Bitcoin and digital currencies have become very popular worldwide, and many newcomers want to learn about this fascinating technology. Of course, they can research the subject online and read about bitcoin in the headlines, but lots of people are gaining knowledge from local bitcoin meetups; a trend that’s been booming all over the world for the past six months.
Bitcoin meetups are becoming very popular these days as the cryptocurrency economy has grown exponentially during 2017 and into the new year. A lot of individuals find out about bitcoin online, but many people like to attend meetups so they can talk with like-minded individuals who believe in decentralized currencies and may even have some knowledge to share. One particular application people use to come face to face with other bitcoiners is a social media platform called “Meetup,” created by Brendan McGovern, Matt Meeker, and Scott Heiferman in 2002. The platform Meetup is used for various groups of people that want to meet others with common interests, and there are quite a bit of bitcoin-based Meetup groups.
As of January 6, 2018, there are 3,727 groups on the platform Meetup pertaining to bitcoin with 959,622 members worldwide. Currently, the most abundant bitcoin gatherings on the website Meetup include the Hackers and Founders in Mountain View California with over 15,000 members. The group Bitcoin NYC has 7,431 bitcoiners, San Francisco 6,292, Bitcoin Wednesday in Amsterdam 5,076, Bitcoin Argentina 4,976, Coinscrum 4,858, and the Paris Bitcoin group 4,762. That’s just the top ten largest groups on Meetup, and there are many more that are very active.
Other large gatherings include the Seoul Bitcoin Meetup in South Korea run by Ruben Somsen with 2,000 members. Some of the groups have been around for quite some time like the Cryptocurrencies & Decentralized Innovation Meetup in Ghent, Belgium initiated in 2013. Another big Meetup is held at the Sacramento’s Hacker Lab co-working space that’s been seeing lots of new attendees looking to learn about bitcoin by meeting other people with knowledge about these technologies. Just recently the regional news outlet the Sacramento Bee detailed how 60 men and seven women attended the recent Sacramento meeting and more than half were “noobs.” According to the Sacramento Bee’s account, many of the participants had different stories to tell regarding their relationship with bitcoin.
“It’s borderless, and I can send money to my family in Thailand — I don’t need Western Union,” explained the Sacramento bitcoin group attendee.
Other favorited groups worldwide include the Tokyo bitcoin meetup, the Miami International Bitcoin community, Bitcoin Saigon, Silicon Valley Bitcoin Users, Crypto Valley Forum, Bitcoin Budapest, and the West Palm Beach Government Blockchain Association. There are also a bunch of new groups forming every single day like a cryptocurrency beginners gathering in Den Haag, Netherlands; a trading group started in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, and many more. One thing’s for sure, as cryptocurrencies continue to become popularized on the global level, meetups like these will continue to grow.
Do you attend a local bitcoin meetup in your area? Let us know about it in the comments below.