Bitcoin Sports Network (BSN) will host the 3rd Annual Bitcoin Golf Championship on April 26, 2026, at Bali Hai Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is scheduled alongside the Bitcoin Vegas Conference at the Venetian, which starts on the 27th of April.

Whale Pass holders for the Bitcoin Vegas 2026 conference get a 10% off the 3rd Annual Bitcoin Golf Championship as well! With code WHALE26 at checkout.

The announcement follows the 2nd Max & Stacy Invitational, which BSN organized in January at El Encanto Country Club in La Libertad, El Salvador, in partnership with Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert and sponsored by Ikigii (Towerbank).

The El Salvador event included a poker tournament sponsored by Casino Colonial and a poolside 19th Hole Challenge. Attendees included Mike Peterson, Dr. Jack Kruse, Texas Slim, Archie from The Bitcoin Archives, and Bitcoin educator Jimmy Song.

“Nothing is impossible for Chris and Frieda. It is almost magical how they nail it every single time,” said Max Keiser.

Keiser also said: “I love this event. It’s like an amusement park for Bitcoiners. Everybody is focused on having maximalist fun. Chris and Frieda are the wizards behind the scenes making it all come together.”

Patrick Lowry, CEO of Samara Asset Group, said: “BSN once again proves to be the best at bringing Bitcoiners from around the world together. My wife and I enjoyed golf, poker, and meeting Bitcoiners from around the world—we’ve already begun planning next year’s trip.”

The Las Vegas event will use a 2-person scramble format. It will include Bitcoin-themed hole activations, exclusive prizes, and the Bitcoin Kickoff Party at the clubhouse. Organizers expect more than 300 attendees, including founders, builders, investors, and creators. Bali Hai Golf Club is located minutes from the main conference venue.

Following the Las Vegas event, BSN plans to host an event in Canada and launch the World Bitcoin Poker Tour.

Tickets and sponsorships for the Las Vegas event are available at bitcoingolfchampionship.com. Details for the Canada event are at https://thebtcopen.com/.

Attendees can play golf and poker with Bitcoin OGs and then head to the world class Bitcoin Vegas conference the next two days at the Venetian. 

This post 3rd Bitcoin Golf Championship Lands at Bali Hai Golf Club Before Bitcoin 2026 Vegas Conference first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Juan Galt.

Loud. Friendly. Huggy. The Bitcoin Bro is your hype man for hyperbitcoinization. He doesn’t know what “joules per terahash” means, but he does know where the nearest bar is and will yell “Buy the dip!” during your panel Q&A.

They party hard, orange-pill harder, and are basically Bitcoin’s version of a frat brother with a bull market permanently tattooed on his soul.

Think this might be you? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz to find out. No halving knowledge required.

Slicker than a freshly backed-up seed phrase, this guy’s teeth are whiter than your Lightning wallet. He rented a Lambo for the afternoon and drops your first name way too often – like he’s trying to sell you a fractional NFT of a parking garage.

He doesn’t care about decentralization. He cares about gains. And tailoring. Always with the tailoring.

The apocalypse isn’t a threat – it’s a plan. This person hasn’t touched fiat since 2018 and bathes exclusively in non-KYC sats. They’ve learned to make soap, catch fish, and explain monetary collapse in a calm, reassuring tone.

They’re not paranoid. They’re prepared.

Are you spiritually prepared, too? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz and see where you land.

Lives in a van. Pays for tacos with Lightning. Might be hiding from the IRS (but only spiritually). They believe Bitcoin is peace, man. And also chaos. And also freedom.

Will fix your flat tire in exchange for a hammock spot and a cold yerba mate.

The unsung hero of Bitcoin. Speaks exclusively in thermodynamic math and obscure hardware specs. Makes ASIC firmware upgrades look like wizardry, but cannot explain their job to their mom without causing emotional distress.

Knows the exact BTU-to-wattage ratio of their off-grid setup. Does not know what “small talk” is.

Don’t understand them? That’s okay. Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz anyway — they’re building the future while you click answers.

Yes, plural. Yes, anonymous.

They don’t want to talk to you. They don’t want to be on your podcast. They don’t even want you to know they’re here. Ask when something will be done and you’ll receive the sacred prophecy: “Two weeks.”

