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Issued: 06/05/2021 – 03:30
Miami (AFP)
Thousands of people descended on Miami for a massive two-day bitcoin conference that opened on Friday – a sign that the US city, in the midst of a tech boom, hopes to become the next cryptocurrency hub.
“I don’t think there’s anything more important in my life to work on” than bitcoin, given the flexibility it offers, said billionaire entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and the Square payment company, in a crowded auditorium.
“We don’t need the financial institutions that we have today. We have one that is thriving, that is strong, that is community owned, that is community led,” said Dorsey, one of the keynote speakers from Bitcoin. 2021.
Dorsey tweeted Friday that Square is considering creating a hardware wallet to securely store bitcoin.
With 12,000 attendees and all sold-out speaker sessions, the Bitcoin 2021 Trade Show features exhibits from crypto mining companies, crypto traders, and bitcoin exchange networks.
The conference was originally scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, but has been moved due to tighter coronavirus restrictions in California.
The line to enter the Mana Convention Center in Miami’s trendy Wynwood neighborhood wrapped around the building. Everyone was in a good mood and there were no face masks to see.
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Beyond Dorsey, two of the other speakers were Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Mark Zuckerberg’s twin classmates at Harvard, who sued him for claiming he stole the Facebook idea from them and now runs the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange.
“We think bitcoin is 2.0 gold,” Tyler said at a panel discussion. “When we get to Mars, what will the currency be on Mars? Dollars? No. Bitcoin.”
– ‘A movement’ –
So where is Miami in the picture?
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For David Abner, Global Business Development Manager at Gemini, Miami is “centrally located, especially in the Americas, and there is a lot of political support here.”
“I think they’ve spent some time figuring it out and thinking about the ramifications of bitcoin. And so they’re very pro-economics,” Abner told AFP, adding that cryptocurrency could revolutionize markets. remittances returned to Latin America.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who opened Bitcoin 2021, has become somewhat of a celebrity in tech circles, for his intense efforts to transform the magical city into a seaside Silicon Valley.
In February, the Republican mayor announced that the city would explore ways to conduct some of its financial transactions using cryptocurrency, including paying employee salaries.
Earlier this week, venture capital firm Borderless Capital announced it was moving its headquarters from Atlanta to Miami and launching a new $ 25 million fund for local startups using blockchain technology.
And the mayor announced the launch of MiamiCoin, a Miami-specific cryptocurrency that will allow investors to boost the city’s coffers while making money.
“It’s not a moment. It’s a movement,” Suarez said Friday.
– ‘A little suspicious’ –
Since the end of last year, Miami has drawn techs away from Silicon Valley and New York for a variety of reasons – thanks to Florida’s lack of state taxes and relatively lax coronavirus precautions, as well as to the city’s multicultural workforce and its proximity to Latin America.
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It’s unclear how many have moved, but there are signs of growth – home prices are skyrocketing, up nearly 35% in just one year, according to the Miami Association of Realtors.
But not everyone is happy. The Miami Herald warned in an op-ed of the possible pitfalls of the city’s adoption of anything crypto.
“Don’t get me wrong. We hope the cryptocurrency – and the flashing neon welcome mat we’ve put together for the tech industry – will lift this city to new prosperity,” the newspaper said.
“Don’t blame us for being a little suspicious,” he said. “Because Miami has a story, folks. We’ve been a smuggler’s paradise, the epicenter of the cocaine trade, the mecca of money laundering, the zero point of mortgage fraud …”
“We’re afraid we’re going through another boom and bust cycle or a wave crashing and dragging us all with it. If we bet the future of the city on that, please don’t repeat. the past.”
AFP 2021
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