Your mother might stare blankly when you utter the word “cryptocurrency,” but for millions around the world — and especially the PRD — it’s a lucrative part of daily life. The decentralized virtual money is mostly discussed in forums like Reddit, but their real-world counterparts show up in Meetup groups around the world. Shenzhen, tech capital of China, has one. Of course it does.
The meetup started by Bionic Brew’s Joe Finkenbinder has only met for a year — well after Bitcoin was on its skyrocket from USD1,000 to over ten times that price. “It wasn’t a thought-out plan,” Finkenbinder tells us. “I didn’t understand that meetups were foundational elements of the crypto community. I have this bar … I got lucky and found out [about Bitcoin] in 2009. Years later when I came across it again, I picked some up. ‘I’m not gonna make that same mistake twice,’ I thought.
“I didn’t have any friends that are into it. [I thought,] I’ll start my community.”
The people who meet up, 10 to 30 to 50 at a time, from China and abroad, are a mix of cryptocurrency traders, miners or FOMO-driven newbies looking for the next coin or token that’s about to explode.
“A lot of guys are interested in ICOs [initial coin offerings],” Joe tells us. “They’re not early adopters — most people still are, but a USD10,000 Bitcoin is pretty steep — so they’re trying to make quick cash on ICOs. Which I don’t recommend.”
Nor does the Chinese government, which banned ICOs last September.
The meetups are pretty casual — the bar isn’t set up for presentations — and mostly center on conversations about new pools to join, price speculation, Mongolian Bitcoin mines to invest in or how new tech will finally break crypto into everyday transactions. Bionic Brew accepts Bitcoin for their beer and NYPD pizzas, but that’s surprisingly rare in China’s Silicon Bay. Clearly, the revolution is still in early days.
Meetings take place once a month at Bionic Brew. Admission is free and provides happy hour discounts at the bar. Learn more at the Meetup page.
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