Shadowy super-coders, quietly pushing upgrades that will redefine monetary history – while actively avoiding eye contact.

Armed with a gimbal and a dream. Their camera roll is 80% memes, 20% selfies with CEOs. Some are spreading the signal. Some are chasing clout. All are uploading something right now.

Will say “Let’s run it back!” at least 17 times per day.

Identifiable by the gravity-defying stack of laminated badges swinging from his neck like a wearable timeline. He doesn’t say much – the passes do the talking.

He’s not here to attend panels. He’s here to assert conference dominance.

Is this your origin story? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz and confirm your status.

Branded polo. Branded backpack. Branded soul. You don’t remember agreeing to this conversation, but you’re holding his business card now.

Moves in packs. Wears the lanyard like a badge of honor. Will be back at the booth exactly 15 minutes after lunch.Doesn’t talk about Bitcoin. Is Bitcoin.

Old-school finance types who smelled smoke on Wall Street and walked toward the orange glow. Calm. Calculated. Dollar-cost-averaging into the sunset.

They don’t shill. They don’t yell. They just nod knowingly.

Same data. Two conclusions. Infinite confidence. 

They believe balance sheets are destiny – or disaster. One thinks corporate Bitcoin accumulation is inevitable, elegant, and inevitable again. The other thinks leverage is a ticking time bomb wrapped in a TradFi costume. 

Both have read the filings. Both have spreadsheets. Both will reference Michael Saylor – either as a visionary or as a cautionary tale – and neither will back down.

Sleeps three to a room and burned half their runway to get to the conference. They’re pitching a Lightning wallet-slash-social network-slash-AI-powered-something and just need one person to believe.

Respect the hustle.

Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz before they raise your next round.

Absolute legends. They’ve stood beside their Bitcoin-obsessed partner for three straight days, nodding politely through debates about mining fees and custody models.

They are the backbone of the conference. The true MVPs. Quietly Googling spa availability.

Not who you expect. No megaphones. No flexing. Just quiet confidence and a phone that never leaves their hand.

Some got lucky. Some built empires. All will ignore your pitch deck.

Yes, they exist. Yes, they know more than you. And yes, they are already five steps ahead of your “Have you heard of Bitcoin?” opener.

Bonus: They will almost certainly explain immersion cooling better than you.

One Event. Endless Energy. Absolute Chaos.

Bitcoin 2026 isn’t just a conference – it’s a decentralized carnival of code, conviction, and characters. Whether you’re here to build, learn, argue, chill, or meme, there’s a place for you.

Ready to see where you fit in? Take the “Which Bitcoin 2026 Persona Are You?” Quiz and find out who you really are.

This article was inspired by the video “The People of Bitcoin 2022 Miami Conference” by SPACE DESIGN WAREHOUSE. We acknowledge and appreciate the original creative concept, which served as a foundation for this updated and expanded interpretation for Bitcoin 2025. We encourage readers to view the original video and support the creator on YouTube.

This post The 15 Types of Bitcoiners You’ll Definitely See at Bitcoin 2026 first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Josh Plischke.

The suitcoiners are in town. 

From a low-key, circular podium in the middle of a lavish New York City event hall, Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor took the mic and opened the Bitcoin Treasuries Unconference event. He joked awkwardly about the orange ties, dresses, caps and other merch to the (mostly male) audience of who’s-who in the bitcoin treasury company world. 

Once he got onto the regular beat, it was much of the same: calm and relaxed, speaking freely and with confidence, his keynote was heavy on the metaphors and larger historical stories. Treasury companies are like Rockefeller’s Standard Oil in its early years, Michael Saylor said: We’ve just discovered crude oil and now we’re making sense of the myriad ways in which we can use it — the automobile revolution and jet fuel is still well ahead of us. 

Established, trillion-dollar companies not using AI because of “security concerns” make them slow and stupid — just like companies and individuals rejecting digital assets now make them poor and weak. 

“I’d like to think that we understood our business five years ago; we didn’t.” 

We went from a defensive investment into bitcoin, Saylor said, to opportunistic, to strategic, and finally transformational; “only then did we realize that we were different.”

Michael Saylor: You Come Into My Financial History House?!

