me, and helped accord me this befalling to write.
[10:44 AM]: Post up at the Bitcoinist table in the atrium abutting to the allowance area the appointment is. Meet Scott, a.k.a. “Talon”, who I had been agnate with over Telegram for the accomplished month. Had a spirited, 20-minute chat about Bitcoinist and the successes of the armpit recently.
[10:59 AM]: Finally downloaded the AirBitz app. This is the best iPhone Bitcoin wallet I accept anytime apparent to-date. I am afflicted by it’s simplicity.
[11:01 AM]: Mate pays me in Bitcoin for the agency I becoming for my aboriginal auction for Bitcoinist, which was a $45 columnist absolution that I awash aftermost week. We discussed how alarming it was that Bitcoinist pays advisers in Bitcoin. Mate showed me the basics of how to use the AirBitz app.
[11:10 AM]: The Bitcoin transaction from Mate accepted to the blockchain. 16,902.08 Bits, which equates to absolutely $7.
[11:46 AM]: Moe Levin swings by the Bitcoinist table. He is attractive for an added apostle for the console on Bitcoin in the media. Mate and Scott advance to allege on the console as needed.
[11:48 AM]: All bent up, assuredly wrote aggregate up to this point.
Afternoon
[12:05 PM]: Tone Vays, Bitcoin abstruse trading expert, walks up to the Bitcoinist table. He accustomed me from the appointment in San Diego because I batten with him briefly there and additionally asked questions during his talk. Tone declared Bitcoin trading as “a head of trading with accidental quicksand holes.” Tone additionally said that Bitcoin may be cher currently because we are still cat-and-mouse for addition beachcomber of users to the like that we saw in 2013. Tone feels that 2013 was aberrant in agreement of the bulk of new-users who abutting the Bitcoin association that year.
[12:14 PM]: Random animadversion overheard amid bodies abrogation the talks and the panel: “they switched and started talking about the block-size debate.” Also, “even Factom started talking about the block-size debate.” In my opinion, these “debates” are absolutely advantageous for the community, because they accompany added bodies into the decision-making-discussion.
[12:23 PM]: Batten with Joe Colangelo from Consumers’ Research (established in 2024). Joe abreast me that tomorrow afterwards his allocution he is absolution a Whitepaper about mechanisms and processes for the allowance industry and acknowledged association to chase back working-with Bitcoin or Blockchain companies. We batten about how important it is for the Bitcoin association to assignment with regulators and the acknowledged community, not “against” them. We batten about how impactful blockchain technology will be in the years ahead. Joe said that he is complex in the amplitude because he wants to acquaint his accouchement he helped comedy a allotment in this-thing-that-changed-the-world, and that whether he was acknowledged or not he capital to be involved.
[12:31 PM]: Random, earlier admirer walks up to the table. My intuition said that he was from actuality in Miami. He was cutting a apprenticed blazer, and had an bright watch on. Our table had bent his absorption because it said “Bitcoin.com”. This admirer asked us, “Where can I get some Bitcoin? I appetite some Bitcoin and I do not apperceive abundant about it.” We explained to him how he was in the appropriate place, a Bitcoin Conference, and that on Bitcoin.com he could acquisition exchanges listed area he can access Bitcoin from.
[12:37 PM]: Lunch time… Chicken Fingers!!!!!
[12:45 PM]: Get yelled at for not acumen that the Chicken Fingers were $2 per finger.
[12:53 PM]: After cat-and-mouse in band to pay, got to the advanced of the line. The acclaim agenda apparatus that the appointment centermost was application did not assignment actual well. It was demography a continued time for bodies to pay. The woman alive the accountant had to allocution to two managers to amount out how to get the acclaim agenda apparatus to work. They approved to carry anybody application banknote to the advanced of the line. Being that this is at a Bitcoin Conference, it was absolutely amusing to watch. Someone abaft me in band said, “This is hilarious!” And ironic, too.
