My experience with Bitcoin Amsterdam – Bitcoin Magazine
This is an opinion piece by Jessica Hodlr, COO of Plan B Passport and co-host of “The Bittersweet Podcast”.
Disclaimer: BTC Inc. is the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine and Bitcoin Conference.
It has been almost two weeks since Bitcoin Amsterdam and it was an experience I will never forget.
Not only did I get to meet the amazing European Bitcoin community, but I also got to see how people from all over the world will come and gather in one place – even if it means traveling 14 hours – to celebrate this one thing we all love – freedom money .
The first day we got there was the prequel to the event and wow, it was amazing to see everything set up and all the work that everyone had put in to make it the biggest Bitcoin event in Europe. The lights, the stage, the crew – it all felt so surreal and I couldn’t believe I was in Amsterdam to join all these people to discuss one of the topics I’m most passionate about. You can tell that every person on the Bitcoin Magazine team puts their all into making it a memorable event for every single attendee.
Image source: Author
Day one: 12 October
Honestly, one of the highlights of this event for me was the amount of effort that could be seen in the introductory video to start the day. It brought chills and really reminded everyone what we are here for – freedom.
Central banks; those hungry for power have billions of people in imperceptible chains. This is what we are here to protect against, with the indisputable technology and property that is bitcoin. What a way to start the day. You had incredible speakers, as always, such as Matt Odell, Adam Back, Knut Svanholm and many more. Katie Ananina (@KatieTheRussian) and I had the honor of hosting a panel in the Whale Lounge to talk about all things jurisdictional arbitration and flag theory.
Not only did you have brilliant speakers to listen to, but you had some mouth-watering food trucks to entertain you, an exhibition hall you could have spent all day in, and an art gallery to entertain you.
The first day ended with a Whale Night event held at the world famous Supperclub which featured an incredible line up of entertainment!
Honestly, conferencing is a skill that requires a delicate balance between rest and activity, and Amsterdam was no different. Not only did you have everything going on at the conference, but you had the whole of Amsterdam to explore! You had canal boat trips, delicious food, coffee shops (wink wink) and much more.
Day two: 13 October
Again, the second day was filled with some fire content. And I mean this literally as some “similar”, fiery words were said. Just as we were about to move on, we started hearing a lot of commotion from the stage. “Bitcoin’s Media Problem” was the panel before us, and it was quite the topic. Not only did it make for some entertaining content from the conference, but it produced some of the most incendiary memes I’ve ever seen on Twitter. And it was quite ironic I might add that the journalist commenting on the number of women at this conference said we were not represented and gave the generic “we need more women in [blank],” was followed by a keynote led by two women. Is it so hard to just let people be involved in what interests them? But I digress.
It is absolutely amazing the types of wonderful people we connect with at these conferences. As mentioned in our talk, we are able to come together as a tribe of freedom-minded, sovereign individuals to build the lives we want for ourselves, and that is a beautiful moment. Life is lonely if you are the one constantly talking to yourself about how you want life and the world to be better (I know because I did it before I found Bitcoin Twitter) and it cannot be said enough that it takes each and every and one of us to make this thing we call freedom a reality.
We wrapped up day two with the news desk, commenting on the remaining conversations with none other than Daniel Prince (@PrinceySOV). We had a couple of hours full of laughter, entertainment and banter which was another highlight of this weekend.
Image source: @PrinceySOV
Day three: 14 October
There was no other way to end this action-packed event than with Sound Money Fest. A day full of music, laughter and good food — there’s no better way to end the weekend. We ended our Amsterdam trip with a couple of train rides to our next adventure, but that’s a story saved for mine Twitter.
I hope this gives you a little insight into what it’s like to attend a Bitcoin conference and the extraordinary connections that can take place. We have Bitcoin 2023 coming up in Miami in May and I have some big expectations and hope to see you there!
xoxo
Jessica Hodlr
This is a guest post by Jessica Hodlr. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc Bitcoin Magazine.