Jokes aside, Michael Saylor is very welcome to the warm waters of our financial past. He acquitted himself honorably by invoking the British Consol — though mispronouncing it, and misdating it to the 1780s; Pelham’s consolidation of debts happened in the 1750s and perpetual government debt existed well before then — and comparing it to the gold standard and the future of bitcoin. He’s right that Strategy’s STRC product in many ways imitates the consols; irredeemable, perpetual debt, issued at par, with the yield fluctuating around the fixed income. The difference is that instead of being backed and issued by the British government and managed by the Bank of England, STRC is issued and managed by Strategy, a private business intelligence company turned proto-bitcoin bank. (And the Bank didn’t micromanage the interest rate to target a specific yield.)

We’re in the first year of reinventing the financial system, Saylor concluded. 

“We say that Bitcoin miners recycle stranded energy; well, bitcoin treasury companies recycle stranded capital.”

Michael Saylor pointed to pension funds and money market mutual funds and said, “more than two-thirds of the capital is locked up in structured institutions right now — it’s capital sitting in a bank, a pension fund, an insurance fund, a retirement fund, an institutional investment fund.”

All that could be freed, the bitcoin treasury company story goes, to be intermediated between the old world’s incessant desire for “yield” and the new bitcoin world that Michael Saylor and Strategy is busy building. 

Michael Saylor thinks that fixing the money happens by fixing all the other money-adjecent industries: finance, regulation, corporate governance, security markets. He remarked, unironically, that during the various gold standards, credit on gold got bigger than the gold market itself. Implication: there’s plenty more paper bitcoin to come. 

It’s a terrible role model, given that self custody, seizure resistance and unstoppable transfers are what bitcoin does so well over gold. Centralized markets and paperized gold is what broke the old world’s “perfect money.”

Bitcoin Treasuries: Walking A Tightrope

Toward the end, we got a nice, little dig at some rival treasury companies not doing a good job. 

“There’s a certain amount of money that’ll come to you, that’s easy to get, that’s just not good for you… it’s hard to do the things that are going to create massive shareholder value for your company. It’s easy to get big and do things that basically transfer your equity and your collateral to an investor.”

We used to dream of liberating money from the paper money system we sleepwalked into during the 20th century. Here we are in the 21st, our best and brightest minds — most of them in this very room — trying their hardest to make paper out of bitcoin. 

It’s a nice vision if it works; if it doesn’t, it’ll be disastrous for the orange dream. 

This post Michael Saylor Pushes Digital Capital Narrative At Bitcoin Treasuries Unconference first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Joakim Book.

A new nonprofit organization, the Tennessee Bitcoin Alliance (TNBTC), has been formed to accelerate bitcoin adoption across Tennessee through coordinated public-education programs and a focused legislative agenda. Its stated mission is to integrate bitcoin with commercial activity in the state.

The organization was founded by seasoned technologists, entrepreneurs and political activists and aims to translate Tennessee’s favorable energy mix and business climate into long-term leadership in the adoption of bitcoin. The TNBTC launched last month with an in-person event in Franklin, Tennessee, with several state lawmakers and policy specialists attending.

Education First: Workshops and Merchant Integration

TNBTC will begin rolling out statewide workshops this fall. Sessions for households will cover practical topics such as acquiring, securing and spending bitcoin, while merchant-oriented programs will provide hands-on guidance for integrating Lightning-enabled point-of-sale systems. Additional free materials and bitcoin education curricula are planned for educators, civic groups and local officials to ensure a common understanding of Bitcoin’s technical fundamentals and economic implications.

A Legislative Roadmap for 2026

On the policy front, the alliance is circulating draft language for the 2026 General Assembly that would affirm every resident’s right to self-custody, recognize bitcoin node operation as constitutionally protected speech, permit contracts to be settled in bitcoin without adverse tax treatment and distinguish bitcoin from other digital assets in state code.

“Tennessee already combines a top-ten freedom ranking, abundant low-cost nuclear power, and a bipartisan appetite for innovation,” said Dave Birnbaum, TNBTC’s president and co-founder. “Our goal is to combine those advantages with bitcoin and position our state for rapid economic growth.”

Tennessee Bitcoin: Leveraging Energy and Industry Advantages

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s grid, which is nearly half nuclear, offers miners and data center operators a stable, low-carbon power source. The state also hosts existing high-performance computing infrastructure, from Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the xAI facilities in Memphis. According to the Coinbits Bitcoin Index, which aggregates tax policy, energy pricing, regulatory climate and adoption metrics, Tennessee currently ranks fifth nationwide for Bitcoin friendliness. TNBTC believes it can build upon this momentum.

