January 27, 2023
🌴 Bitcoin brings people together
At this year's Bitcoin Conference, we laughed, we cried, and we learned about bitcoin with 35,000 of our new best friends.
Joe Lupo
Reserve Client Manager
After the biggest bitcoin conference in history, one thing is clear: Bitcoin isn't going anywhere.
Welcome to Bitcoin Roundup #7.
The 2022 Bitcoin Conference took place this week and it was the biggest ever. 35,000 people attended, nearly tripling since the year before. Miami welcomed the bitcoin community with open arms, revealing the Miami Bull as a representation of the city's embrace of bitcoin and ambition to become the financial hub of the future.
News
🥊 Billionaires attack!
Paypal founder Peter Thiel gave a keynote speech slamming the enemies of bitcoin, including Warren Buffet, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the third wealthiest person in Mexico, announced he weaponized his portfolio by revealing 60% of his portfolio is in bitcoin. He also noted that the other 40% is invested in hard assets like oil, gas, and gold mining, and that he doesn't hold bonds.
Through the fog of uncertainty and war, the world's wealthiest people are signaling that they consider bitcoin a safe haven.
🧡 Politicians heart bitcoin
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis detailed a bipartisan bitcoin bill and revealed that it has support from other members of congress. Former presidential candidates Andrew Yang and Jo Jorgensen joined a roundtable to discuss bitcoin and how it solves problems faced by Americans today.
🦈 Shark Tank host: "Bitcoin mining is going to save the world"
Shark Tank favorite Kevin O'Leary thinks bitcoin mining will support the world's energy grid. After dismissing bitcoin a few years ago, "Mr. Wonderful" now says he believes bitcoin mining based on environmentally-friendly hydroelectric and nuclear power will accelerate energy abundance to the benefit of the developing world.
🛍️ Your next purchase may be in bitcoin
Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, announced two partnerships: the first with NCR, the world's largest point-of-sale supplier, and the second with e-commerce giant Shopify. Bitcoin's lightning network, a technology built on top of bitcoin that enables instant payments, lets businesses easily accept bitcoin. The kicker: The lightning network can now change bitcoin into dollars instantly.
💥 Inflation jumps to 8.5%
Another print, another 40-year high. Gasoline and food were hardest hit, reaching 8.8% and 18.3%, respectively. Now may be a good time to read our piece on how bitcoin offers long term protection against inflation.
Bitcoin Roundup Live
Join us for a fun weekly Q&A where you can hang out with other bitcoiners and talk about current events. It takes place every Thursday from 8pm to 9pm Eastern Time. Register here.
How bitcoin works
Learn one key idea about bitcoin each week. This week: Your money represents your time.
Last week, John Vallis, creator of the Bitcoin Rapid Fire podcast and host of the Bitcoin Conference, joined us for Bitcoin Roundup Live.
One concept we discussed was that the money we use should reflect the same limitations as the time, labor and energy that we exchange for it.
When you work, you convert your time into money. Your time is your most precious asset, and its scarcity should be reflected in a money that is also scarce. This ensures the value of everyone's money remains an accurate reflection of the time it took for people to make it.
When we choose to spend our time on a project, job, or something else that benefits others, we do this at the opportunity cost of other uses of that time. The alternative might have been to spend time with family or friends, or on creative pursuits.
So, when monetary units are created out of thin air by a privileged few who have access to a money printer, they are quite literally stealing the time – and the lives – of the people who use that money to represent their work.
For more on this concept and a few other fascinating topics, check out the video below.
Coin check
The first bitcoin transaction involving physical goods for 10,000 BTC on May 22, 2010 was for:
- A pizza
- A 1 oz gold coin
- Two pizzas
- A lightly used 2007 Ford Explorer Sport
Check your answer at the end of the page.
From the meme pool
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Coin Check answer: 3. Two Pizzas (from Papa Johns)
