We have arrived at the main event.
Today the doors open to the general public and Bitcoin2022 becomes a full-fledged trade show. There is a lot of excitement in the air and the public crowds the huge halls of the conference center in large numbers.
It’s going to be a very difficult day. We realize this from the very first hours. The abnormal size of the location poses incredible logistical problems. There are five different stages working simultaneously. An unprecedented amount of content. It would take the staff of CNN to follow everything and, we must admit, we are a bit panicky. We would have to follow the various panels, talk to the many friends and colleagues we meet in the various rooms, find the most interesting speakers and convince them to give us their time. As if all this wasn’t enough, the press room that the conference staff has made available to us is far away from everything, no one knows where it is because it is badly signposted and to get there you have to walk for at least twenty minutes. A nightmare.
We have to admit it: we feel a certain discomfort.
We choose to be there only for the most anticipated announcements or for the things that interest us most. It’s the only way.
We reach the Satoshi Stage, the main stage, for the Samson Mow presentation. It is gigantic, exciting. A production worthy of a Rolling Stones concert. Huge screens projected Satoshi Nakamoto’s most beautiful phrases, sponsors’ logos appeared and disappeared to the rhythm of the music, and the system was one of those that ripped your guts out with low frequencies.
In spite of the incredible hype created and net of the mega Hollywood production, the content disappoints us a bit: we are still talking about a “de facto” legal tender. A region in Honduras, an island in Portugal and maybe a law in Mexico that not even Mow himself, we intercepted him backstage to ask him as soon as he got off stage, can say if it has the slightest hope of being approved. The impression is that the marketing office is now the one in charge here. In an all-American logic, you have to keep the tone of the announcements high. Every year you have to make it bigger, scream louder. And if content is scarce, slogans are used.
But then again, after announcing the first legal tender in history, that of El Salvador, during last year’s edition, what can be invented to overcome such an uproar?
We now return to the media room and finally begin to interview the first guests. The material we collect is very interesting but we soon realize that we won’t be able to publish it in a hurry. To edit, translate and subtitle everything would take an entire editorial staff. There are only two of us. So we choose to cut down on content. We will publish them regularly in the coming days. We aim at quality. To follow the conference in real time there is the mainstream press. We are an independent podcast. We may be small but we are a free voice. Our task is to deepen. To give our own slant to the narrative. We believe that’s what our audience expects and we certainly don’t want to disappoint them. Haste is bad advice.
We understand right away that there are those who are showing off. Very much so. Long gone are the days when we were a group of nerds and little more. Here are the stars. And they walk around surrounded by escort personnel, managers and press agents. We won’t be able to interview everyone. We won’t be allowed to. We are a bit disappointed, but it is inevitable. By now those who follow us know it well, it has become a kind of mantra. The bug is the man. Also and above all in Miami.