That is an opinion editorial by Marek Feder, the editor in chief of Investro and a Bitcoin journalist who not too long ago attended the BTC Prague occasion.
Let’s begin with a disclaimer: I’m not related to the organizers of BTC Prague in any approach, so on this article, I solely present my private expertise and views as an attendee. And another disclaimer: I’ve not been to many Bitcoin conferences, so my takes and impressions from BTC Prague is likely to be previous information for a few of you. Nevertheless, I do consider that it was the primary “big” Bitcoin convention not just for myself, but additionally for numerous others from Central Europe, so it is likely to be good to sum up the entire expertise.
A Convention Actually For Anybody
The truth that the most affordable ticket to BTC Prague was solely 9 euro (about $11) signifies that this convention was actually for anybody. There have been clearly some limitations to this entry, however the least expensive ticket received individuals to the exposition space in addition to to 2 levels, which was undoubtedly nicely price it. This was in all probability one of many nicest touches by the organizers, as they made this convention obtainable for plenty, even exterior of Bitcoin.
This was additional enhanced by the truth that the programming on the “Czech Stage” was completely about Bitcoin fundamentals. It contained talks about what cash is; introductions to Bitcoin, privateness and self-custody; rationalization of the variations between Bitcoin and Ethereum; and rather more.
For 2 days, newcomers to the Bitcoin world may have listened to a few of Bitcoin’s most interesting from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and obtain educations equal to these gained from learning for a whole lot of hours. I consider this highlights the significance of in-person conferences and reasonably priced occasions that may assist with orange pilling the mainstream.
Business Day Rulez!
Whereas the primary convention introduced on the Czech Stage and programming for Bitcoin novices took half on June 9 and June 10, the business day content material centered on companies began on June 8, and I consider this was the perfect day for making connections and new mates.
To begin with, throughout the day, there have been “solely” two levels with talks and keynotes (the Czech Stage was not open at the moment), that means that there was much less of an official program. This allowed individuals to spend extra time within the well-thought-out and provoking exposition space, the place they might discover dozens and dozens of corporations and Bitcoin organizations. With greater than 70 stalls and cubicles, attendees had an opportunity to speak to mining companies, pockets suppliers, Bitcoin e-book retailers, training organizations and numerous different Bitcoin-related companies.
And because the expo space was not as crowded on business day, it offered the perfect probability for attendees to have in-depth conversations with all the attending companies. Having spent a lot of the primary day within the expo space, I used to be actually shocked by not solely the openness and friendliness of all of the members, but additionally their willingness to have very thorough and informative discussions with anybody who was prepared to pay attention and ask questions.
A Prime-Notch Program
Michael Saylor, Adam Again, Eric Weiss, Giacomo Zucco, Stephan Livera, Marek “Slush” Palatinus, Ben Perrin, Peter McCormack, Rockstar Dev and plenty of, many others spoke on the occasion. The BTC Prague convention had an unbelievable lineup with Bitcoin specialists, builders, entrepreneurs, influencers and enterprise individuals flying from actually all throughout the globe. The keynotes, dialogue panels and talks had been unbelievable.
As of this writing, the recordings for less than two of the on-stage shows have been launched on the official YouTube channel. Nevertheless, each of them are nicely price a watch. Saylor’s “The Future Of Bitcoin” and Zucco’s “Ordinals Are Retarded,” for example, stuffed the primary corridor to the final seat as individuals listened to those inspiring and academic keynotes. I extremely advocate watching each of them.
The talks additionally included some fascinating bulletins from the audio system, however detailing what was introduced would in all probability take up an entire article alone. However, the bulletins by Vexl Basis, AmityAge, Fedimint and Aleks Svetski are price trying into specifically
A Plethora Of Fascinating Facet Occasions
Earlier than the convention, a few of my Bitcoin mates had talked about that a very powerful components could be the expo space and facet occasions. As bizarre as that will sound, I now perceive why they felt that approach. Whereas I used to be not capable of personally attend all the facet occasions, I heard solely the perfect suggestions and opinions in regards to the likes of “dev/hack/day,” a Nostr meetup and different occasions.
If the attendees actually needed to benefit from the talks and keynotes, and thus didn’t spend lots of time within the expo space, the facet occasions had been an excellent probability for speaking to individuals in a much less formal approach. From my remark, the overwhelming majority of the workers from the convention stalls and cubicles had been out and assembly with individuals even throughout the facet occasions, giving the attendees an opportunity to speak with them in a extra relaxed method. Typically, this was accompanied by a pint of famend Czech beer at a restaurant serving home made specialties of the native delicacies, making it much more nice.
Room For Enchancment
Properly, there may be not a lot that I might have modified or that I consider is important to enhance to make this occasion much more spectacular. Nevertheless, one minor enchancment may need led to much more satisfaction from attendees, but, it was not associated to this system, audio system or cubicles:
The meals vans had been a supply of friction that is likely to be improved within the subsequent occasion. At instances, extraordinarily lengthy queues meant that individuals had been ready for his or her meals for approach longer than they need to have, which may price them valuable time in such a tightly-packed convention schedule.
Moreover, whereas Lightning Community funds had been obtainable in all the attainable meals courtroom areas, except for frequent areas of the corridor, the place I assume it was simply not attainable to just accept Lightning funds, the meals vans usually battled with this fee possibility.
I witnessed a number of issues with accepting Lightning as a fee technique for meals or drinks myself. Whether or not that was because of web connection, issues with the operations of point-of-sale units or cell wallets, or simply the pure frown on the face of a meals vendor who was clearly uninterested in one more “Bitcoin freak” paying with this web cash, the entire payment-in-Lightning expertise may have been improved.
Clearly, this was not a giant deal and I can hardly think about a convention of this dimension being fully with out flaws. And it must be famous that Lightning funds had been obtainable, if the distributors and consumers confirmed a little bit of persistence.
All in all, this was not essential to the general feeling and consequence of the convention, however ought to the organizers try for enchancment for the subsequent yr, I might in all probability begin right here.
Will You Attend BTC Prague 2024?
And, talking of subsequent yr, the organizers have formally introduced that the second BTC Prague convention will happen, unsurprisingly, in Prague, between June 13 and June 15, 2024. If the extent of the subsequent yr’s convention must be anyplace close to the occasion I attended, will probably be a blast for certain.
This can be a visitor submit by Marek Feder. Opinions expressed are completely their very own and don’t essentially mirror these of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Journal.