“From Oak Ridge’s Frontier super-computer to FedEx’s global logistics hub, Tennessee has a history of converting frontier technology into real jobs,” said Steve Giraud, TNBTC vice-president and co-founder. “Bitcoin is the next frontier, and this initiative will make sure that the economic opportunity that bitcoin affords can reach every county in the state.”

Funding and Participation

TNBTC is supported entirely by individual and corporate donations. Membership information, program schedules and volunteer opportunities are available at tnbitcoinalliance.org. The organization’s first county-level meetups are slated for August, with pilot workshops targeting public-school educators and small-business owners.

If successful, the Tennessee Bitcoin Alliance could provide a replicable framework for state-level Bitcoin adoption rooted in practical education and clear statutory protections, cementing the Volunteer State’s reputation as a leading jurisdiction for innovative technologies that advance personal liberty.

This post Tennessee Bitcoin Alliance to Position the Volunteer State at the Center of America’s Bitcoin Revolution first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Dave Birnbaum.

RIGA, LATVIA – bitcoin++, the global developer-focused conference series, just announced the speaker lineup for their Privacy Edition, taking place August 7-8, 2025, at the National Library of Latvia in Riga. The two-day technical conference strategically precedes the 7th annual Baltic Honeybadger conference (August 9-10), creating an unprecedented four-day “Riga Bitcoin Week” for the global Bitcoin community.

The Privacy Edition represents bitcoin++’s first conference in the Baltics and tackles one of Bitcoin’s most pressing technical challenges: balancing the protocol’s transparency and auditability with individuals’ fundamental right to privacy. This specialized developer conference will feature long-form technical lectures, hands-on workshops, and a competitive hackathon with a 5M satoshi prize pool.

Pioneering Privacy Technology for Bitcoin’s Future

“Bitcoin’s transparency and auditability are often at odds with the goal of preserving an individual’s right to privacy,” states the conference theme. The Privacy Edition brings together the brightest minds in Bitcoin privacy development to explore solutions across four critical areas: Privacy + Public Good, Freedom to Transact, Censorship Resistance, and Open Source Development.

The conference has secured speakers from leading Bitcoin privacy and development organizations including Fedimint, Cashu, Vexl, Spiral, Brink, PayJoin, 2140, and mixnet builder Nym Technologies, among others. These partnerships signal the caliber of technical expertise and innovation attendees can expect throughout the two-day event.

Strategic Timing Creates “Riga Bitcoin Week”

For the first time, bitcoin++ and Baltic Honeybadger—Europe’s longest-running Bitcoin-only conference—will create a continuous Bitcoin education experience. Developers can dive deep into privacy technology at bitcoin++ before joining the broader Bitcoin community at Baltic Honeybadger, maximizing their investment in traveling to Riga.

“Bitcoin++ is excited to be headed to Riga, Latvia ahead of the Baltic Honeybadger conference in 2025,” the organizers announced. This strategic scheduling allows attendees to experience both cutting-edge technical development and the legendary “OG Bitcoin conference” atmosphere that Baltic Honeybadger has cultivated since 2017.

Multi-Track Technical Program

The conference features a comprehensive program designed for serious Bitcoin developers:

• Main Stage: Primary technical presentations on privacy protocols and implementations
• Talks Stage: Additional speaker sessions exploring privacy solutions
• Workshop Tracks: Hands-on sessions for implementing privacy technologies
• Privacy Hackathon: Two-hour competitive development challenge with teams of four competing for 5 million satoshis

Unlike mainstream cryptocurrency conferences, bitcoin++ maintains its commitment to smaller, focused audiences of developers excited to explore Bitcoin’s technical frontier. The Privacy Edition specifically targets Bitcoin protocol developers, Lightning Network engineers, privacy researchers, and open-source contributors building the future of censorship-resistant money.

Building on Global Success

Bitcoin++ has established itself as the premier technical Bitcoin conference series with successful events in Austin, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Florianopolis. The Riga edition continues the series’ tradition of thematic specialization, following previous deep dives into Bitcoin Script, mempool dynamics, and payments.

