A weekend at the Hackers Congress in Prague #HCPP18
The fifth annual Hackers Congress took place in the cryptoanrchist hub of Paralelni Polis in Prague over the weekend of 5–7th of October. Themed “New Order”, the congress covered privacy, decentralization and freedom, with talks by some of the bigger names in the field.
The venue included several stages for speakers to share their knowledge and stories, a co-working space, and the very first cryptocurrency-only cafe.
Cryptocurrencies, namely bitcoin, litecoin or monero, were the only form of payment within the entire event, for that matter. Upon arrival, every attendee received a NFC badge which could be used as a contactless wallet. By holding either the litecoin or bitcoin button, you would connect to the chosen NFS chip with the antenna and the payment would go through.
Bitcoin ATMs were also available, offering participants the opportunity to leave behind the traditional financial system for the weekend. In addition to that, it was requested not to take pictures or videos inside to respect people’s privacy.
Beneath the congress flag hung outside the building, a pair of red boxers hung. This was a reference to the political prank of the Czech artist group, Ztohoven, which make up part of the founding team of Paralelni Polis. In 2015, the group replaced the Czech president’s flag with a massive pair of red underwear, criticizing “the man who is not ashamed of anything”, and the government’s relations with Russia and China. The president recently publicly set red underwear on fire. Meanwhile at the Hackers Congress, anti-establishmentarianism was in the air.
This year’s congress was named “New Order” — since “the natural order is the new order,” as Paralelni Polis writes.
The speakers disseminated their expertise and experiences about a wide range of topics including cryptoanarchy, cryptocurrencies, hacking, freedom, libertarianism, liberating technology, voluntarism and decentralization of the economy, governance, and health care.
Unfortunately, two expected highlighted speakers, Amir Taaki and Cody Wilson (who was caught up in controversial complications), were not able to make it to the event. Nonetheless, the congress saw the return of many inspiring regulars, such as Smuggler, Frank Braun, Peter Todd, Amin Rafiee. Jeorg Platzer, Paul Rosenberg and Vit Jedlicka.
This year also saw new speakers such as Adolfo Linares and Pavla Holcová who heatedly discussed the Panama Papers, and Luis Cuende representing Aragon One who outlined the function of DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations).
The founding members of Hackers Congress Paralelni Polis (HCPP) were also present on the stages. Pavol Luptak gave a practical guide of how to achieve economic and political freedom. Juraj Bendar spoke about financial surveillance based on his experience building up Paralelni polis as a state-independent organization. Namely, Paralelni Polis is the only Czech organization to boycott the invasive national law on electronic sales records, and “doesn’t care too much about the tax office,” as Pavol says.
Essayist and statistician Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrapped up the congress (although remotely), an spoke about how, unlike most professions, politicians and bankers hardly ever need to pay for the great damage they create (e.g. 2008 crash). These themes are discussed in his new book “Skin in the Game” (2018).
Lazy mornings with coffee paid in bitcoin — catching up on the night before or sitting back with your laptop (most likely a Linux-operated Lenovo) beneath your palms — quickly lead into a buzzing, dynamic atmosphere by the afternoon.
Panel discussions, live broadcasts, press interviews, networking and exchanging ideas was taking place in every corner. It is a place where digital personalities from all around the world meet IRL, putting a face to a username. With so many captivating talks taking place every day, as well as interesting conversations to be had with people in between, it was impossible to experience everything. Fortunately, all the talks are already available on Paralelni Polis’ Youtube channel.
The Hackers Congress reminds you that an alternative reality is readily available. That the corrupted state-run governments and economies do not have to rule your life if you do not want them to.
But true privacy is becoming harder and harder to come by, as masked figures warned.
The Hackers Congress makes you question yourself — what are you doing for freedom? And then gives you everything you need to know to unchain yourself.
Keep your eyes open for HCPP19!
Picture by the author.
