LaBitConf Buenos Aires was the fourth Latin American Bitcoin Conference I participated, and it was the best ever. The past editions in Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City were great, but the LaBitConf organisers have topped themselves again.
Mr Bitcoin and the LaBitConf team on stage
There were lots of top-notch speakers who talked about their latest projects and discussed the future of cryptocurrencies, it's impossible to review them all.
My favourite was a panel with Bitcoin veterans like Trace Meyer, Tony Gallippi, Michael Dupree and Rodolfo Andragnes, moderated by Andreas Antonopoulos, talking about the good ol' times. In the rapidly evolving Bitcoin space, 2013 feels like before the war.
Andreas Antonopoulos, Trace Meyer, Tony Gallippi and Rodolfo Andragnes on a panel
I had the honour to moderate a block of talks with speakers from Czechia, the USA, various Latin American countries and China. This was a truly global conference, yet one had the feeling of belonging to the same tribe.
Mr Bitcoin with Anabell Hilarski from Panama
The day ended with the traditional auction for a good cause. This year a Bitcoin-related painting by the well-known Argentine artist Max Pedreira and a cap stating "MAKE BITCOIN GREAT AGAIN" with the signatures of the mentioned Bitcoin veterans were auctioned off.
Tony Galippi sporting a Trump style Bitcoin cap (made by BTC China)
Together they raised 4.3 Bitcoins for the BitGive charity. Rodolfo asked me last minute to do the auction, which was great fun. I never moderated an auction before, so I first had to learn that one says "Going once, going twice, sold" from Wall Street veteran Tone Vays.
Rodolfo Andragnes announces the auction
The conference culminated in a delirious Karaoke party with a live band, where we could all sing as loud and out of tune as we wanted. The Bitcoin crowd knows how to party!
Bitcoiners singing "Hey Jude", "Satisfaction" and other classics (pic: Juan Llanos)
Sunday after the conference gave us the chance to relax after three days with lots of input and little sleep. The conference speakers were invited to the Estancia of Gonzalo Blousson, founder of the Libertarian Party of Argentina and blockchain notary service Signatura, an hour's drive from Buenos Aires.
We had an excellent Asado (Argentine style barbecue) and could enjoy the pool...
... and even some horse-riding.
It was a great opportunity to get to know the speakers and team members even better.
Thanks again Rodolfo, Diego, Franco, Gabriel and all the other wonderful team members, for having organised this awesome event. Looking forward to LaBitConf 2017!