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Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor

Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor

DailyCoinDailyCoin2024/12/27 04:55
By:DailyCoin

At first, a ‘crypto conference’ may sound like little more than an exclusive meeting between industry developers, but this is actually far from the case.

The majority of these conferences are designed to inform keen investors about ongoing developments within the industry while also giving them a few fresh ideas that they can utilize along their own crypto journey. 

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There have been quite a few crypto conferences over the years that have had a sizable impact on the industry, many for good, but also some that were a little more malicious and untrustworthy. Keep reading to learn what you can get from attending a conference and a few examples of how they can operate. 

Table of Contents

  • What Is a Crypto Conference?
  • What Can Investors Get From Crypto Conferences?
    • Fresh Ideas
    • Keeping up to Date
    • Social Networking
    • Community Participation
  • Most Important Crypto Conferences
    • Bitcoin Conference 2011
    • DEVCON 1, 2015
    • Web3 Summit, 2018
    • Polkadot Now India, 2023
    • Paris Blockchain Week
  • Scam Conferences
    • OneCoin Conference, 2015
    • BitConnect Rally, 2017
    • On the Flipside
    • Why This Matters
    • FAQs

What Is a Crypto Conference?

Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 0 Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 1 Source: Rollingstone.com

A cryptocurrency conference is an event that can last several hours, days, or weeks and is designed to generate a conversation between developers and investors about crypto and blockchain technology.

The majority of conferences usually have a specific topic or project in mind, which developers then explain as clearly as possible to the audience through their own dialogue and presentations. 

Ever since they first began, though, these sorts of conferences have never necessarily been seen as a way for developers to ‘talk down’ to the audience. Instead, they incentivize the viewers to also get involved, asking questions and pushing back on anything they disagree with to generate new ideas and theories as part of an open dialogue.

What Can Investors Get From Crypto Conferences?

Some may try to downplay the benefits of visiting a crypto conference by saying that most information about new crypto projects can be found online. That said, being able to meet developers and like-minded investors face to face does bring some unique benefits that definitely make them worth a visit. 

Fresh Ideas

Crypto isn’t just confined to buying and selling. There’s a plethora of other tools and services that many investors aren’t even aware of and may never know about if they don’t do some digging on the internet. But then again, knowing where to even start with this can be tricky. 

During a crypto conference, the speakers will talk openly about their unique ideas and parts of the crypto ecosystem that have already been established and are actively being promoted in the industry. 

Bitcoin ETFs , Spot trading, and DeFi apps are just a handful of examples of tools that developers discuss in great depth and sometimes showcase their functionality on stage. This allows the audience to learn about multiple concepts all in one go without scrolling through numerous websites. 

Keeping up to Date

The crypto industry is always changing. Whether it’s the unexpected emergence of a new coin, a sudden hard fork that splits a popular blockchain in two, or even simply an update to a cryptocurrency’s roadmap, there’s so many things to keep track of that it can be difficult to stay on the top of all the most important developments. 

Since those who take centre stage in a conference will be individuals working behind the scenes in crypto, they will know better than anyone what the state of the ecosystem is and what exciting developments are happening. 

By simply listening to what they say, investors can get back up to speed with crypto in its current form, which can also help aid their investment decisions. 

Social Networking

Whether you have a project that you want to start or you are open to supporting other projects, meeting and socialising with others can open up new opportunities that can’t always be found online. 

Additionally, if you have any queries or concerns about crypto, speaking to people about it will often yield more honest responses than online, where users can sometimes be cynical or dismissive. 

Community Participation 

As crypto investors, we can often spend much of our time tied to a computer screen, even though allowing crypto to survive and flourish is ultimately a team effort.

Simply put, crypto conferences are an easy way to meet like-minded people and feel like a valuable member of the wider community. 

It can be easy to feel like nothing more than a number or statistic when interacting with the online cryptocurrency market or public chat rooms, but actually being a member of the audience and getting to speak with others, including developers, can help investors embrace their place in the community. 

Most Important Crypto Conferences 

Over the years, thousands of crypto-related conferences have been held, so rather than covering each one, it can be worth highlighting some of the most important ones that showcase the benefits that they can offer. 

