If you haven’t been to a crypto / Web3 conference, you wouldn’t understand it.
It’s an entirely different world. Art installations. Emerging tech. Tokens. Infrastructure. Coins. Panel discussions. Massive parties, which I never go to because all I do is work. Networking happy hours. Free merchandise that promotes blockchains or brands. People trying to close deals. Mascots with oversized glasses. Masses of people from all over the world, all ages, cultures, and backgrounds. Hacking. Pitch competitions.
This is a literary glimpse of the madness that is my world and my industry. There are several gatherings in the Web3 / Bitcoin industries that allow people to “check the pulse” on what’s happening. Consensus, ETH Denver, and Bitcoin Conf are among the top conferences from the standpoint of America. Globally, there are many more.
I have never attended ETH Denver, but I have attended Consensus and Bitcoin Conf twice. Consensus 2024 happened in Austin, TX, which is where I am currently writing this from. I got invited by the Stacks Foundation since I know the ecosystem, I can speak to founders or builders looking to get started on Stacks, I can educate, and I can also speak to funds or family offices about the benefits of Bitcoin L2s like Stacks.
The attitude of the industry was very positive throughout the entire conference. It’s like everyone is expecting something massive to shift this year. Politically in America, people are rallying for crypto, even if President Biden is against it. ETFs and offerings like the Grayscale Stacks Trust are gaining a ton of attention as well as capital inflow. Funding for Web3 companies is hitting headlines, especially in the Bitcoin L2 sector. Global movements across various verticals are gathering momentum due to wanting to integrate Web3 elements. It’s like the news and history is happening in real time.
I remember catching up with Cleve Mesidor, the executive director of the Blockchain Foundation, and a colleague passed by saying that former President Trump was now a felon. He proceeds to raise over $50M in 24 hours. This comes on the heels of President Trump accepting Bitcoin as an official method of donation for his campaign. I was speaking to members of the Stacks Foundation when I found out that a crypto exchange in Japan was hacked for over $300M in Bitcoin today.
As I was mentoring builders for the EasyA hackathon alongside Adam Haun and Kenny Rogers of the Stacks Foundation, I was able to curate a connection with my good friend Kalah Haley of Saint Rock Media and Wolf Financial, a premier media company that educates the world through Twitter / X spaces on a daily basis. Partnerships can form based on one conversation or one introduction. At conferences like these, you can be one conversation away from changing your life.
That’s one reason why I love Web3.
From Sarah Grooms of Wintrust Financial to Shailee Adinolfi of Trust Machines, from Jonas Gerber of Hiro Systems to Kyle Ellicott who serves as Investor Relations for the Stacks Foundation, from Rena Shah to Shannon Voight, Web3 conferences feel like colleagues and friends that are getting together to make an impact leveraging decentralized tech. There are many people that I had a chance to catch up with that I didn’t mention and some people that I didn’t get a chance to see due to so many events happening back to back. Although I will see many of these people in Nashville in July for the Bitcoin Builders Conference and Bitcoin Conf, It’s always great to catch up with people on the same mission as you. Lastly, thank God as serendipity happens.
When I wasn’t mentoring developers at the EasyA hackathon, I was helping educate people in the Stacks booth. A company called OneKey stopped by and we talked about Stacks for a long time. I found out that OneKey is the biggest hardware wallet brand in Asia, but they don’t support Stacks as of yet and they are attempting to expand their brand’s reach to America. We found a path for Stacks to be on the hardware wallet and we connected via Telegram to stay in touch. I gave them some free Stacks merch and they went on there way to one of the other many booths in the expo center. The two representatives from OneKey returned with a smile.
They said that they wanted to give me the most popular OneKey wallet for free! Hardware wallets are a must have for anyone interested in for self custody of their digital assets. I was thankful for the new wallet! This turned into me doing an unboxing video on Twitter / X which will help the OneKey brand from an awareness standpoint. The video will available for view on my Twitter / X profile, which you can follow here.
If you ever have the chance to go to Consensus or Bitcoin Conf, go. Because you never know what can happen if you do. Be safe. Have fun. Learn something new. Go.
Feels like Bitcoin events are about to get even more fun with rollups on the horizon!