Ripples of Bitcoin adoption at Biarritz’s Surfin Bitcoin Conference in France

by · September 5, 2022

Ripples of Bitcoin adoption at Biarritz’s Surfin Bitcoin Conference in France

A sublime sunset enveloped the Biarritz Casino on August 27, ending France’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) conference. Surfin Bitcoin, located in southwest France and organized by the French Bitcoin exchange Stackin Sat, brought together a number of Bitcoin OGs, beginners and no coiners, those who have not yet bought or earned crypto, in a setting that would rival any Hollywood movie set.

Bitcoiners network in hopes of learning more about the Lightning Network, getting jobs at one of the many French Bitcoin companies present – ​​from Galoy Money to Découvre Bitcoin – or simply rubbing shoulders with other Bitcoin believers. In a touch of bear market irony, since Bitcoin chips are currently way down, the event venue took place at the famous Biarritz Casino.

From Bitcoin core maintainers to European royalty to naturally CEOs of the biggest French crypto companies, the vibe was distinctly French, albeit with a sizzling international influence.

CEO of Cointelegraph and Ledger Pascal Gauthier (right) in front of Biarritz Casino and Biarritz’ Grande Plage.

Bitcoin maximalism was on full display. Panelists and moderators had carte blanche to slam shitcoiners as much-anticipated debates compared crypto venture capitalists to gamblers and boasted the benefits and questioned the limitations of Bitcoin’s layer-2 Lightning Network. Representatives from Aave and various crypto-decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) expressed their admiration for Bitcoin, but stuck to their vision of a multi-coin future.

While there were several official commercial announcements during the event, speakers spontaneously stumbled upon certain revelations. During a panel on mining, Pierre Rochard of Riot Mining announced his intention to rename mining to “timestamping” to avoid confusion regarding the act of extracting scarce resources from a physical space. Timestamping would make education easier, he explained, and it’s also Satoshi Nakamoto’s way of explaining mining in the white paper.

Similarly, at the Lightning Network panel, Blockstream’s Christian Decker, aka Dr. Bitcoin, described the Lightning Network as an “ant network.” Essentially, he explained, LN behaves like an ant colony. Just like a group of ants, LN seek out productive areas of activity and congregate in spaces where efficient routes or channel jumps can be connected.

Among the workshops and Q&A sessions, European Bitcoin artists such as Lina Seiche, creator of Little Hodler, showcased their pieces. Consensus, a Bitcoin book publisher, sold French translations of popular Bitcoin books for a few Satoshis – the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin – in the main hall. The regular Bitcoin t-shirts and merchandise can also be purchased for rate. But to the dismay of many Bitcoiners, coffee, beer and refreshments were paid for with fiat money.

Daniel Prince, co-host of the UK’s second largest Bitcoin podcast, Once bittentold Cointelegraph that Bitcoin adoption at the conference and surrounding area was poor:

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“Casino guys are not orange pills, they only accept cash or cards as payment. Although I just asked “I want to pay you in Bitcoin”, but no, they are not set up.”

Nevertheless, while the waves were crashing around the Bitcoin bubble at Biarritz’s La Grande Plage, the waves of Bitcoin adoption were meager by comparison. From interviews snapped with street vendors, merchants, churros sellers and even surfers, Cointelegraph reporters learned that the area was “no coiner” territory. No one in the surrounding area had traded in Bitcoin; no one could accurately describe the cryptocurrency or even recognize the Bitcoin “B” on a t-shirt or conference logo.

There was one exception. The 19-year-old driver of Biarritz’s sightseeing train, The Le Petit train, had a crypto story to share. The train conductor reportedly bought Bitcoin when he was 14 – when the price was around $500 – but unfortunately he had lost access to the seed phrase of 2.36 BTC. He joked that that was why he worked as a train driver over the summer.

The Stackin Sats team hit a dead end for Bitcoin payments when the mayor of the Biarritz region allegedly stopped the conference halls from accepting Bitcoin. As such, Bitcoiners were obliged to hoard their coins and use their Euros instead. That didn’t deter many of the Bitcoiners – including Prince – from orange-pilling local merchants like taxi drivers and surf instructors. After all, Bitcoin is a grassroots, community-driven movement.

Tonnellier interviewed by Cointelegraph on the terrace.

Josselin Tonnellier, a co-founder of the conference, told Cointelegraph that the French crypto scene is dominated by blockchain companies, not Bitcoin advocates. In an exclusive interview, he lamented that the French are unable to distinguish between Bitcoin and blockchain. There’s a lot more education that needs to be done, he said, as “pro blockchain narratives” hinder adoption in his home country.

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Related: Bitcoin is for those who need it, the rest need time to learn: Surfin Bitcoin panel

In an effort to encourage no coiners, the first day of the conference was free entry. Dubbed “Surfin Day,” the open day enticed locals to dip their toes in the mild Bitcoin waters. There was a Satoshi-inspired treasure hunt, a surfing competition to win Sats and a screening of the popular French Bitcoin documentary, Le Mystère de Satoshi. The day promoted exchange and discussion “among participants in a growing Bitcoin community.”

It seems to have worked. At a surf shop up the street from the conference, local Cécile told Cointelegraph on August 28 that she not only attended Surfin Day, but was inspired to learn more about Bitcoin. “Bitcoin is not as difficult as it first seemed,” she explained in French. Maybe she will accept Bitcoin in time for next year’s edition of Surfin Bitcoin.

But with blatant reminders that Bitcoin uses more energy than “putting small to medium-sized countries here” and that “unhosted wallets” should be banned and confronted with grueling Know Your Customer laws, it’s no wonder that Bitcoin adoption in France is going slowly. The European Union’s stance on Bitcoin is clear: regulation is coming and Bitcoin will be lumped together with all other crypto projects.

Bitcoin adoption in France will undoubtedly remain a ripple as the price continues to tread water. To make waves, Bitcoin would require a wave of positive public sentiment or a pro-Bitcoin splash from Macron – France’s anti-crypto leader – or the EU, which shows no signs of abating Bitcoin bashing.

The Bitcoin Boat, called the Sato Boat, set sail on the last day of the conference. Faced with a quiet sea and an extended bear market, the Bitcoin adage “stay humble, stack bets” springs to mind. Overall, Surfin Bitcoin is “ze place to be” for the French Bitcoin faithful, but there is a lot of work and a hell of a journey ahead of the French Bitcoin scene to achieve higher levels of adoption.

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Good trip.