Bitcoin is alive & well in Europe

The Bitcoin Amsterdam conference did not disappoint

I spent last Wednesday & Thursday in Amsterdam attending the Bitcoin conference. I would estimate 2,000 or so people attended and the two day agenda was jam-packed with passionate & knowledgeable speakers. The conference organisers also included “speed dating” functionality to pre-arrange meetings, to maximise efficient networking. For someone used to (renewable) energy conferences, I found this 2 day maximalist-fest to be at an entirely new level of conferencing. If I wasn’t orange-pilled before, I most certainly am now.

My key takeaways:

• The level of innovation occurring at Bitcoin’s layer 3 is astonishing — think #Defi on the most stable & secure blockchain in the world. But it’s more than that — there are tons of really smart people working to empower different blockchain networks with cross-chain capabilities on the Bitcoin network. And lest we forget, the Bitcoin blockchain is the world’s most powerful computer network by far.
• At layer 2, lightening, I finally used it (although I still don’t like spending even small amounts of sats!) — faster than debit cards and better for the merchant, as they get immediate payment.
• The Bitcoin maximalists are “endearing” :). They are passionate, uber-informed and have incredibly long-term perspective. I’ve never seen anything like it in any sector in any part of the world over my (now longish) career. Many claim to not even care about bitcoin’s price. I think this is, indeed, true for the short term but, realistically, I cannot see it as truthful over a longer time period. However, one thing is crystal clear — most Bitcoin maximalists have a 5–10+ year time horizon.
• Brand — Bitcoin perhaps isn’t yet at the level of Apple or Tesla, but it will ultimately become the world’s most valuable brand, empowering anyone who participates with self-sovereignty & freedom from the broken fiat & (central) banking cartel. Why? How? My view is that Apple has Android to compete with on OS (plus many hardware competitors); Tesla has many larger automobile companies that are now all-in on EVs…