[1:04 PM]: An advice systems assistant from Florida International University comes over to the Bitcoinist booth. He starts talking about how he conducts a lot of his analysis about Bitcoin, and has analyzed amount movements and abeyant of the Blockchain.
[1:06 PM]: Scott mentioned off-hand that he saw Nick Szabo allege at a appointment in Las Vegas recently. He said that Nick was aloof and brilliant, and that his presentation was absolutely cool.
[1:15 PM]: Heading into console on Media in Bitcoin. Caleb and Mate accommodating in the console forth with Pete Rizzo of CoinDesk.
[1:19 PM]: Discussion about the absorption of Bitcoin mining. Discussion about the altered ample mining operations currently activity on about the world.
[1:20 PM]: Pete discusses how CoinDesk wants to arch the gap amid “corporate”/”traditional” companies and the bitcoin community. And that everyone, alike the leaders of added “traditional” companies, accept important account to accord to the beyond Bitcoin discussion.
[1:21 PM]: Caleb says that the Bitcoin media area has re-branded in the accomplished 3 years, which I accede with. What ahead was autograph for just-bitcoiners, now is spanning appear a larger, tech-focused audience. Use of the appellation “Blockchain” is a agency to accomplish the FinTech association feel added welcomed.
[1:24 PM]: Pete: we (the Bitcoin media sector) charge beneath news; we charge to focus on accouterment bigger affection news. If the bitcoin association doesn’t absorb abundant time to advise boilerplate audiences the basics of bitcoin technology, Pete says, again it will be adverse for bitcoin in the continued run. This is why there is so abundant misinformation (labeling bitcoin as “a failure”) actuality accounting now about the block admeasurement debate.
[1:29 PM]: Mate makes point about how boilerplate media still abundantly doesn’t accept Bitcoin. I accede with this, and feel that the absolute association needs to abide to comedy a aggregate cycle in educating bodies about bitcoin and blockchains. Mate’s example; “When there’s a server abeyance at a arresting site, it is not accounting that ‘the internet is dead’.”
[1:36 PM]: Pete: If you accept article that’s an absolute story, that’s artistic and that goes above artlessly reporting, again this will be read. This is not “content.” This is a way to aftermath abundant and agreeable ideas, ones that will body the cast of that website.
[1:38 PM]: Caleb: A lot of bodies in the media industry are acquisitive that micro-transactions and angled will alter advertising. This, as Pete after acicular out, is a actual difficult behavior to activate to abet in best bodies as they are again advantageous for article that they acclimated to accept for free.
[1:42 PM]: Pete: the industry is still in its aboriginal stages. The actuality that institutions like banks are testing out blockchain technology is a abundant sign, but additionally authenticate how far we collectively accept to go.
[1:44 PM]: Pete: it’s up to the leaders in the amplitude to actualize new technologies, to actualize new account that is inherently story-worthy.
[1:46 PM]: Pete: the bitcoin media area has been actual alive in extensive out to, educating, engaging, and answering questions for added “traditional” companies. Scott says that bitcoin media companies do absolutely acreage requests for advice about bitcoin from “mainstream” media companies and beyond companies, and absolutely often, too.
[1:51 PM]: Mate: the primary ambition of Bitcoin media companies is to accommodate a advantageous appointment for discussion, to accredit bodies and account to accommodated one another.
[1:56 PM]: Person in admirers suggests micro-tipping for commenting sections of the site. Crowd absolutely brand this idea, because they collectively animosity “trolls” in the comments section. Caleb credibility out how ZapChain and CoinJournal are already aggravating this out.
[1:57 PM]: Being in admirers explains how newer users to Bitcoin and newer bodies to the Bitcoin association are generally angry away, because they do not accept the basics of Bitcoin. Most people, as he puts it, accept not gotten to “Step 1” in compassionate Bitcoin. He fabricated a abundant point that for the added 7 billion bodies on earth, it’s absolutely difficult to get and internalize this new technology. This accustomed acclaim from the audience. This being concluded on the question; “what’s the one bulletin that you as bitcoin media companies would accept for everyone?
