Report: The North American Bitcoin Conference – Day One

The 2017 North American Bitcoin Conference packed a large crowd this year with hundreds of guests networking in the warm surroundings of beautiful Miami beach. Energy was in high spirits over the course of the event celebrating Bitcoin’s eight year anniversary.

The North American Bitcoin Conference Shines a Spotlight on Bitcoin in Miami

In its fourth year The North American Bitcoin Conference (TNABC) hosted by Moe Levin once again brought our favorite digital asset to Miami. During the first night of the event many attendees spent the evening at the well known Clevelander Hotel for the TNABC pre party. The evening saw the bitcoin symbol displayed on the side of Miami’s famous hotel as the price per bitcoin started firing up its rockets that evening reaching $900 per BTC.

Also read: Big Names Gather When North American Bitcoin Conference Comes Back to Miami

Day one of the conference held at the James L. Knight convention center was filled with more excitement. Attendees started arriving in the morning to catch a vast array of speakers and exhibitors set up in the hallways. TNABC exhibits included companies such as Airbitz, General Bytes, Ledger, Unsung and many more. Guests of the event purchased ‘Trump style” red hats that stated “make bitcoin great again” while observing a vast array of products including a virtual reality station.

Opinions Regarding Private Blockchains and Big Announcements from Abra and Openbazaar

The Miami Bitcoin event had no shortage of speakers as the entire day was filled with executives, developers, and innovators within the Bitcoin space. Early morning talks included Riccardo Spagni developer of Monero, Jonathan Chester from Bitwage, and Breadwallet’s Aaron Voisine. Big news came from Abra that morning as the company announced the launch of its global bitcoin network.

Another highlight of the morning speakers was the investment panel hosted by Michael Terpin of Bitangels. The investment panel discussed bitcoin’s potential as a new asset class and subjects like private blockchains. Andrew Filipowski of Tally Capital and Chinese miner Chandler Gao got the crowd laughing as they both agreed private blockchains are a joke.

Following the investment panel attendees listened to Bitcoin.com’s CEO Roger Ver discuss how bitcoin can strengthen the world economy. Another notable speaker was Genesis Mining founder Marco Streng who discussed if bitcoin mining was still profitable. Streng also detailed to the audience how they can research cloud mining operations that seemed shady and how to differentiate them from real mining firms.

After the morning sessions guests checked out more exhibits and products like a Dash vending machine and Ledger hardware wallets. The afternoon attendees heard from the founder of OpenBazaar Brian Hoffman who announced the release of the platform’s 2.0 beta version. Hoffman also had a notable interview with the infamous podcast Bitcoin Uncensored located in the men’s restroom during the conference.

A Monetary Revolution and Feeding the Hungry

Following Hoffman’s speech the crowd packed the room to hear the well known economist and author Jeffrey Tucker. Tucker described how he discovered bitcoin and how the decentralized currency will help revolutionize the failures of central banking. The libertarian luminary explained to the crowd that bitcoin was unlike any money the human race had seen before referencing the Misean regression theorem. Bitcoin has changed the old way of thinking about money as it emerged without deriving from a commodity asset explained Tucker.

TNABC guests then heard from Unsung founder Jason King as he detailed how his startup was feeding the hungry utilizing bitcoin. King detailed the early stages of the applications growth and how Unsung volunteers in U.S. cities fed over 16 thousand homeless people so far. King also explained how the company Soylent was helping the team by supplying meal replacement drinks for deliveries.

The first day of the Miami bitcoin conference was a huge success as the building was bustling with energy. The afternoon ended with talks from Gabriel Abed, founder of caribbean fintech company Bitt, and Jeremy Gardner from Augur discussing decentralized prediction markets. Guest ended the day with drinks and an after party at the South Beach establishment Fire and Ice. The crowd seemed very excited about day two featuring John McAfee and many innovators within the digital currency environment. As attendees left the building many witnessed a giant bitcoin billboard created by Genesis Mining driving around the the city’s financial district.

Did you attend the Miami Bitcoin conference this year? Let us know in the comments below.

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