Base58, the non-profit Bitcoin protocol school and one of bitcoin++’s longest-running sponsors, has earned recognition for creating environments where developers can move beyond surface-level understanding to master Bitcoin’s technical intricacies. Attendees consistently praise the conference’s ability to combine theoretical knowledge with practical, hands-on learning.

Privacy as Freedom

The Riga Privacy Edition arrives at a critical moment for Bitcoin development. As global surveillance expands and financial censorship increases, the need for privacy-preserving Bitcoin technologies has never been more urgent. The conference will explore how to maintain Bitcoin’s revolutionary transparency while protecting individual users from authoritarian overreach.

Key technical focus areas include:

• On-chain privacy techniques and their trade-offs
• Off-chain privacy solutions including Lightning Network enhancements
• Peer-to-peer exchange protocols eliminating trusted intermediaries
• Chaumian e-cash implementations for private transactions
• Privacy-preserving wallet architectures

Registration and Information

Bitcoin++ Privacy Edition will take place August 7-8, 2025, at the National Library of Latvia, followed immediately by Baltic Honeybadger August 9-10 at Fantadroms. The unique positioning allows developers to experience four continuous days of world-class Bitcoin education in one of Europe’s most Bitcoin-friendly cities.

Registration details and the complete speaker lineup are now live on their website at btcplusplus.dev/conf/riga/talks. Given the intimate scale of bitcoin++ conferences and high demand from the global developer community, early registration is strongly recommended.

For more information about bitcoin++ Riga Privacy Edition, visit btcplusplus.dev/conf/riga.

If you’re going to attend, use discount code “BTCMAG” for 10% off your ticket!

About Bitcoin Plus Plus

Bitcoin++ is a developer-focused conference series emphasizing long-form lectures and technical workshops. Organized by Lightning spec developer @niftynei and friends, the series targets Bitcoin developers, researchers, and technical builders seeking deep protocol knowledge. Since 2022, bitcoin++ has hosted conferences across five continents, establishing itself as the premier venue for technical Bitcoin education.

About Baltic Honeybadger

Baltic Honeybadger is Europe’s premier Bitcoin-only conference, founded in 2017 by the Hodl Hodl team. Known for its uncompromising Bitcoin maximalism and cypherpunk ethos, the conference has hosted legendary figures including Andreas Antonopoulos, Adam Back, and Michael Saylor. The 7th edition continues the tradition of high-signal content and meaningful networking for the global Bitcoin community.

This post bitcoin++ Privacy-Focused Technical Conference Ahead of Baltic Honeybadger in Riga first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by bitcoin++.

Bitcoin conferences are a dime a dozen these days. There’s everything from the large-scale Vegas-type events with 30,000 attendees that BTC Inc. (the owner of Bitcoin Magazine) puts on, to the small, intimate gatherings of dozens or hundreds of devoted Bitcoiners — or the 10,000 attendees that BTC Prague gathered in the Czech capital this year. They all serve a purpose and cater to a specific niche, and they’re important to different people at different stages of their Bitcoin journeys, wherever they are. 

Remu Karhulahti joins me, from an enviable and impeccably pristine Finnish landscape — pine tree and birch trees, sun-glimmering lake, blue skies… and yes, there was an outdoor sauna in the background — to talk about the newest Bitcoin conference kid on the block: BTCHel, the first large-scale Bitcoin conference in the Nordics. Taking place on August 15-16 in Helsinki, Finland, the team is bringing names like Jeff Booth, Peter Todd, Giacomo Zucco, Knut Svanholm and Adam Back to the Finnish capital. Less than a month before the event kicks off, we talk Bitcoin adoption, the landscape in the Nordic countries and the need for yet another Bitcoin conference.

JB: Remu, you’re the CEO of BTCHel, a new Bitcoin conference and the first of its kind in the Nordics — why another European event?

Remu: Well, I had been to all the major European ones — Baltic Honey Badger, BTC Amsterdam, BTC Prague, Bitcoin Atlantis, Oslo Freedom Forum etc. — and felt that I had lots of experience as an attendee. I had worked the booths at several of them and I have also organized events in the past. I had studied Bitcoin since 2020, and worked with the European book publisher Konsensus, and I felt that we had an untapped potential here in the Nordic countries.

