This year flew by in a haste, didn’t it?
It feels like we’ve only just come out of the Tết holidays – and suddenly the Christmas season is upon us once again.
With that, we’re glad to announce that BitcoinVN will once again participate in the annual Satoshi Christmas Flea Market in Saigon – joining and supporting the local Bitcoin community in bringing some festive, orange-coloured Christmas spirit to town.
As in previous years, you can expect to see many familiar faces from the Saigon Bitcoin community, along with plenty of people from the wider circles of the ecosystem. Visitors will find Christmas baked goods, some of the best local specialties that Vietnam – and this city – has to offer, an assortment of handmade crafts originating from Vietnam to Japan, and a wide range of activities for kids.
The event will likely see a few of your regular local faces of the Bitcoin community in attendance as well as plenty people from around the wider circles of the community – Christmas bakings, best Vietnam has on offer, usual craft works and plenty of kid entertainment (the event is explicitly positioned family-friendly – as the Bitcoin spirit is aligned from building for the long-term to bring about a brighter future for future generations about).
The event is explicitly positioned as family-friendly – very much in line with the Bitcoin ethos of building with a long-term mindset and working toward a brighter future for the upcoming generations.
On our booth we’ll have, as usual, the tools to get you started securely in your self-custody game and protect yourself from the increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks originating from increasingly professional threat actors – up to nation-state level.
Bitcoin, after all, lives and dies with the ability, accessibility, and willingness of people to be responsible for their own money.
The more Bitcoin is held with a couple of centralized custodians, the weaker the network becomes – hence our core mission remains:
- Make it easy for people to securely store their own Bitcoin
- Provide them with the tools to do so
- Provide them with the guidance to do it right
- Provide them with a set-up that makes Bitcoin a true multi-generational asset, kept within the family for longer than our own time on this planet
A special draw for us, of course, is the explicit “no-shitcoin-and-no-shitcoiners” policy – something that, unfortunately, remains almost unheard of in Vietnam.
Pass by our booth for a chat and get to know the team. We’re looking forward to seeing you there.
How can you support the Saigon Satoshi Flea Market?
As the event is run by the local community without any “centralized corporate backer” and purely organized by Bitcoin enthusiasts and volunteers from the Saigon scene, it lives and dies by the support it receives from both the local and the global Bitcoin community.
We can vouch for the sincerity of the volunteers involved – many of whom have known or collaborated with over the years – but you’re of course free to check in with your own trusted Bitcoiners who have touchpoints with the Saigon community (trust, but verify!).
So what can you do?
1) Show up!
If you are based in Saigon – or happen to be around at the time of the event – simply being there is one of the most appreciated ways to support the vendors and organizers.
The volunteer team spends several weeks preparing this event each year. Honouring that effort with your presence, connecting with local Bitcoiners, and supporting the vendors at the Flea Market is, of course, one of the most direct ways to help make the event a success.
2) Spread the word!
If you can’t show up for one reason or another (and most of you reading this are likely not based in Saigon), you can still support the event:
Spread the word!
A share, comment, like, or repost on the social media pages of the community already helps increase awareness and strengthens the Flea Market’s position as the regular gathering point for Bitcoiners in Saigon and the wider region.
3) Get involved as a vendor (or recommend someone)
If you’re based in Saigon and have a small passion project or side hustle that aligns with the Bitcoin ethos (long-term thinking, dedication to quality and craftsmanship over extractive short-term gains) or if you know someone who would be a great fit, reach out to the organizers. They’ll see what can be accommodated.
To a limited degree, the event also allows remote vendor participation.
But the focus remains on connecting the real people behind the products and services, to foster deeper conversations and interpersonal connections – so personal attendance is always preferred.
4) Become a donor
Last but not least, the organizers are seeking public donations from Bitcoiners to help cover the event budget.
The Flea Market is run as a non-profit event with a total estimated budget of 1,000,000 sats (~1,000 USD) – essentially just enough to break even after venue rent, logistics, booth setup, and activities for kids.
If there are any remaining funds, they will be kept in the community treasury under community oversight – which in the past has supported initiatives such as distributing Bitcoin books by early educators like Andreas Antonopoulos to local universities, or providing direct and local help to the worst-affected victims of the lockdown period in the summer of 2021.