Bitcoin Conference 2011

Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 2 Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 3 Source: Reddit.com

The crypto industry’s first conference was held in the Roosevelt Hotel in New York in 2011, and less than 100 people attended. 

It’s important to preface that this was very early on in crypto; only a few years after the initial launch of Bitcoin (BTC) . 

As a result, the conference itself was messier and more disorganized than it would be in future editions. It acted as more of an open and casual conversation rather than the developers discussing specific talking points. 

In fact, at one point in the conference, speaker Jeff Garzik is asked if he can define Bitcoin, only for him to respond, “You’d be surprised at how difficult that is to answer.” Interestingly, this conference was also backed by Mt. Gox, an exchange that would file for bankruptcy after being caught in a legal dispute. 

This may have been a pretty barebones conference, but it’s important because it was the first showcase of developers actually meeting investors face to face, clearing up people’s confusion about this new digital asset, which was on the rise. 

DEVCON 1, 2015

Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 4 Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 5 Source: Archive.devcon

Following the Bitcoin conference, many more developers began embracing the idea of hosting open discussions with their audiences and users. 

For Ethereum (ETH) , their first conference after the project’s launch would be known as DEVCON 1 and took place at the Victorian Banking Hall in London. 

The event was only a few months after Ethereum’s launch, and suffice to say, the network was moving at a breakneck speed. Industry heads saw the network’s incorporation of smart contracts as genuinely revolutionary, though many investors were still unsure how they worked and their actual use cases.

Ethereum had grown so big so quickly that it even acquired sponsorship from Microsoft Azure, among multiple other backers. 

Ethereum may have seemed exciting, but understanding all of these new ideas and what Ethereum could offer, in turn, was no simple task. Therefore, DEVCON 1 provided an easy way for Vitalik Buterin and the rest of the team to clearly describe the inner workings of Ethereum all at once, without people needing to read through the more complex whitepaper just to join in on the action. 

Web3 Summit, 2018

Web3 is the concept of a decentralized internet, that is, a world wide web in which third parties are restricted from acquiring people’s data and selling it off.

Since crypto is also decentralized, it slots nicely into this ambitious framework, though for many people, it wasn’t easy understanding how it could lend itself to benefit and bolster Web3. 

The Web3 Summit, presented by the Web3 Foundation, was dedicated to clarifying this and notifying investors and fellow developers of the benefits of Web3.

Firstly, the speakers clarified that utilizing crypto and Web3 can be difficult since there is no definitive app or service that merges them, though the foundation had been working to resolve this. 

Once Gavin Wood entered the stage, numerous announcements were made, primarily involving Web3-based tools that could be used to improve crypto and, more specifically, crypto development. Substrate was the biggest new technology shown off, a startup framework that Gavin would use on-stage to create a blockchain in mere minutes, something that usually took at least a few hours. 

This conference is an example of how such events can not only contain unexpected announcements but also expand people’s minds to what other avenues the crypto industry can pursue. 

Polkadot Now India, 2023

Polkadot Now India gained a lot of attention upon its announcement as one of the very first major crypto conferences to take place in India. The conference was to provide investors with an insight into Polkadot, primarily how it allows interoperability between blockchains and how this can enhance scalability and the user experience in general. 

India had been gaining a strong foothold in the crypto industry, so while it was great to see the country gaining recognition, it also sparked the trend of conferences spreading overseas. 

Previously, the majority of these events were only situated in the Western world, despite crypto being an international currency, so seeing this kind of progression made Polkadot Now India a very big deal. 

Another reason this conference is so notable is that it was only permitted due to the Polkadot (DOT) audience. While Rishinat Kumar of Growth Leads may have put forward the idea, it was posted in Polkassembly, where users would be in charge of giving it the go-ahead or not. 93% voted favourably. 

This again reinforces this idea of crypto being by the people, for the people, and highlights that these kinds of conferences weren’t just set up so that high and mighty businessmen could flaunt their services. 

