From February 5 to 8, the fourth Satoshi Roundtable took place in an undisclosed venue on the Caribbean coast of Mexico. It's an invitation-only event for insiders of the Bitcoin and Blockchain industry. I was invited to the events before, I never had the time to go, but this year I finally made it. And I do not regret it.
Around 150 Bitcoin early adopters and industry leaders gathered in a luxury resort to hang out, schmooze and discuss the latest developments of the crypto space. There were a few standard talks like the one by former congressman and libertarian hero Ron Paul, but most of the event was organised as an Unconference.
Charlie and Courtney Shrem take a selfie with Ron Paul
It was the first time I took part in this form of event and I really liked it. In the beginning, the participants suggested topics, which were clustered and allocated to time slots and rooms. Which at first seemed like a rather chaotic process, led to a huge number of break out sessions of an extremely high standard.
We would gather in small circles of 10 to 20 participants, someone (usually the one who suggested the topic, but not always) moderated the discussion, but it was the participants who contributed the content and discussed all kinds of critical questions.
IN CODE WE TRUST - the motto of Satoshi Roundtable
Satoshi Roundtable has a strict non-disclosure policy, so I cannot tell you who participated and what we discussed. Most of the talks were super interesting, but also quite overwhelming for a non-technical person like me. Among all those crypto insiders I felt like a complete newbie. Now I know why Bruce Fenton, the master mind of Satoshi Roundtable, has chosen this closed format: the talks would not have been digestable for 'normal people'.
Fake ad for a centralised Scam Coin
Probably even more important than the official sessions were the informal talks over the meals, at the pool and during the parties. You really get to know people in such an intimate set-up. And I tell you: Bitcoiners know how to party.
The hotel rooms were very nice and spacious
It was definitely worthwhile visiting Satoshi Roundtable and I am looking forward to its 5th edition!