LiskUSA is back at the World’s Largest Bitcoin Conference.
South Beach Miami is located in Southern Florida on an island just off the coast of the city of Miami. The sunny and sandy shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, a cool breeze, and the ambient sound of soft crashing waves is a memorable experience all by itself. Just a few blocks from this beach paradise and you were at the door steps of another memorable experience. The world’s largest Bitcoin Conference with over 25,000 people in attendance. From an amazing lineup of informative speakers and bitcoin influencers, to mountains of swag, epic announcements, and an entire music festival. It’s hard to describe everything that this conference had to offer!
With over 500 Speakers at this massive conference it’s impossible to have seen everything. Luckily, this year the speakers and panels were divided between some popular themes. The 3 most popular stages were: The Mining Stage was for everything related to POW mining, The Nakamoto Stage for the Keynote speakers, announcements, and panels, and our favorite was the Enterprise stage with everything related to crypto innovation, regulation, and entrepreneurship. There was something for everyone and a lot of attendees were eager to learn and explore the massive exhibit hall with over 200 businesses showcasing their company or bitcoin related project.
Epic Announcements
The event was full of surprises and announcements. Samson Mow introduced the world to three new Bitcoin friendly jurisdictions. First up was the Island of Prospera, a small but thriving island nation of Honduras. Secondly, Madeira an island of Portugal. Last but not least was Mexico. All three announcements were accompanied by Presidents and Senators of the countries.
A lot of the good news was surrounding Lightning Network integrations. Jack Mallers made some waves with his announcement that his company Strike is now officially partnered with Shopify, the online retail PoS giant. Even better, a full integration was ready to go for the day of the conference and was made available through Cash App.
One more powerful reveal at the conference was accompanied by Miami’s Mayor, Francis Suarez . There is a strong push to make Miami the financial hub of the future. Hidden underneath a massive cloth cover until finally being revealed was a futuristic bull statue that is Miami’s version of the famous Wall Street Bull. It is Mayor Suarez’s vision to have Miami become the new financial capital of the world and this bull is is symbolic of Miami’s efforts to do so.
Advice from Billionaires
Some of the most wealthy public figures in the space were there to give sound advice to the Bitcoin faithful. Peter Thiel was on the offensive, naming powerful people who are opposing Bitcoin. Michael Saylor was in his typical confidently bullish form. Cathy Wood, CEO of ARKK Invest was later interviewed and said that “Bitcoin is going to one million dollars”. Their sentiments were very positive and it resonated loudly.
Gorillas meet the Whales
“The Deep” is an exclusive area of the conference reserved for patrons who secured the pricey “Whale Pass”. It was selling for upwards of $15,000 dollars before the conference. After some searching, we discovered the perfect location to initiate our networking session. A table conveniently located in front of the Deep called to us to setup in full force. After only a short period of time dozens of people were coming up to us and asking us about Lisk and what we had to offer. Many just get some of our awesome Lisk branded swag.
Few people had heard of Lisk before but when they found out it was an L1 and offered the ability to launch your own blockchain they were eager to hear more information. Among those interested were some Whales and App Development Company Owners. Many developers found great interest and expressed curiosity in Lisk. Several wanted to make their own blockchain but were still undecided on what platform to use and hearing about Java Script and Interoperability with multiple chains they began to see the value that Lisk has to offer. After talking to dozens of people and giving out all the swag, we had introduced Lisk to over a hundred conference attendees.
We also spent a lot of time on working the Expo floor and discussing various topics with related industries and anyone willing to chat. If you spend enough time around interesting things find you. We were able to land, not just one, but two interviews. Debate Crypto and then Sin City Crypto were two rising media outlets who are up and coming bitcoin and crypto focused youtube channels. Wachsman PR had a booth there and gave us a friendly welcome when they saw our Lisk Gear.