Paris Blockchain Week

Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 6 Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 7 Source: Techukraine.com

When comparing the small and crammed meeting hall of the first Bitcoin Conference to the grand spectacle of Paris Blockchain Week, one probably wouldn’t think they are both covering the same industry. 

However, the Paris Blockchain Week demonstrates, with its hundreds of sponsorships, fancy conference halls, and thousands of participants, that crypto has been recognised as legitimate and exciting. This furthers the prospect of promoting crypto adoption to those outside the industry looking in. 

Bringing recognition to the crypto industry has always been important in facilitating its growth and making it more of a norm in society. Therefore, being able to host an annual conference in a city known for its innovation on such a large scale draws a lot of eyes. While it’s enjoyable to be a part of, it also bolsters crypto’s reputation in the public zeitgeist. 

Scam Conferences

As we’ve just seen, cryptocurrency conferences can be hugely beneficial, but not all have been truthful.

Though this is a very rare occurrence, some bad actors will decide to set up a conference to promote a coin that, in reality, is a scam. There’s no better way for a speaker to generate buzz about a coin than to get on stage and scream it out loud for the world, as was the case with these two examples below. 

OneCoin Conference, 2015

Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 8 Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 9 Source: YouTube.com

OneCoin was a token that was heavily promoted as being a ‘Bitcoin killer’ when it was first introduced, though eventually, it turned out to be a huge scam. After amassing roughly $4.4 billion worth of sales, OneCoin’s lead developer, Ruja Ignatova, took the money and fled the country, which is still missing today. 

Before all of this, though, the ‘crypto queen’ as she is now known hosted a conference in Dubai where she made pretty bold statements about her coin. 

At one point in her outlandish speech, she claims , “In two years, nobody will speak about Bitcoin anymore” and that OneCoin will eventually be the “Number on cryptocurrency worldwide”.

These claims were met with applause from the audience, who admired Ignatova’s optimism and charisma, but they have since become a clear example of how a sharp tongue and clever marketing can scam people out of their money. 

BitConnect Rally, 2017

Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 10 Crypto Conferences: How They Can Benefit the Everyday Investor image 11 Source: YouTube.com

BitConnect’s first and only rally would be held in Pattaya, Thailand. Only a year later, its price would plummet after crypto users lost confidence upon suspecting it was a Ponzi scheme . 

If anything, though, this event was a masterclass in marketing, featuring the loud and eccentric Carlos Matos screaming about how worthwhile BitConnect is and how much money it generated for him. 

Matos shouted out ‘Bitconnect’ multiple times in a row, and it even became an internet meme, with many outside the crypto industry becoming fully aware of the token upon seeing his face. 

Needless to say, the hype was infectious, though Matos’ hilarious antics secretly covered up some of the token’s more inauthentic aspects. This eventually led to the U.S. Department of Justice declaring it a Ponzi scheme years later. 

On the Flipside

  • Over the years, conferences have started becoming more expensive, causing investors to question whether they’re worth the asking price.
  • Many will instead decide to read project whitepapers, which have become more accessible and easier to digest over the years.

Why This Matters

Crypto conferences, events, and rallies aren’t slowing down soon. If anything, they’re increasingly being seen as a way for developers to show off their latest projects in a big and spectacular fashion, making them not only worth knowing about but also very worth visiting if the opportunity arises. 

FAQs

Are There NFT Conferences?

Yes, though there are fewer of them compared to crypto and Web3 conferences. NFT Paris is the most popular. 

Why is Mass Adoption So Important to Crypto?

Wider recognition of crypto can allow it to branch into other financial sectors and become seen as a more legitimate form of currency. The adoption of cryptocurrencies has greatly expanded since conferences and rallies emerged. 

Who is Vitalik Buterin?

Vitalik Buterin is the co-founder of Ethereum. He has been featured on numerous podcasts and is also active on social media, where he voices his opinion on new projects, altcoins, and the future of Ethereum. 

What are Stablecoins?

Stablecoins are crypto assets whose value is pegged to a fiat currency. Investors tend to acquire stablecoins in their personal wallets to diversify their portfolios.

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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.

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