Dubbed as the “Coachella of Bitcoin”, the 2018 Consensus Conference assembled around 8,500 crypto believers ranging from experts to investors. This is the fourth Consensus Conference and it seems that it is getting bigger every year. The lines are long and it seems that you are going inside one of New York’s hottest nightclub. The Coindesk organized Consensus is a highly anticipated event.
However, it isn’t complete without any controversy. Outside, there were three Lamborghinis parked and a man claiming developers of NEM screwed him of over $1.5 million worth of cryptocurrency.
The parody protest outside is quite bizarre since the protestors bearing placards and banners are part of a group called “Bankers Against Bitcoin” movement. They also have signs that say: “free Jamie Dimon” and, “we thought this was a bubble”.
This isn’t the first time that the group was able to take their group’s name to the mainstream. During the Miami Bitcoin Conference, the movement was able to publish a scathing criticism of Jamie Dimon. And the group isn’t only targeting crypto critics from Wall Street. They are also targeting journalists who publish negative write-ups about cryptocurrencies.
Just How Big Was The Conference?
At this point, with 8,500 attendees, you can say that CoinDesk’s Consensus conference on Bitcoin and blockchain technology is a success. Just how much is each ticket to the conference? Coindesk sold each ticket at $2,000. As for those who just decided now to go to the Consensus, the last-minute admission is at $3,000. That is at least $17 million in ticket sales. In fact, it was quite huge that CNBC reporter took more than one hour to get to her entrance badge.
Jacob Donnelly who works as the director of marketing at Coin Desk mentioned that “Whilst we apologize for any delays, Consensus 2018 has received overwhelming interest and is the largest blockchain-focused event ever held in the United States”.
Jeff Denton, the senior director of global secure supply chain at AmericasourceBergen in Philadelphia mentioned that “I’ve never seen anything like this for registration” He also added that “it’s expensive, but it’s the largest one in the US, so hopefully that brings the value for the cost”.
Not The Only One Conference
There are approximately 20 other events in NYC, while some are even asking the same expensive entrance fee. The Consensus has been scheduled around the “Blockchain Week NYC”. It is an event run in partnership with the New York Economic Development Corporation with an aim to grow the crypto market.
The Consensus attracted some of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency market. The top 100 names were present as well as the developers.
And also, as expected, Bitcoin price had a 5{4ede17fdd9b4ce8121d01fc4b54913fe84f8215aace504cc657695cefb5329ff} rally in just 24 hours since the Conference kicked off. And this is something that the cryptocurrency needed considering the current price it is selling. Though analysts differ in opinion in terms of predicting the price of Bitcoin in the remaining of 2018, it doesn’t stop these types of events can from getting bigger in the coming years considering the growth of the crypto market in the last year.