[1:58 PM]: Mate says that he thinks it’s too difficult to distill this into one sentence; credibility out how Bitcoin.com afresh acquaint a 50-reasons to use Bitcoin post. Furthermore, Pete says that he feels that it is alarming to booty any one position here; he feels that media companies accept a albatross to appearance technology agnostically. Lastly, Caleb says that “bitcoin will do for money what the internet did for knowledge.”
[2:26 PM]: Finally begin a charger to bung in my laptop and phone. I’ve been bamboozlement like 3 things at once. Been overhearing a chat amid an broker and an administrator casting to him at an abandoned table in a appointment allowance abutting to area my charger is. Broker at one point says “everyday our audience are ambidextrous with law enforcement. Everyday. And it is a above catechism of how to booty the risks within, how to access the risks that they’re taking… I assignment with law administration all the time.”
[2:29 PM]: See a archetypal assuming in a bikini abutting to a bitcoin automat machine. She was out of place; a appointment of nerds didn’t necessitate models. I acquainted bad for her; that addition was subjecting her to do this, at a bitcoin conference. Then addition from the appointment centermost yelled at her to put her dress aback on.
[2:40 PM]: Spoke to the aggregation at Bitso, the better Mexican bitcoin exchange. Learned that some of their users are freelancers, and that the CEO acclimated to be a contributor himself. Discussed the bitcoin association in Mexico; was told it is abate than that in America, and about 1-2 years abaft in agreement of its admeasurement and momentum. But that it is absolutely there and it is a association that’s growing. We additionally discussed bitcoin media aimed at confined the Spanish speaking bitcoin community, a likely-underserved demographic. The 3 publications that were mentioned about this were El Bitcoin, Sobre Bitcoin, and NotiBitcoins.
[2:51 PM]: Spoke to the aggregation at Clef, an appliance for accepting about accepting to bethink your passwords. Clef provides an interface which allows users to login after a password. This is done by scanning a QR-like cipher and signing off on the login with the actual-user’s clandestine key. The aggregation at Clef is great; I absolutely got forth with them. We discussed the abstract possibilities of blockchains acceptance for absolutely decentralized character verification. We discussed the block admeasurement agitation and how bitcoin is software. I took one of their “Fuck Passwords” stickers.
[3:18 PM]: Bumped into Edwin of the Academy Cryptocurrency Network, a acquaintance of abundance who I knew from the bitcoin association at the University of Michigan. We both talked to the aggregation from Clef some more, again bent up off to the side. Edwin told me how CCN switched its name to BEN (Blockchain Education Network). I told Edwin that as a CS Major and academy green he should be active adamantine here, affair people, announcement himself, and attractive for new opportunities.
[3:31 PM]: Waited to allege to Patrick Byrne one-on-one. Patrick was actual friendly, a abundant listener, and was admiring to what I had to say. Patrick gave acceptable admonition about how to advance advanced difficult ideas. He recommended alive hand-in-hand with the acknowledged community. He additionally batten absolutely of the abeyant for acute contracts.
[3:53 PM]: Sitting in a abstracted allowance off to the ancillary again, charging my computer. Patrick Byrne walks in with a accumulation of entrepreneurs and sits bottomward at the table abutting to me and starts talking as allotment of a podcast. Discusses the realities of authorization money with the entrepreneurs. Discusses China and abrogating absorption rates. Discusses how accuracy in the Federal Reserve through a blockchain can, theoretically, be a agency appear creating a freer society. Discusses the allowances of actuality an entrepreneur. Be your own bang-up and self-actualize, Patrick says. “View yourself as mankind’s accessible servant,” he says. Off to a allocution featuring Bobby Lee (CEO of BTC China) now. Podcast with Patrick is still activity on abutting to me.
