2022 Bitcoin Conference Highlights

For this week's post, I wanted to highlight some of the more significant announcements that happened at the 2022 Bitcoin Conference held in Miami this week.  While there were a lot of great keynote speeches, I think these six announcements were in my opinion some of the most significant.  For each, I have highlighted the importance as well as some of the key takeaways.  Hope you find this useful!  

1)  Jack Mallers / Strike announcement integrating world's largest point of sale systems providers to enable sovereign payments with Bitcoin

Importance:  Expanding use of the Bitcoin lighting network (a layer two protocol that works on top of the Bitcoin network to handle fast, private, virtually no cost payment transfers that are final settled on the Bitcoin network)

Key Takeaways:

Payment networks have not innovated since 1949 (Diners' Club was the original payment network)Current payment networks are costly to merchants (due to fees) and typically take time to final settle in bank accountsPartnerships with Shopify, NCR, and Blackhawk to integrate Lightning payments announcedCustomers who use this option can instantly transfer funds to merchant to pay for anything and merchant avoids the typical 3% fee charged by payment networks and also gets cash finalityPayments can be transferred globally on the "rails" of the Bitcoin network without needing to hold Bitcoin - dollars (or any other fiat currency) are converted from customer to Bitcoin, transferred to merchant and converted back to dollars (or any other fiat currency) on the other end instantlyMy view:Merchants will likely drive adoption due to economics of reducing merchant fees and improving bottom lineCustomers who don't want to go into debt and are indifferent about "reward" programs will embrace - i.e., debit card usersCustomers who like the option of paying off their credit card balance over time (i.e., borrowing) and earning points or rewards will not likely be as interested in this payment option

2)  Robinhood enabling on chain and lightning withdrawals

Importance:  Expanded adoption of Bitcoin with ability to move coins from Robinhood wallet to other wallets and also expanded use of lighting network when payments are enabled

Key Takeaways:

Robinhood has 22.5 million verified users and 13 million active usersBitcoin is the number one recurring asset buy in 2022 for RobinhoodOver two million users now have ability to send and receive Bitcoins on their Robinhood walletPlan to bring lighting network payments to Robinhood in the near term due to speed, low cost and low carbon footprint

3)  Pro Bitcoin legislation in three countries (Samson Mow)

Importance:  Nation-state adoption of Bitcoin either as legal tender or with tax-preferred status is key to driving overall global adoption

Key Takeaways:

Joel Bomgar, the president of Próspera, an “economic development hub” located in Honduras, said that bitcoin acts as legal tender thereMiguel Filipe Machado de Albuquerque, the president of Portugal’s Madeira region, announced that bitcoin investors will pay no personal income taxes thereIndira Kempis, a senator in Mexico, announced that she plans to propose regulation there to recognize bitcoin as legal tenderSamson Mow (former Chief Strategy Officer at Blockstream) has stepped down and is forming a new company to focus on Bitcoin Nation State adoptionEl Salvador announced last year that they would move forward with and have since 

4)  Cash App lightning integration "Pay Me with Bitcoin"

Importance:  Expanded adoption of Bitcoin and lightning network

Key Takeaways:

Cash App has 36 million monthly active users7 million users have access to a Cash App debit cardCash App generated $4.57 Billion in Bitcoin revenue in 2020 and $1.96 Billion in Bitcoin revenue in the fourth quarter of 2021Cash App has already added lightning payments but will now allow lightning receipts, so will be fully functional on lightning networkCash App will also allow you to deposit your paycheck and convert all or a portion to Bitcoin as well as rounding off your debit / credit card payments and depositing the "change" into Bitcoin"We believe that bitcoin is the world's best digital, sound money period," Suter said. "We believe that Bitcoin is for the people and that in America, Cash App is the financial app for the people.""To make Bitcoin even more universally accessible, we're announcing Lightning receives,” said Suter. "In the coming months, you'll be able to receive bitcoin over the Lightning Network with no block confirmations needed."

5)  Senator Lummis forthcoming Bitcoin bill

Importance:  Favorable US regulatory treatment for Bitcoin is essential for continued institutional investment adoption (price support) as well as innovation such as lightning network and other layer two protocols.  Also Central Bank Digital Currencies such as the one adopted by China are very intrusive and can be used for surveillance, so government position on this in US is very important to watch.

Key Takeaways:

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis offered details on a bipartisan bill, The Responsible Financial Innovation Act, that she hopes will establish favorable Bitcoin regulation."It's truly a legislative framework that we hope will provide the sandbox for innovation to occur but also put some regulatory parameters, so you all know the rules of the road," Lummis explained. "It includes privacy components, consumer protection components, taxation components…There becomes an obvious burden as nation states recognize the success of Bitcoin and attempt to apply existing regulations to govern its use or create new laws to do so. In the U.S., Lummis shared that she sees legislators becoming increasingly open to the idea of passing favorable rules catered to Bitcoin that would foster innovation in the country.Lummis alleviated the concerns of many in the crowd as she explained that, “If there is a digital product that is direct to consumer, it would be a stablecoin, as opposed to a CBDC direct to consumer. I think that's a much more American way of adopting this technology as backed by the U.S. dollar."My view is that there are more and more "single issue voters" in the Bitcoin space that have become quite vocal and politicians are taking notice all across the country and indeed the world

6)  Trezor straight to Bitcoin cold storage with Swan

Importance:  Easier support for dollar cost averaging Bitcoin purchases and direct transfer to cold storage

Key Takeways:

Trezor Suite app has integrated new Swan API to allow for recurring Bitcoin purchasesThese can be setup to deposit directly into cold storage Bitcoin wallet addressSaves time from typically having to buy on the exchange and then transfer to cold storage wallet, also saves the network feeGreat for people like me who dollar cost average and hodl in cold storage wallet (see my recent post on quick start to Bitcoin self custody).

Not financial advice, only for information and entertainment, do your own homework.  I hope you find this post useful as you chart your personal financial course and Build a Financial Fortress in 2022.  To see all my books on investing and leadership, click here.  
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