Bitcoin Amsterdam 2022: report – Bitcoin.nl
Last week Bitcoin event took place in the Netherlands from last year: Bitcoin Amsterdam. For two days, the event site of the Amsterdam Westergasfabriek was filled with thousands of Bitcoiners, spread over different halls and listening to dozens of speakers from all over the world. How was it? Read our report below.
Expectations were high. Bitcoin Amsterdam would become the European successor to Bitcoin 2021 and Bitcoin22, the world’s largest Bitcoin event held in Miami for the past two years.
After two successful editions, the organizers of Bitcoinmagazine.com join hands with the Dutch team of Amsterdam Decentralized to set up a European edition in Amsterdam. Bitcoin Amsterdam must be the Bitcoin event of Europe.
Westergasfabriek
The event started on Wednesday morning and the atmosphere was immediately good. Upon arrival, we were greeted by waving Bitcoin flags and all the way through receiving a wristband and a free Lightning debit card, we curiously entered the grounds.
Bitcoin Amsterdam was held on the site of the Westergasfabriek, with a main stage in the iconic gasholder building and several smaller stages spread across the buildings.
In the other buildings, a few cafes and a hall with stands of dozens of Bitcoin companies also pass by. In the middle, between the buildings, an open space was set up as a cozy food court with various stalls.
We didn’t have much time to look around yet, because at 9:30 the event kicked off on the mainstage in the gasholder building, with a video and a spectacular light show over the inner walls of the building. That immediately set the tone for the rest of the event. Above the stage hung a huge version of the famous Bitcoin astronaut – because memes of course also belong to a Bitcoin festival.
A festival, that is what Bitcoin Amsterdam is most proud of. These were several thousand enthusiasts and industry insiders, who gathered for a good time and because of their interest in Bitcoin. The audience mainly consisted of young men, but it was good to see that female Bitcoiners and the older generations are no longer an exception these days. The atmosphere was energetic and upbeat – fluid people, with an outlet for their passion.
speakers
With a packed agenda of speakers, there was plenty to do and experience. Throughout the day, speakers and panels followed each other in rapid succession. Choices are made: would you rather hear Adam Back on the main stage about sidechains, or attend a panel on the Sats stage about Bitcoin maximalism, or take a Lightning workshop at the Proof of Workshop stage?
The topics were very diverse. There were panels on Bitcoin and politics, on Bitcoin adoption, geo and developing countries. There was also talk about Bitcoin in the banking sector, about regulation, financial innovation and the future of the euro.
But topics such as privacy, technical developments and the energy crisis were also discussed. The Proof of Workshop room focused on more practical topics: a demo of a new hardware wallet, an explanation of how to set up a connection node, and speakers explaining various technical topics. You only heard about speculation and the price.
To the most important the presentation of Stella Assange, the wife of Julian Assange, who spoke of the struggles she and her husband are embroiled in. And of course it was interesting to hear what Adam Back, the creator of the first practical implementation of Proof of Work, had to say about side chains.
Also noteworthy was the presence of Prince Philip of Serbia at a panel about and the announcement of the FREE Madeira project, aimed at supporting further Bitcoin adoption by the Portuguese island.
a panel on the FATF
went into more detail about the consequences for privacy and Jelmer ten Wolde of Greentech how he reuses the residual heat from mining equipment, for example for heating greenhouses. Nigel Farage, a controversial and high-profile speaker choice, proved supportive of Bitcoin and spoke on the main stage on decentralization and Brexit.
It panel on Bitcoin’s media problem Of the most spectacular, because some outspoken critics also took part. In the other panels, a counter-noise was sometimes hard to find. A pity, because sometimes that evoked the feeling of ‘preaching for one’s own parish’. Still, that didn’t spoil the fun, because it’s still nice to see and hear leaders from the international community in real life.
The Dutch community was also fully present. In the cafes you could watch live recordings from Satoshi Radio and Connect The World, and it was not unusual to casually see other podcasters in action of familiar faces enjoying chips in the food court.
Food Bank
The food court has a cozy festival atmosphere. It was busy, but not too busy, and especially on the first day the sun shone. The stalls sold pastas, Asian dishes, vegetable burgers and also there was a stall selling ‘duckburgers’.
Of course you could pay with bitcoin everywhere. IBEX had all transactions connected to the Lightning Network and that worked flawlessly and quickly in practice.
After at some stalls learned that the transactions felt that about 40% of payments went through Lightning. According to the CEO of IBEX, a total of nearly 4000 Lightning payments
done.
Exhibition hall
There were dozens of Bitcoin companies with stands in the Exhibition Hall, where visitors could meet, ask questions or just have a chat. Bitonicthe oldest Bitcoin company in the Netherlands and the initiative of bitcoin.nl, was of course also present.
At the Bitonic booth, visitors could get a free NFC payment card with €5 worth of bitcoin. This could be claimed with a wallet or used during the event to purchase a drink. The card can also be put to an account on the Bitonic exchange BL3P.euso that you can make payments with the card from your balance on BL3P.
On the second day, visitors to the stand could compete against international chess grandmasters Max Warmerdam. Max became Dutch chess champion in 2021 and is sponsored by Bitonic.
Whoever managed to receive Max during Bitcoin Amsterdam with a game of chess could win a prize of €500 in bitcoin. Later that went to 0.1 BTC and finally to 1 BTC.
It turned out to be a crowd puller, with occasional traffic jams in the aisle in front of the stand, but it turned out to be in vain: Max was still undefeated at the end of the day.
On one side of the hall hung all kinds of Bitcoin art, up for sale. Nice to walk by or if you are looking for something unique.
Sound Money Fest
After two days the main event followed on the third day the Sound Money Fest music festival. The gas holder preceded the dance hall and various DJs performed well-known Bitcoin-related music.
However, the music festival turned out to have fewer visitors than the attacks for two days. In hindsight, the DJs might have come out a little better if they could simply spin in one of the cafes during the previous days.
Bitcoin Amsterdam 2022
Now that the first edition of Bitcoin Amsterdam is over, one thing is certain: this was the Bitcoin event in Europe in 2022. The atmosphere was good, the decoration and organization were well arranged, the speakers were of a high quality and such bit everyone was eh. No Bitcoin event in the Netherlands can match any other.
Of course, there are also some areas for improvement. For example, we hope to see a greater diversity of beginnings in the panels in the next edition and a little more depth. Some presentations focused on Bitcoin novice, but the pricey entrance ticket tells how many of that audience attended during a bear market. In that sense it would be nice if the entrance fee for future editions is slightly cheaper, or if there are day tickets, to lower the cost for beginners.
Overall, however, Bitcoin Amsterdam 2022 was a very successful event and certainly not a bad start for a first edition. No small feat for the organisers, who have a total of 100 days to prepare. Data what for next year – then we will of course be there again!
Did you miss Bitcoin Amsterdam 2022? You can view a lot of the end result via Bitcoinmagazine.com’s live streams.