Day 1 I was on edge immediately as I was told no bears were allowed upon entering. It was also industry day (why do I have an industry badge I don’t know just for this extra day I guess)

I soon realized I was in a fever dream of libertarian 4channery when I strolled through the Bitcoin Art gallery and saw the paintings.

The vendors hall was just as feverish. The panties for Bitcoin booth was especially… Revealing. However the busiest booth was the BTC trading cards. And of course the multiple booths dedicated to not paying income tax.

There were also robots making coffee. Of course for each coffee robot was a man standing behind it waiting for it to fuck up and need help.

And of course everyone is very hype that trump is coming… As you can see in the main pic. no time has been wasted by the bitcoiners after the trump attempt.

During registration I realized there are also Whale passes. These things are insanely pricey and get you nothing but “The Deep” a tiny lounge area. And some special seating. Guess the price of these fuckin things… Main passes cost ~$700 industry passes ~$4k…

spoiler

Whale passes ~$20k

Obviously a discount if you pay in BTC. so that’s a steal then.

Check the map for all the sweet perks being a whale gives ya.

Talks during the day ranged from boring nothing about how great BTC is, to a few interesting technical talks, to having the most ghoulish people imaginable on stage. A black rock exec for instance and minister from Dubai.

This talk was followed by libertarian excellence. “Why is black rock here these people are rent seeking scum” true my friend maybe examine why your perfect coin is so infected with them. Maybe push at your ideology a little. Definitely got the biggest crowd reaction though and most enjoyable personally since they almost said true statements.

Later we went to a podcast live show in a bar. On entrance we were greeted with what the lady at the door said was the most beautiful ice sculpture she’d ever seen. It was no sculpture of lenin I was disappointed to find.

Easily the funniest part of the day. They had a comedian come up and roast the hosts. When his jokes weren’t just “you gay” or “who here is a n*****?” he was pretty good at roasting bitcoiners.

There was also a hotdog eating contest. One guest just loved bukele. He had the biggest cowboy hat I ever saw.

Overall day 1: 10% technically interesting, 40% libertarian madness, 50% fever dream. Ready for day 2 let’s go.

  • Assian_Candor [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    The pepe thing is so fucking stale, it’s been 8 years guys let it go.

    I do think it’s funny that all the Bitcoin has just been hoovered up by financial firms. The Black Rock thing is a nice touch.

    Nice report look forward to day 2

  • StalinIsMaiWaifu@lemmygrad.ml
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    4 months ago

    no firearms

    Fucking gun control libs ruining another house of freedom

    On a serious note: cool right up, looking forward to day 2. I hope a bridal party spills their drinks on convention goers.

  • nat_turner_overdrive [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    If you get the opportunity to ask speakers questions, could you perhaps pose a question like “A lot of people - bears of course - say Bitcoin and other crypto currencies were invented and are used to benefit the US intelligence service. Lately, we keep seeing North Korea scamming and stealing crypto currencies in such large volumes and frequency that it is a major contributor to their economy. Is Bitcoin a trojan horse by the deep state to empower North Korea and bring down good god-fearing western nations?”

  • ObamaSama [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    Incredible stuff, thank you for the boots on the ground reporting. Have you had a chance to mingle with the attendees much? I’m curious what the split is between grifters trying to push their next scam and poor working class saps desperate to believe that crypto can save them from the Wendy’s dumpster

    • TomBombadil [he/him, she/her]@hexbear.netOP
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      4 months ago

      Much mingling. Yesterday was grifters up and down being industry day. People selling all sorts. Today huge mix. Plenty of sellers and long-term bitcoiners running all sorts of Sketch shit. But also many people who seem to just be wondering around wide eyed looking for something new and hopeful. So ya definitely a mix

  • Omegamint [comrade/them, doe/deer]@hexbear.net
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    4 months ago

    Lol I follow the Russian Instagram girl who does those paintings. Pepelangelo is her user I think. She probably has mega brain worms but it’s hard to tell. She might just be autistic and this is a legit easy way to make some cash