Satoshi Roundtable VI Recap – Tantra Labs
Another year, another outstanding Satoshi Roundtable. This year I traveled with Tantra Labs’ CEO, Ped Hasid, to the annual gathering in Mexico. Much is misunderstood about this event. Its exclusivity has been seen as controversial by some. In reality, the mystique is just a small part of a carefully curated experience designed to create opportunities for industry members to interact with and learn from one another in ways that are not possible at other events.
And it has excelled at doing so each time I’ve attended.
I looked forward to the event this year more than I had in years past because of how proud I am to share Tantra Labs and our story with fellow Roundtablers. The Sixth Edition of the Satoshi Roundtable did not disappoint and was perhaps the best one yet. Not because of any industry-shaking revelations (there were none), not because Tron’s Justin Sun was in attendance (great for crypto twitter but a non-event in person), and not because William Shatner showed up (though, meeting Captain Kirk was a definite highlight).
There aren’t many conferences or industry events that you wish would never end. The good ones are best kept relatively short. Satoshi Roundtable is an exception. There’s something special about what happens there.
Bruce & Carolann Fenton and their entire team do an incredible job of organizing and hosting a wide variety of players and interests across the crypto ecosystem. Investors, entrepreneurs, artists, content creators, miners, core devs, people brand new to our community and those who were part of things before there was even enough people to call it a community — they’re all there. The vibrant mixture of talent from across the spectrum of the Bitcoin/crypto/blockchain world is something you might find at a lot of conferences that dot the calendar throughout the year, but the Roundtable’s Chatham House rules and strict no-shilling policy enables a completely different set of possibilities for every conversation you encounter.
The Roundtable is designed for attendees to be able to spend a lot of leisure time together. Many events provide you with quality introductions and good networking opportunities, but what you come away with at the Roundtable are new, lasting friendships born from interactions being compelled to talk more about life, family, dreams, stresses, big ideas, and less about bottom line business where many industry members spend most of their time.
Let’s face it, when you’re at an event, you’re pretty much “on” the whole time. The Roundtable’s semi-structured “unconference” format provides plenty of space to be somewhat or even completely “off,” but also creates many important discussions around pressing issues facing this burgeoning industry.
The open format also allows and encourages peripheral topics related in any imaginable way to the pace of technological growth and resulting culture shift that is shaping our future. Ped and I attended a session that openly discussed algorithmic trading and heard a range of experiences from other traders and quants deep in the build phase of their systems. Tantra Labs held its own breakout session in the sun at the pool bar covering sources of Bitcoin yield and BTC-denominated portfolio management but surprisingly, the conversation revolved more around custody and security than yield strategies themselves.
There were even sessions on how those in the industry with the energy, resources, and influence can best tackle big problems in our world such as disaster relief, pandemics, and reforestation. The Roundtable and the unique environment it creates has also afforded some of the most uncanny and unlikely sessions that could possibly take place at a crypto conference. Sorry, Chatham House rules 😉 The one thing I will share is that everyone we talked with is very bullish and in heavy preparation for the Halvening.
The Satoshi Roundtable is an invaluable experience and it’s worth repeating, there’s something truly special about what happens there.
The selective guest list is always something people complain about and unfairly criticize every year, but the reality is that many people ask to be invited and are then invited. The best way to increase your chances of being invited is to get busy creating something that advances decentralization and stateless money and especially serves some important part of our world. Then after that, get someone to vouch for you.
Hope to see you next year!
Published at Thu, 13 Feb 2020 19:54:21 +0000
