For South East Asian Bitcoiners, the month of July stands in the sign of.the upcoming Bitcoin Thailand 2023 in Bangkok conference.
Taking place on 15th & 16th of July in the burgeoning capital of the Kingdom of Thailand, the.event will be the next big gathering for friends of the orange coin from near and far.
Following in the footsteps of LightningCon Da Nang 2023 and.the Bitcoin Island Retreat Philippines it is now time for our brothers.& sisters from Siam to pick up the torch.
Ahead of the event we had a chance to catch up with Piccolo, one of the brains.and souls behind BOB Space Bangkok which has established itself.as the Bitcoin community hub in the Thai capital. BOB stands for “Build On Bitcoin”.
BOB Space Bangkok is a physical Bitcoin-only hatchery,.with the focus on incubating new Bitcoin-focused business and projects.and operates as a co-working space in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand.
BitcoinVN News: Hello Piccolo and thank you for your time! Only two more weeks to go until the inaugural Bitcoin Thailand conference! What makes you most excited about the upcoming event and why should people attend?
Piccolo: Thanks for having me. The most exciting thing about this event is that in addition to being the first.ever Bitcoin-only conference in Thailand, it is the third of four Bitcoin conferences.held in SE Asia this year (2023); others being held in Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia. In addition, the expected attendance.(600+ per number of sold-out tickets) and quality of speakers/panels.are extremely encouraging for Bitcoin education and adoption.
BitcoinVN News: Earlier in the year you attended and spoke at the inaugural LightningCon Da Nang. What was your impression of the event? What could have been better? And would you recommend people checking it out next year?
Piccolo: LightningCon Da Nang was a milestone event, being the first ever.Bitcoin only conference held in SE Asia, and focusing on the Lightning use cases. The speakers were high quality Bitcoin builders and investors, and the networking events were thoughtfully organized and hence very fun. Only improvement would be more advance notice of dates and agenda.(understandable given that this was the first time).
Bitcoiners and Bitcoin curious folks should check out next year’s Vietnam event because of the real.commercial and open source efforts/talent being expended in and around the burgeoning local market. And no altcoin talk whatsoever, which was nice.
BitcoinVN News: What was the inspiration behind BOB Space Bangkok.– and what made you guys “pull the trigger” to turn the idea into a reality?
Piccolo: BOB Space Bangkok was borne out of a personal labor of love,.the team’s commitment to promoting Bitcoin truths (being selfless by being selfish), and the unquenched thirst of having in-real-life interactions with Bitcoiners (especially current and aspiring builders). The decision to turn the vision into reality was a confluence of fortunate circumstances, leading us to have extra office and meeting spaces available to bootstrap the physical BOB Space location. The rest of it was and continues to be built by the faithful souls that run the Space and those that show up and share their Bitcoin (and other) knowledge at our weekly meet-ups and monthly workshops.
BitcoinVN News: After lagging behind in terms of actual building on and with Bitcoin in the previous decade, the communities across the ASEAN region seemingly are coming to life. How do you see the Bitcoin communities and business in South East Asia develop in the following years?
Piccolo: I see pockets of adoption, supported by actual technical upskilling, taking shape in SE Asia over the next 5-7 years. In addition, I see these pockets or communities forming deeper connections and cooperating with one other. Whilst each Bitcoin community is fairly isolated within its own national fiat-based society, the open sourced nature of Bitcoin and its truth based elements will lead to a regional “meeting of the minds” that’s critical for the next stages of Bitcoinization thereafter.
BitcoinVN News: What do you perceive as the biggest challenges for Bitcoin in the decade ahead and what should companies and the communities focus on to overcome these challenges?
Piccolo: The biggest challenge over the next decade is likely going to be state resistance to Bitcoin adoption, given that central banks cannot control Bitcoin’s monetary policy. Bitcoin companies and communities should continue focusing on education and outreach, without compromising on the ethos of self-sovereign hard money. Not an easy task, but nothing worth doing was ever easy. So let’s get to it!
Want to meet Piccolo, the Bobspace crew and other Bitcoiners from South East Asia (including several BitcoinVN team members!) and beyond?
Grab your tickets here!
You can follow Piccolo on Twitter – as well as BOB Space Bangkok itself.
Based or heading for Bangkok and looking for a cool co-working environment?
You can book your table at BOB Space here.
And if you just want to support their work and snatch up some cool swag from Bitcoiners for Bitcoiners – you can do so here.