We run this community hub in downtown Helsinki all year round, where everyone from hardcore Bitcoiners to random plebs off the street hang out. Some just come for the bitcoin ATM we have, others are curious about Bitcoin, and some just show up. (The huge orange windows also draw some attention.)

There had been monthly meetup events in Helsinki since 2014 with 30-40 people regularly attending, and we wanted to make something bigger — give back to the community. When our team of five got together in August last year, we realized that we have all these unconnected initiatives in Finland: the miners, various Bitcoin companies, the active local community, the Finnish Bitcoin Association, and plenty of tech-savvy people (eds. note: Finland is at number 5 on Bitnodes’ list of reachable nodes, in a country with fewer people than Minnesota).

JB: What’s the intended audience? Don’t you think yet another Bitcoin event would cannibalize attendees from some of the established ones?

Remu: No, not really. The Nordic landscape is an unexplored niche, and it was just a matter of time before somebody would organize an event like this. Many Bitcoin conferences and companies are focusing on large markets like the U.S. or continental Europe, but you should really go where others aren’t going. 

I don’t actually think that BTCHel competes with the larger European conferences. We definitely have a local competitive edge here in that we might draw people who are interested enough to attend a two-day event in Helsinki, but wouldn’t travel to, say, Riga, Prague, or Amsterdam for it. The hardcore Bitcoiners like you and me obviously like to go to all of them, but there’s always a large, local audience that won’t — people who are not part of the clique. So far, we’ve had lots of tickets sold to Germans, so I think we’ll have a large international presence as well. For BTCHel 2025, we think we’ll get about 1,000-1,200 attendees.

JB: Do you also have Finnish-language content, or is it English-only?

Remu: Mostly English and international. We do have a small side stage for Finnish presentations but that’s about it.

JB: You mentioned that some Finnish Bitcoiners had crowdfunded 200 copies of Nik Bhatia’s book “Layered Money” to send to Finnish members of Parliament. What has the response been, and how’s the Bitcoin talk going among Finnish legislators?

Remu: Yes, it was a fun initiative in 2023, and we followed up with some feedback but didn’t really hear too much back. I don’t think most Finnish politicians are hostile to bitcoin, but bitcoin is nothing to them. The only thing that comes up is the mining industry, where a proposal to tax miners more was introduced last year but didn’t pass.

JB: Why do you think Bitcoin hasn’t taken off in the Nordics? It’s an otherwise pretty tech-savvy region, with high-speed internet access everywhere and mobile payments etc., so what’s preventing bitcoin adoption over here?

Remu: I have a theory about this. Like you say, Nordics were early to tech and the internet, and especially in Finland with Linux and the open source movement, we have lots of people who are interested in these topics. But Finland is a high-trust society — peaceful, with lots of protection for private property and trust in institutions. And that’s what bitcoin solves, so there is no acute need for the solution that is bitcoin. For average people, it just doesn’t make sense.

JB: What’s the idea with BTCHel? Are you going to run this conference annually like most of the others, or, say, every four years like Bitcoin Atlantis?

Remu: We’re planning to do this long term, and we’ll put up BTCHel next year again. The ethos for the team and the core value of BTCHel is that it’s community-driven and grassroots. My vision for what we’re doing here is that we’re building a very welcoming place, open for everyone who wants to participate and learn. I have already made plans to scale next year even bigger, so we can make it more accessible to plebs and bootstrapped start-ups.

All the other major conferences usually have a mother company or a large sponsor behind them, so if they don’t make a profit they can still keep going… with the downside that they’re beholden to that company. We don’t have that. We’re plebs, community-driven, and we bootstrapped from the ground up — and it’s quite likely that we won’t manage to make a profit either. We’re doing this for the love of the game.

JB: So, how are you going to run the conference next year, then, if you’re not making a profit?

Remu: Ah, we’ll figure it out. Maybe bitcoin’s price keeps going up, and our company treasury increases in value. 

Disclaimer: BTC Inc., the parent company of Bitcoin Magazine, also puts on Bitcoin conferences around the world: Bitcoin Asia in Hong Kong, Aug 28-29; Bitcoin Amsterdam, Nov 13-14; Bitcoin MENA in Abu Dhabi, Dec 8-9; and the flagship event Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas, April 27-29, 2026. 

This post Finland Joins the Bitcoin Conference Map with BTCHel first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Joakim Book.

