[ad_1]
At Bitcoin’s massive Miami conference last weekend, artists peddled creepy anti-establishment paintings, including portraits of Janet Yellen and Steve Mnuchin with blood streaming down their faces. The Winklevoss brothers – of “The Social Network” fame – explored the utility of Bitcoin on Mars. And Tony Hawk, the legendary skateboarder and crypto booster, demonstrated a halfpipe.
But despite all the eccentricities and counterculture connotations, the event’s most distinctive new feature – allegedly the biggest Bitcoin has ever seen with at least 12,000 tickets sold – may have been the subtle proliferation of business. casual. Throughout the room you could find men – yes, still mostly men – with neatly parted hair, partially tucked polo shirts, and even a few button-down shirts. They were Wall Street guys trying to fit in, some more convincingly than others.
This is the latest sign of the growing involvement of mainstream finance in an asset class known for its rebellious beginnings, in which lectures were filled with twenty-a few people in crypto t-shirts and shorts, wild hair and over-the-top hats. There are still plenty of them, but there were also former Chicago Board of Trade traders, privately funded entrepreneurs, and various types of C-suites.
“They are now disproportionately traditional finance folks, corporate folks as opposed to the old-guard native crypto-type folks,” said Ava Labs president John Wu, a fund alumnus. including Tiger Management and Kingdon Capital, whose company operates the open source Avalanche platform. for decentralized financial applications.
This is not the first time that Wall Streeters have attended crypto conferences. But as Wu noted, they were “tourists” at lectures a few years ago, mainly trying to get a crash course. “This time around there are even more and they are more engaged and they are actually participants.”
In the 15 months that have passed since much of the United States was first blocked, Bitcoin has had another wild ride, featuring an incredible bull run followed by a devastating crash. Despite the volatility, digital currencies have become an increasing part of board discussions. Wall Street Firms Extend Sell-Side Crypto Research; venture capitalists have invested more and more money in blockchain technology; and everyone is waiting for exchange-traded cryptocurrencies to open the floodgates of institutional money.
The two-day event drew long lines wrapping several blocks around the warehouse-style complex in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District. Almost no one wore masks indoors or outdoors, despite the persistent pandemic and a vaccination rate still well below the US target of 70%. Bitcoiners have also attended countless after-parties, including a Thursday night for so-called “whale pass” holders, who mingled on the rooftop terrace of the Kimpton Epic Hotel to the sound of music from DJ Diplo. One attendee, who said he went to his first Bitcoin conference in 2013, said he didn’t see anyone he recognized and called out attendees wearing a poseurs town shirt. A man nearby was wearing a Goldman Sachs waistcoat.
Tyler Winklevoss, left, and Cameron Winklevoss at the Bitcoin 2021 conference.
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui / Bloomberg
“Based on what we’ve seen over the past year, crypto has gone from begging other asset classes for support to other asset classes begging their bosses to start gaining access. “to crypto investments,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX cryptocurrency. exchange. “So I think a huge, huge change in feeling.”
In some ways, Bankman-Fried is himself a walking embodiment of crypto integration. During his visit to the Sunshine State last week, the Miami Heat’s National Basketball Association home stadium officially became FTX Arena, the first NBA stadium deal from a crypto firm. It was the result of a $ 135 million deal the exchange struck earlier this year. Bankman-Fried also appeared at the conference wearing a jersey announcing FTX’s new partnership with esports organization TSM.
But the crypto scene still has major hurdles to professionalization – among others, the glaring lack of gender diversity, which was laid bare in Miami this weekend. About 85% of the speakers on Nakamoto’s main stage – named after supposed Bitcoin developer Satoshi Nakamoto – were male, and the distribution was not much more balanced among the attendees.
In addition to the Winklevoss twins, the Nakamoto stage featured headliners such as Twitter Inc. CEO Jack Dorsey; famous central bank critic and former US representative Ron Paul; and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has become a die-hard cryptocurrency fan and even offered to pay city employees in Bitcoin.
Jack Dorsey speaks at the Bitcoin 2021 conference.
Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui / Bloomberg
At a cocktail party hosted by Bit Digital on Thursday, Bitcoin Foundation chairman Brock Pierce – a prominent crypto investor who ran for president last year – told the group that blockchain technology is coming for the world whether the world is ready or not.
“Remember, the future is going to happen to or with you,” said Pierce, wearing a T-shirt version of Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper while preaching to a group comprising former commodity traders clad in buttons. “Thank you for coming, thank you for choosing to play the game.”
– With the help of Zeke Faux and Olga Kharif
Before he’s here, he’s on the Bloomberg terminal.
LEARN MORE
[ad_2]
picture credit