Bitcoin 2021: Paradigm Shift – From Underground to Mainstream

From June 3 to June 6, a conference was held in Miami bitcoin 2021. Last year the event had to be canceled due to the pandemic. And now, it seems, the participants have made up for lost time: the number of guests has exceeded 12,000.

Many famous personalities were noted among the speakers, including Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and the undefeated Floyd Mayweather. Numerous after-parties and interest clubs added significance to the event and became an excellent opportunity to chat face-to-face. The conference clearly showed how much the cryptosphere itself and the attitude towards it in society have changed.

Such different enthusiasts

The decision to hold the conference in Miami is significant: local authorities are actively promoting cryptocurrencies. Mayor Francis Suarez even allowed residents to digitally pay taxes and receive salaries, planning to turn the city into a Mecca of the cryptosphere and attract numerous blockchain companies there.

Among the guests of the conference, famous personalities appeared: Paris Hilton, Floyd Mayweather, Jack Dorsey and the Winklevoss brothers. They took part in various workshops and discussions, including those related to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Knowledge in this topic was demonstrated by Mayweather, the legendary boxer and entrepreneur, who has already managed to release his own NFT collection and sell it profitably. He told the conference participants that in the future, “one of the cryptocurrencies may rise to the pedestal along with bitcoin.” Mr. Money took to the stage wearing an ethereum logo T-shirt, showing which coin he was referring to.

And the speech of the first crypto billionaire and founder of the exchange Gemini Cameron Winklevoss was remembered for the phrase: “If you have one bitcoin now, you will become a millionaire in the future. My congratulations”.

At the same time, the name of the punk band Rage Against the Machine flaunted on Winklevoss’ T-shirt: this band preaches the ideas of freedom from capitalism and the power of money. It is noteworthy that the background for the famous slogan on the clothes of the owner of Gemini was the FRS building. Does the billionaire predict the replacement of the financial colossus with another mechanism – more modern, digital and with the prefix “crypto”? By the way, Winklevoss expressed the opinion that bitcoin could one day be used even on Mars.

Along with athletes and representatives of show business, the conference was attended by politicians, including senators from the Republican Party of Wyoming. Obviously, the crypto industry is moving out of the underground and into the mainstream.

Moreover, the brethren from Wall Street were widely lit up at the event. These guys featured a well-chosen business casual look – polo shirts, neatly styled hair and loose-fitting trousers. They tried their best to blend in with the crypto-anarchists in shorts and flip-flops, but they didn’t do it very well. Nevertheless, according to Ava Labs President John Woo, the conference showed how much the role of traditional financiers at the event has changed. If two years ago they looked like tourists who came “just to look”, now they became direct participants in the action.

The seriousness of the general attitude towards digital currencies is also confirmed by Sam Bankman-Fried, head of the FTX crypto exchange. According to him, the paradigm shift is already obvious: if earlier digital currencies had to seek recognition from other asset classes, now representatives of traditional finance are demonstrating the initiative in the development of cryptocurrencies.

The chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation, Brock Pierce, a well-known figure in these circles, also spoke of the general positive mood of the participants. He categorically stated: the crypto future “will come one way or another – with or without you.”

El Salvador – the first sign

A long and stormy applause (and, of course, standing) was greeted by the participants of the conference in Miami with a video message from President Salvador Nayib Bukele, in which he proposed to make bitcoin a legal means of payment in the country. A few days after the speech of the head of the Latin American state, it became known that the Parliament of El Salvador approved the presidential bill. It will come into force on September 7th. And on June 25, the head of state presented a new digital wallet and promised each citizen $30 in BTC for downloading this useful application. On the same day, the media reported that the operator of cryptomats – Athena Bitcoin – is preparing to install 1,500 of its devices in El Salvador.

Bukele said he would provide mining companies with all the conditions for their activities, including cheap electricity from stations powered by renewable energy sources. There are many dormant volcanoes in the country that warm up underground waters and make it possible to generate electricity with the help of geysers.

Following this, investor Anthony Pomliano hastened to assure those present that El Salvador would definitely not be the last country to “decide on such a bold act.”

Not only bitcoin…

Despite the name of the conference, the first cryptocurrency did not become the No. 1 topic at it. The work of numerous platforms was also devoted to other blockchains, projects and tokens. There has been a lot of talk about Ethereum, DeFi and NFT. By the way, a separate seminar was devoted to the latter. Thus, there is an obvious expansion of the horizons of institutional investors in relation to cryptocurrencies and the market going beyond the boundaries assigned to it yesterday.

…and not just Elon Musk

A significant feature of the event was a clear trend towards a change in the status of the cryptosphere from a hype phenomenon to a mature industry that deserves the closest attention. Digital assets are not only Elon Musk with his tweets and promises to launch Dogecoin on the moon, but also, for example, Jack Dorsey.

The head of popular platforms did not limit himself to the statement that “if it weren’t for Twitter and Square, he would be working on bitcoin.”

He openly admitted to being a fan BTC: “If the bitcoin community had to devote more time and effort, I would definitely leave my companies and go into cryptocurrency, because it changes everything. Right now, the main thing I have to work on in my life is bitcoin.”

The participants of the event also touched upon the problem of the recent collapse of BTC. One of the guests of the conference was Rahul Pajidipati, head of the Indian payment system ZebPay. According to him, everyone with whom he spoke is definitely waiting for the rise in the price of bitcoin – even despite the current drawdown. Bearish sentiment, according to the audience, the market is not in sight. Moreover, this point of view is shared by both avid crypto enthusiasts and people from Wall Street.

Conclusion

Of course, the Miami conference can be called a big step in the recognition of cryptocurrencies by the general public. Today they are promoted not only by business representatives, but also by politicians, in particular, some US senators and the President of El Salvador. For the company, they only lack Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

Even if we judge by the number of people present (12,000 people) and the almost kilometer-long queue at the entrance to the main pavilion, we see a growing interest in cryptocurrencies. The digital money industry is no longer just a fashionable, but also a confident trend.

In a conference report, Rahul Pajidipati noted that bitcoin is a movement that can end inequality and bring new opportunities to those who are currently deprived of access to finance.

The participants stated that Bitcoin 2021 was not only a holiday and an interesting party, but was generously filled with the spirit of capitalism and money. Along the perimeter of the pavilions, the organizers installed bitcoin ATMs, sold packages and T-shirts with the logos of the event. Numerous coffee shops couldn’t keep up with serving drinks to those in attendance, and the Ethereum logo seemed to flicker in Mayweather’s eyes.

Of course, digital money will change the world, and in 10 years it will not be the same as it is now. But most of all, it will turn the lives of people who have realized the potential of cryptocurrencies in time.