Policy took center stage at Miami's big Bitcoin conference

Miami’s annual Bitcoin Conference is not usually thought of as a hub for policy thought. It previously positioned itself as a bastion of liberty, a coalition of independent thinkers, and, to those from the outside looking in, perhaps a meeting of a fringe group intent on divorcing itself from the effects of centralized monetary policy. 

At last year’s Bitcoin conference, a chorus of boos would commonly break out at the mention of regulation. One panel leader, an independent author, began a question to Senator Cynthia Lummis and Representative Warren Davidson provocatively: “Some of the people in this room, me included, don’t like government too much.” 

After some more windup, he eventually asked: “Can you tell me why the people in this room should put any faith in the government’s efforts to help?”

At Bitcoin 2022, I expected more of the same. And of course, there were still attempts to appeal to the anti-government crowd. One emcee led a group of attendees in a Braveheart “Freedom” chant. A larger-than-life-sized “Declaration of Monetary Independence” stood by the entrance to the main stage, holding a new set of monetary truths to be self-evident. Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas included a slide titled “The Villains” depicting regulators as devils in his keynote speech.

But overall, most panelists had something positive to say about the state of regulation for Bitcoin. Perhaps more importantly, there was no more debate over whether regulation should occur at all. This year the conversation was more about how regulation should occur. 

Miami Mayor Suarez set that tone from the start of the event, calling for the election of pro-bitcoin officials in the formal opening of the conference.

"The next president of the United States has to be a pro-bitcoin candidate," said Suarez. 

He joked that perhaps he could be that candidate. Then  he articulated his “Vision for Bitcoin American 2024,” which, in addition to creating a pro-Bitcoin regulatory climate, called for an integration of Bitcoin into “every part of our society.” 

"Bitcoin has the power to democratize and to create wealth for the unbanked and the poor in our community who are getting decimated by inflation and government spending that has run rampant," said Suarez. 

On the whole, the Miami mayor framed regulation as a way to promote the adoption of Bitcoin, rather than a point of friction. 

Other speakers, like investor Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank fame, pointed out that hypothetical regulation, like that described in the proposed stablecoin bill from Senators Trey Hollingsworth and Bill Hagerty, and another bill that Senator Lummis is working on, could enable investors like him to finally do business in aspects of crypto that previously were too risky from a regulatory perspective.

"My own auditor won't let me and my operating company do anything with stablecoins because there's no regulation on it," he said. 

MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor and ARK’s Cathie Wood, spent much of their air time talking about how Bitcoin seems to be out of the regulatory crosshairs given the recent executive order from the Biden Administration, which calls on regulatory agencies to collaborate on rules of the road for crypto.

“I don’t think there’s any outcome that’s not favorable for bitcoin,” said Saylor.

Wood seemed to agree. She said there’s been a radical shift in the political attitude surrounding Bitcoin since she first began investing, and especially in the months since the Biden Administration took office. “Politicians have come to me and said I want to pull together a room of bitcoin enthusiasts and learn from them what they want from us," she said.

So, at the notoriously anti-government conference, there seemed to be an understanding that working within the system to some degree is key to mass adoption. Even the crowd seemed to understand that. The boo-birds were gone, and most of the audience seemed to listen intently to what the policymakers in attendance had to say. The freedom chant was also a bit paltry. 

Perhaps Bitcoin has gone mainstream enough that the Mad Max attitude that has typically been so pervasive at this sort of event is beginning to fall away.