We would say it was quite the success and more people are informed about Lisk now then before the conference started and we have expanded our Rolodex quite a bit. LiskUSA looks forward to increasing our efforts in collaboration with Lisk HQ with the Launch of the Lisk SDK 6.0 and sidechain interoperability.
Fireside Chat with Jordan Peterson
The Fireside Chat with Dr. Jordan Peterson was a favorite moment. The Doctor asked for caution from the unknown effects of replacing an entire monetary system (Fiat) with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. He also spoke about the moral good that is inherent in creating capitalistic enterprises that provide society with things of value. He said to defend ourselves against those that would attempt to chastise us for creating value and wealth because they likely create nothing of value and that we, in fact, have a moral imperative to do so. To us this was slightly refreshing to hear in a constant echo chamber of “Number go up.” Some said that Dr. JP was bearish on Bitcoin but I think instead he took a the role of a crypto dad, encouraging while slightly cautious of the ramifications of our overwhelming success.
Afterparties, Events, and Dinner with the Big Boss
After the conference ended each day there was a plethora of afterparties, meetups, and social events to attend. You would have to go out of your way to avoid the amount of activities taking place on Miami Beach. We were invited to a Whale afterparty hosted by OkCoin to get some refreshments. We were happy to explain Lisk to any whales who were interested. Walking the boardwalk back to our Hotel we found a Web3 meetup and beach cleanup that was going on. We love the beaches of Miami and decided to help fill a couple buckets of trash. The Miami Beach Cleanup Crew was using the trash collected to create works of art that would also be made into 1 of 1 NFTs on the Opensea platform. It was really cool to network, help cleanup the beaches, and see how people are using NFTs and Web3 in the real world.
Simultaneous to the Bitcoin Conference, Solana was hosting an entire 5 day event on it’s own in Miami. For the Solana event they took over several city blocks to host a huge outdoor and indoor event in the streets of the Wynwood art district. We decided to check out their after party to see the state of the game. Music by a local DJ named Malone (No Post) was pretty awesome and had a whole city block of people dancing. The security was extremely uptight though and caused a lot of issues for people trying to get in. We heard it was because some of the Solana holders at the party were very wealthy and influential people, so just something to keep an eye on for future Solana events. Otherwise, for their first event it was pretty well done. While we were there we couldn’t help but think about how we should have a Lisk conference one day as well.
Suepaphly, Ultrafresh, and Stellardynamic of LiskUSA had the pleasure of joining with Max for a very productive and enjoyable dinner. We heard he was in town focusing on marketing and developing business relationships and we wanted to do the same. It was a great evening and one of our most memorable moments all week. The team was able to talk strategy and how future collaborations with HQ and LiskUSA will help take the Lisk Project to the next level in USA, America, and beyond!
Sound Music Festival
Just when the attendees thought the conference was coming to an end — an entire music festival was just getting started. With a massive outdoor and indoor stage the musical festival was an epic experience. What was once the main stage for the keynote speakers was now transformed into a massive night club. Big Boi from Run the Jewels and Killer Mike from Outcast put on an amazing rap set. Followed by Logic on the outside stage to fill the cool night air with his melodic beats. Deadmau5 who was the headliner of the festival took to the main Nakamoto stage and played a set for almost 3 hours and concluded with a new song he made just for the conference called “Satoshi.”
Conclusion
Last years conference was quite an experience but suffered from a few issues. So, going into Bitcoin 2022, we had very high expectations which were all completely surpassed by this incredible event. Intellectual panels, great atmosphere, tons of free loot given away, amazing food, the sunny beaches, music festivals and after parties, this conference had it all. With over 500 speakers and big names like Michael Saylor, Jordon Peterson, Mr. Wonderful, Sampson Mow, and so many more memorable keynotes and panel discussion it’s hard to describe in words. The only thing we can say with certainty is that this conference can only be truly experienced in person and should be added to the bucket list of any Bitcoin or Crypto enthusiast.
Feeling inspired and rejuvenated, LiskUSA has a lot of great plans in the works. So be sure to checkback soon.
