Looking to regain the trust of investors, Bitcoin 2023 returns to Miami Beach after a reckoning year for the cryptocurrency space.
The implosion of FTX in late 2022, then the largest cryptocurrency exchange, marked the end of a year characterized by growing security concerns by both investors and regulators.
According to data provider CoinGecko, the whole cryptocurrency market has lost 60% of its value since its peak in November of 2021.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber inaugurated Bitcoin 2023 with a less celebratory tone than in last year’s conference and a straightforward message, Miami Beach is tech-friendly.
“This is a great city to not just visit but to stay in, we will give you incentives, we have given over a million dollars to finance people in tech coming here. We love having you here, and let me pitch this for you, in our city… there is no income tax!” said Gelber, trying to convince visitors to stay and invest in Miami.
During last year’s Bitcoin conference, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez promised a bright future for cryptocurrencies in South Florida. “We need to elect pro-bitcoin candidates… and we need to integrate bitcoin in every aspect of our society,” said Suarez in his inaugural statement of Bitcoin 2022.
After MiamiCoin—the Miami-themed cryptocurrency adopted by Suarez’s administration—abruptly failed but Suarez diverted his attention to attract a broader crowd of technology investors to the city. “I don’t regret us being innovative. You learn, you grow, you get stronger,” said Suarez in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
Hemang Subramanian, director of FIU’s Master of Information Systems, compared the current state of the market to the dot-com bubble back in the early aughts.
“I think some of the major movements that will happen as a result of these bankruptcies being sorted out is regulatory clarity,” said Subramanian. “After the dot-com bubble burst, the companies that survived, things like Amazon.com or Google.com and their business model, are the ones that are now part of our day-to-day lives.
