The first ever Canadian Bitcoin conference was held at the swanky Chelsea Hotel in downtown Toronto on June 17 and 18. Hundreds of bitcoiners attended the event, which featured talks from podcast host Stephan Livera, a “build your own open-source Bitcoin miner” workshop by Quebecan mining service provider D-Central, and a sneak preview of the new mobile wallet by bitcoin exchange Bull Bitcoin. The event was organized by Bitcoin enthusiast couple Daniel and Manuela Carlin, with the help of roughly a dozen volunteers.
At the conference, Bull Bitcoin CEO Francis Pouliot discussed self-custody before unveiling a beta version of the new Bull Bitcoin mobile app. The app is a non-custodial bitcoin wallet that is fully integrated with the Bull Bitcoin exchange, allowing users to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) directly from within the app. Jack Dorsey’s FinTech company Square (SQ) also launched beta testing for its new self-custody bitcoin wallet, Bitkey.
The conference also featured a booth from underwear manufacturer Panties for Bitcoin. The company’s booth featured oversized banners with images of scantily clad supermodels donning orange panties and bras. The Panties for Bitcoin founder, Pablo, is an Argentinian industrial engineer who immigrated to Canada. He and his son Michael proudly run the Bitcoin startup, which manufactures high-quality undergarments in Italy.
The conference concluded with Stephan Livera delivering a lively talk on self-custody, contributing to the Bitcoin ecosystem in non-technical ways, and the future of Bitcoin’s two primary use cases. He also denounced the plethora of speculative tokens and affiliated platforms which he cheekily branded “shitcoin casinos.” D-Central then led a small exclusive group of Bitcoin mining hobbyists in a 3-hour “build your own open-source Bitcoin miner” workshop.
Daniel Carlin, one of the organizers of the event, told journalists in an interview, “Bitcoin adoption has been steadily growing over the last number of years and that will continue. I think it will accelerate. One day we’ll wake up and it’ll just be a big green candle to the moon.” The inaugural launch of the Canadian Bitcoin conference is proof that the country’s Bitcoin ecosystem remains intact, and may even be thriving.