The adventure continues! After a couple of days break in Spain, which we used to prepare to come to Prague, we are finally here.
Our first time in Prague! And without a doubt the first thing we have to mention, as Caribbean Latinos, is THE WEATHER. So cold! But I'm not complaining. In fact, I am grateful for the cold.
Once we were in the hotel, we got ready to rest for the 1st day.
We stayed very close to the event venue, just a 10 minute walk! So this was not a problem. Once we arrived at the site, we were amazed! Not only because of the architecture and that from the outside you can see logos of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Monero, but also because of the good vibe we felt as soon as we opened the doors.
I must say it: this powerful place hides more, much more than what its facade shows. Anyone unfamiliar with the crypto world might think, when passing by the front, that it is just another bar or coworking, where some crazy people talk about Bitcoin. Nothing could be further from the truth!
As soon as you set foot in the Cryptoanarchy Institute, you feel like a fish in water, or at least that's what I felt: I belong here! I can't explain the feeling of being in a place where the conversations from table to table, at the bar, in every corner that there are 2 or more people talking, the topics you hear are: privacy, development, Bitcoin, open source, community building, adoption, user experience, Linux, etc. I felt like a kid in a candy store!
I couldn't be more grateful to Josh and the ECC, Ryan and the ZK AVClub, Danika and the Zcash Foundation, and everyone in the global Zcash community who helped us make this possible. thanks a million to each and every one of you!
The conferences
The highlight!
There is no doubt that this is an event on another level. I know that comparisons are uncomfortable, and I'm not complaining, but if we look back, the European Blockchain Convention was a more commercial, corporate event, with financial and governmental level speakers; but the Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis is another target: here we see programmers, app designers, pure and hard hackers, people who code, anti-system anarchists in its purest expression, what an interesting thing!
And the debates and questions in each conference were a delight, even I was encouraged several times to ask and give my opinion (obviously, always saying that I belong to Zcash and that I come from Venezuela).
In this first day there were interesting topics such as: Nostr and privacy, freedom and the Cypherpunk philosophy, the Bitcoin war, the successes and failures of Blockchain technology in the last year, the importance of DAOs, why it is important to protect anonymity, among many others.
A delight of topics!
The interesting thing has not only been the topics, all topical technological and privacy issues, but there is a lot of libertarian philosophy, a lot of crypto-anarchism. And no, it's not a bit of crazy people screaming that they want to do away with governments, no. It's really about creating mechanisms that empower, educate and shield citizens from the status quo.
Yes, they talked about surveillance, dictatorships (here I said I was from Venezuela and they saw me as a hero, in fact someone in the audience told me: “Don't come back, you escaped and you are free!" There was talk of financial crises, past crises, and those to come.
Anyway, each presentation and each speaker, all of them great, left me with a feeling of: Where the hell was I that I hadn't heard about all this? I mean, yes, I have studied Bitcoin, I have learned about privacy and security with Zcash, but everyone here talks about this as part of their daily lives, and it gives you the feeling that you are not alone, that there are people who think like you, that regardless of the project they belong to or for which they develop, they think of a common good: the freedom and dignity of people.
And speaking of projects, I talked with people from Monero, Bitcoin, NYM, and countless organizations and startups, it's amazing how many people are in the same movement.
I don't know about you, but next year I want to come back, and I want to have a keynote! There is so much to share and say for freedom and the defense of citizen values, that you have to take advantage of every space there is to express yourself.
I think that in the next editions Josh, Zankas, Zooko and other notable and recognized figures within Zcash, should come to this event and share some of their ideas. This is an ideal space for Zcash!
Anecdotes
I tell everyone I know and have the opportunity to meet: I'm from Zcash, I'm from Venezuela, and I give them stickers that we brought for the events (Zcash, Zingo, Free2Z, Zcon, etc.), and many have told me: “Oh, Zcash, is that project still alive? Wasn't it abandoned by Zooko?" Others have commented to me, “You are ambassadors (Aura and I), because you should come more often to all these events we do in Europe.”
We were telling people about how we use Zcash in Venezuela, and they were very surprised: “Are there really people who pay with Zcash for a cab or cookies?"
Yes, Zcashers, we need to be more active, attend more of these events, and be proud of Zcash and the ideas we believe in. Aura and I did it on this first day, with a bit of fear and embarrassment at first, but as the hours passed we loosened up and flowed with the atmosphere and vibe, to such an extent that a girl who is the manager or director of the space approached us, and congratulated us for the coverage we are doing in social networks, and even lent us the space where they record so we could do a Live! How amazing this day has been.
And another anecdote was getting us the father of the ZecHub, Ian, who was working at a table in the space, and we spent a long time talking. What a pleasure to have friends all over the world thanks to Zcash!
And this was just the first day. We have a whole weekend ahead of us of conferences, more networking, and above all, learning and personal and professional growth. See you in the summary of Day 2.
Here are some of the photos we were able to take this day. Although we love to take pictures of you with the new people we meet, people here are very careful about their identity and privacy, so out of respect for that, we won't publish them. We will only share photos of the space and some of the speakers. Enjoy them!
