The prolonged crypto winter has led crypto event organizers to tone down the extravagance, encouraging attendees to focus on intelligent questions surrounding regulation and tax.
Crypto conferences draw a variety of individuals from the crypto industry, ranging from founders and high-level executives to crypto influencers and everyday users.
Crypto vlogger Tiffany Fong, famous for her interview with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried in the aftermath of the exchange’s collapse, attended her first crypto conferences this year. Fong attended both Bitcoin Miami 2023 and NFT NYC 2023 and stated that this year’s conferences are less focused on entertainment but doubted the enthusiasm for crypto has slowed. She views it as an opportunity to network and meet others in the industry.
“People have named dropped huge DJs that have performed in past conferences during bull markets and point out that the parties and events are much tamer this year.”
Fong wasn’t particularly “bothered by this year being more tame” as she believes the industry’s enthusiasm for crypto remains high.
Meanwhile, over the weekend, the XRP Las Vegas conference for XRP enthusiasts and the “XRP Army” was held on the 6th and 7th of May in the United States gambling capital. Attendees showed great optimism for crypto’s future, according to pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton.
Deaton, a prominent social media commentator throughout the Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuit against Ripple, claimed that XRP fans at the conference asked “well thought out, intelligent questions.” However, he could sense their frustration in the questions they asked.
“I wouldn’t classify their emotion as one of fear but frustration because it shouldn’t be this difficult or take this long to achieve regulatory clarity in the United States.”
Deaton claimed that the frustration arose from SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s “regulation by enforcement” approach to crypto, as the SEC has recently taken action against several crypto firms.
It’s taken 2+ years to finally meet in person, but today I was blessed to spend some time with The Legend, The Marine, and @GaryGensler’s worst nightmare; one badass, ethical, skilled lawyer with 75,000+ unpaid research assistants.
@JohnEDeaton1 is such a force of nature, he’s a… pic.twitter.com/zwOeSxDIFV— Rob Cunningham | KUWL.show (@KuwlShow) May 7, 2023
Regulation appears to be a top priority for the Australian crypto community as well.
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According to Ben Rose, general manager for Binance Australia and New Zealand, regulation was “by far” the most discussed topic among attendees at Binance Australia’s most recent meetup event on May 3. Rose stated that crypto tax was another topic that piqued attendees’ interest.
He also noted that there is still “interest from the crypto-curious” despite the crypto bear market.
“More recently there’s been a lot of newcomers attending asking beginner-level questions, which is encouraging.”
Rose emphasized that Australian crowds are beginning to anticipate “a potential bull run [given] the price of Bitcoin has crept up.”
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