Recap: Bitcoin 2022 Day Three Highlights
Bitcoin 2022 wrapped up the third day of a robust lineup of speakers and panels. Here's a quick recap of some of the interesting panels and announcements so far.
Legislation and Bitcoin
A large component of day 3 was the discussion around politics and Bitcoin. Grant McCarthy, one of the speakers and leader of a Bitcoin advocacy group, discussed fighting for Bitcoin when it comes to legislation and the importance of raising awareness. He also explained that it is crucial to include those who are knowledgeable in Bitcoin to take place of those politicians in relevant discussions when it comes to voting for a bill to pass regarding cryptocurrency.
Senator Lummis also joined the political conversation, explaining her goal of creating new legislation around BTC. The particular legislation she is working on includes privacy, taxation, risk parameters, consumer components, and commodities. She feels that there are quite a few US treasury figures and other politicians who are in the process of looking at Bitcoin in a more positive light.
Speakers
Among the many notable speakers were Senator Lummis, Grant McCarthy, Abraham Loeb, Eric Weinstein, and Dr. Jordan Peterson.
While McCarthy and Lummis focused mostly on the politics and legislative focus of Bitcoin, Eric Weinstein and Abraham Loeb (Avi) focused on the cultural implications of using Bitcoin, specifically as a means to diversify the human race across the cosmos. Additionally, they also postulated about other cultures living in the stars.
Blockstream's Major Announcement
Amidst day three's many philosophical, legislative, and moral discussions around Bitcoin was a major announcement regarding Blockstream's new partnerships with Tesla and Block. Together, the three will be building out a Bitcoin mining facility with a 3.8 Megawatt (MW) Tesla Solar PV array and a 12 Megawatt-hour (MWh) Megapack. The project is planned to be finished by the end of 2022.
Bitcoin, Entrepreneurship, and the Ethics of Capitalism
Dr. Jordan Peterson talked about the lessons of entrepreneurship that he’s gone through, and spoke extensively about the ethics of capitalism. In his captivating speech, Dr. Peterson suggested, “don’t be defensive about the ethics of your capitalistic enterprise. Quite the contrary, you should be on the offensive, claiming forthrightly that what you are doing is profoundly ethical.”
He then elaborated on how Bitcoin plays into those ethics and explained that Bitcoin is ethical due to the fundamental decentralization that allows individuals to make their own free choices with their free will and have control over their finances, versus allowing others to control and influence those choices.
Dr. Peterson also explained that there could be some unseen downsides to Bitcoin due to the unknown future it brings. Not knowing whether the potential impact it has will be positive or negative, he considers that to be worrisome to some extent. He also ponders the question of whether any of those consequences will be reversible or not.
Entrepreneur and Shark Tank investor, Kevin O'Leary, also spoke at the conference. He discussed much of his enthusiasm for Bitcoin and went as far as to say that he believes "Bitcoin will become the reserve currency of the earth."
Bitcoin 2022 has one more day to go as it wraps up an eventful conference that saw numerous speakers discussing the positives and potential for Bitcoin.