[4:12 PM]: Bobby Lee’s allocution absolutely hasn’t started yet (schedule is 10 account behind). Now in capital amphitheater at allocution by Ledger CEO Eric Larcheveque. Eric discusses the abeyant and ability of accessible antecedent software. He discusses the advantages of accouterments wallets, and how they’re added defended and bodies can chronicle to them bigger than agenda wallets.
[4:18 PM]: Bobby Lee, CEO of BTC China, enters the stage. His allocution is about to be on the abeyant for Bitcoin to action as a (global) assets currency. Makes affinity to bill actuality like a house.
[4:22 PM]: Bobby defines money as a “Store of Value” and additionally accepting qualities including “stable, recognizable, rare, adamantine to counterfeit, adamantine to obtain, and it has to accept a abiding supply.”
[4:23 PM]: Bobby defines what a bill is; artlessly a acknowledged allocation or definition. He capacity how abounding bodies in the media abash references to “money” and “currency.” Speaks to how gold was originally not backed by anything, and that this was okay, because gold was about all they had already “currency” was aboriginal starting off.
[4:28 PM]: Assets bill is bare to accord bodies confidence, Bobby says. Bobby angle the abstraction of a “reserve currency” as an anchor, one which helps bodies not be too anxious about the actuality that we use authorization money. The assets bill is a counter-weight. Bobby: “Today, Gold is still the Assets Currency, but Central Banks won’t aboveboard accept that.”
[4:30 PM]: Bobby says that Bitcoin “is absolute money.” And that “We accept now invented a agenda anatomy of the absolute money. And now, because of that, it (Bitcoin) is acceptable for the approaching apple of agenda assets currencies.”
[4:36 PM]: Next up, Brennen Byrne, CEO of Clef, gives allocution authoritative affinity of a CIA classified certificate from the 2024’s to the Hackathon Hacker’s appearance of today.
[4:41 PM]: Brennen: “If you attending anxiously in your logs, you will see that basal attacks like this will appear all the time”. Discusses how hackers browse for befalling and again attending for absolution later.
[4:44 PM]: Brennen: Botnets, SQLi, DDoS cannons, Phone calls and emails to abutment are all capital forms of attacks.
[4:45 PM]: Security tips from Brennen: Do not reinvent the wheel! Follow industry best practices. Use concentric circles of defense.
[4:48 PM]: Brain is hurting. Feeling tired. Should apparently get some baptize anon or booty a nap. Brennan’s allocution aloof ended. One allocution to go.
[4:50 PM]: Final allocution of the day, by Patrick Deegan, starts. Patrick is the CTO of Personal Blackbox, a aggregation putting alternating solutions for decentralized character and trust.
[4:55 PM]: Patrick: Distributed balance technology can serve as the DNA of our character and actuality online. Blockchains acquiesce for this all to appear in a decentralized manner.
[4:57 PM]: Patrick: We charge to actualize article that makes it accessible for our grandparents to use and administer clandestine keys. This is key, Patrick says. I accede with this wholeheartedly.
Evening
[5:02 PM]: Really annoyed at this point. Getting sidetracked. See commodity on Facebook blue-blooded “Feminist Frequency takes on ‘strategic base coverings’ in video games.”
[5:03 PM]: Slide during Patrick’s presentation catches my eye. It makes a point about Smart Contracts. It says; “Smart Contracts: free and defended beheading of governance, accurately bounden another altercation resolution, Rule of Law.”
[5:06 PM]: Patrick’s allocution is over, activity to get some water.
[5:14 PM]: Didn’t absolutely go to get water. Stayed to apprehend the Q&A with Patrick. Someone in admirers asks about Homomorphic Encryption.
[5:18 PM]: Conference is declared clearly over for the day by the host. Off to actually-get-that-water now.
I achievement that anybody has enjoyed afterward forth in today’s post. Bitcoin conferences, as you can see above, are fun, nerdy, and intertwined places for entrepreneurs to meet. They’re a abundant abode to apprentice in accepted and additionally apprentice about new opportunities. I’d acclaim activity to one if you haven’t yet.
Be on the anchor for a day 2 epitomize tomorrow evening!
