The Bitcoin 2021 Conference took place at the Mana Convention Center in Miami, Florida last June 3 to 5 with up to 50,000 attendees, alongside notable names in the industry such as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, cryptographer Nick Szabo, and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor.
The conference was supposed to be held in Los Angeles from April 30 to May 1, but organizers changed it to Miami due to venue issues brought upon by stricter COVID restrictions in California.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez also attended as one of the speakers at the event, talking about the use of cryptocurrencies in the city and how they will be incorporated into his upcoming reelection campaign.
Suarez is a renowned cryptocurrency supporter, stating in a January 2021 interview with Fox Business that he wants the city of Miami to become a crypto hub. At the time, he already talked about the possibility of using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to pay fees or taxes in the city.
‘We want to be one of the most crypto-forward and technological cities in the country. So, we’re looking at creating a regulatory framework that makes us the easiest place in the United States to do business if you’re doing it in cryptocurrencies,’ he stated.
Suarez added then that Miami citizens can have their salaries paid in Bitcoin if they wanted to. This conference is just one of the initiatives that Miami has taken to become the crypto hub in the United States.
On June 3, the first day of the event was dedicated to Whale Day wherein only a select number of people was allowed to attend and must have a Whale Pass to enter. Tickets that allowed full conference access were sold at a starting bid of 3 BTC.
Those with Whale passes were given 5 VIP tickets to the upcoming Floyd Mayweather Jr vs Logan Paul boxing match along with VIP concierge services during the event. Other perks included three vintage bottles of 1996 Dom Perignon, a meet and greet with skateboarder Tony Hawk and an invitation to the conference after-party on the evening of June 5.
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