BTC Prague and the value of bitcoin in person

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This is an opinion editorial from Investro editor-in-chief and bitcoin journalist Marek Feder, who recently attended the BTC Prague event.

Let’s start with a disclaimer: I am not associated with the organizers of BTC Prague in any way, so in this article, I only offer my personal experience and thoughts as an attendee. And one more disclaimer: I haven’t been to many bitcoin conferences, so my opinion and impressions from BTC Prague may be old news to some of you. However, I believe this was the first “huge” bitcoin conference not only for me, but also for countless other people in Central Europe, so it might be nice to summarize the whole experience.

a convention for virtually anyone

The fact that the cheapest ticket was to BTC Prague itself 9 euro (about $11) means the convention was open to virtually anyone. Obviously there were some limits to this access, but the cheapest ticket got people access to the exhibition area as well as two stages, which was definitely worth it. This was probably one of the best touches done by the organizers as they made the conference available to the public outside of bitcoin as well.

This was further enhanced by the fact that the programming on the “Check Stage” was entirely about bitcoin basics. It contained a conversation about what money is; Introduction, Privacy and Self-custody of Bitcoin; Explaining the difference between bitcoin and ethereum; and many more.

For two days, newcomers to the world of bitcoin could listen to some of the best bitcoiners from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and receive an education equivalent to hundreds of hours of study. I believe this highlights the importance of in-person conventions and affordable events that can help propel orange into the mainstream.

Industry Day Rulez!

While attending the keynote conference presented on the Check Stage and programming for bitcoin beginners June 9 and June 10Industry Day content focused on businesses debuted on June 8th, and I believe it was the best day to make connections and new friends.

Firstly, during the day, there were “only” two stages with talks and a keynote speaker (the Czech stage was not open at that time), meaning that there was little to no official programme. This allowed visitors to spend more time in the well-thought-out and inspirational exhibit area, where they could find dozens of companies and bitcoin organizations. With over 70 stalls and boothsAttendees got a chance to talk to mining businesses, wallet providers, bitcoin book stores, education organizations, and countless other bitcoin-related businesses.

And since the expo area was not as crowded on Industry Day, it provided attendees with the best opportunity for in-depth interaction with all of the attending businesses. After spending most of the first day in the expo area, I was really surprised not only by the openness and friendliness of all the participants, but also by their willingness to have very in-depth and informative discussions with anyone who was willing to listen and ask questions Was surprised too.

a top notch program

Michael Saylor, Adam Back, Eric Weiss, Giacomo Zucco, Stefan Livra, Marek “Slush” Palatinus, Ben Perrin, Peter McCormack, Rockstar Dev and many more spoke at the event, The BTC Prague conference had an incredible lineup with bitcoin experts, developers, entrepreneurs, influencers and business people literally flying in from all over the world. The keynote speakers, discussion panels and talks were incredible.

At the time of this writing, recordings of only two of the onstage productions have been released. official youtube channel, However, both of these are worth a look. For example, Cellar’s “The Future of Bitcoin” and Zucco’s “Ordinals Are Retarded” filled the main hall to the last seat with people listening to these inspirational and educational keynote speeches. I highly recommend watching them both.

Some of the conversation also included interesting announcements from the speakers, but it would probably take an entire article to detail what was announced. Still, the announcements from the Wexel Foundation, AmityEdge, Fedimint, and Alex Svetsky are particularly worth watching.

lots of exciting side events

Before the conference, some of my bitcoin friends mentioned that the most important parts would be the expo area and side events. It may sound strange, but now I understand why he felt that way. Although I could not personally attend all the additional programs, I heard only the best feedback and opinions about “like”.dev/hack/din,” a Nostra meetup and other events.

If attendees really wanted to enjoy the talks and keynote lectures, and thus not spend too much time in the expo area, then the side events were an ideal opportunity to talk to people in a less formal way. From my observation, most of the staff at the conference stalls and booths were out and about meeting people during side events as well, giving attendees a chance to talk with them more comfortably. Often, it was accompanied by a drink of the famous Czech beer in a restaurant that served home specialties of the local cuisine, making it even more enjoyable.

room for improvement

Well, there is not much that I would change or that I believe needs to be improved to make this event even more spectacular. However, one small improvement could have brought even more satisfaction to the attendees, however, and it was not related to the program, speakers, or booths:

The food trucks were a source of friction that may be improved upon in the next event. Sometimes, extremely long queues mean that people have to wait much longer than expected for their food, which can waste valuable time in such a busy convention schedule.

Additionally, while Lightning Network payments were available in all possible food court areas, except in common areas of the hall, where I believe it was not possible to accept Lightning payments, food trucks often struggled with this payment option. Were.

I saw many problems with accepting Lightning as a payment method for food or drinks. Whether it is due to internet connection, problems with the operation of point-of-sale devices or mobile wallets, or just pure annoyance at the face of a food vendor who is clearly this yet another “Bitcoin freak” paying with the internet. was tired of Money, the whole pay-in-Lightning experience could have been improved.

Obviously, this was no big deal and I can hardly imagine that such a large convention would not have any flaws. And it should be noted that Lightning payments were available if sellers and buyers showed a little patience.

Overall, this was not critical to the overall spirit and outcome of the conference, but if the organizers should be looking to improve for next year, I would probably start here.

Will you be attending BTC Prague 2024?

And, speaking of next year, the organizers have officially announced that 2nd BTC Prague Conference It will surprisingly take place in Prague from June 13 to June 15, 2024. If the level of next year’s conference is even close to that of the event I attended, it will definitely be a blast.

This is a guest post by Marek Feder. The opinions expressed are solely his own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.