Geyser, a Bitcoin crowdfunding and grants platform, announced the NWC Hackathon Grant this week, inviting projects that leverage Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) – a communication protocol that enables programmable, non-custodial Bitcoin payments and seamless interactions between apps and wallets. NWC uses the Nostr relay network as an always-on, encrypted message layer linking applications to users’ wallets, so apps can request payments or fetch data without custodial intermediaries. This design allows Bitcoin to move more freely between services. “The timing feels right… There’s growing excitement around leveraging NWC for Lightning development,” said Mick Morucci, co-founder of Geyser, underscoring the momentum behind this technology.

Two Grant Tracks for Builders

The $10K NWC Grant will be distributed across two categories. Track 1: New NWC Apps focuses on fresh ideas and prototypes built from scratch, this can include “vibe-coding” tools. Track 2: Mature NWC Apps is for established projects that have not yet received investor funding. Geyser indicated there may be up to four winners per track, assessed on criteria including impact, need, proof of work, and early potential. The initiative isn’t just about prize money – it comes with a supportive structure of workshops and mentorship. Over the coming weeks (June 30 – July 11), participants can join educational livestreams, remote workshops, and feedback sessions, culminating in a livestreamed pitch day on July 8 and final winners announced July 11. This approach aims to nurture builders through the development process, not just reward a finished product.

NWC Unlocks New Use Cases

Nostr Wallet Connect’s versatility is a key motivation for the grant. “We want to bring Bitcoin out of cold storage and into real use: automated, seamless, and sovereign,” said René Aaron, a developer at Alby (one of the grant’s sponsors), highlighting how NWC bridges Lightning to everyday applications (listen to his interview here). By acting as an open bridge between any wallet and app, NWC removes friction for both users and developers. NWC has been described as “the missing link” that unlocks new Bitcoin use cases – “subscription models, non-custodial flows, programmable payments & much more” (source). This means ideas like pay-as-you-go subscriptions, IoT micropayments, Bitcoin-powered developer tools, Discord tipping bots or even automatic credit card top-ups can all be built using NWC.

Sponsors and Early Applicants

The grant is backed by sponsors including Alby, Flash, Primal, and BtcCuracao. Several projects have already applied to the program, reflecting a diverse range of NWC applications. These include ZapGoals – a Nostr app for fundraising sats towards personal goals, Swapido – a service enabling one-click Lightning-to-Mexican Peso bank transfers, Flotilla – a Nostr-based communities platform, and Medical Binder – an initiative for sovereign health records. More applicants are expected as the Bitcoin builder community rallies around this open challenge.

How to Get Involved

Geyser is encouraging any Bitcoin or Nostr builders with an idea to apply for the NWC Grant. Applications are open on the NWC Hackathon Grant page until Monday 7th of July. Pitch day is Tuesday the 8th. With this initiative, the organizers hope to spark fresh innovation and prove out what’s possible when Lightning meets Nostr’s permissionless communications. By funding and mentoring developers, Geyser and partners aim to accelerate the growth of a “self-sovereign” Bitcoin payments ecosystem open to all.

This is a guest post by Mick Morucci. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

This post Geyser Launches $10K Nostr Wallet Connect Grant to Spark Open-Source Innovation first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mick Morucci.

As I step onto the plane leaving Gardermoen Airport in Oslo, Norway, the weight and warmth of the past week settles into my chest.

The Oslo Freedom Forum is not a conference. It’s not a summit. It’s something harder to name and even harder to describe — a convergence of courage, truth and defiance that burns through the noise of the modern world and gives you no choice but to listen, feel and act.

For the second time, I leave this city more convinced than ever that something unstoppable is rising. That amid the censorship, surveillance and state repression spreading across the globe, there is a countervailing force rooted in humanity, accelerated by technology and led by those who’ve already paid the price for speaking out.

The Forum doesn’t trade in empty optimism. It delivers a different kind of hope, forged from lived experience and stitched together by people who have been in the dark and still choose to see the light. A hope borne from the stories of individuals who have lived through the worst an authoritarian regime can do and still choose to fight for the freedom of others. The experiences shared were hard. At times, devastating. But they weren’t offered for pity. They were calls to action.

Just days after she was abducted, blindfolded, tortured, and sexually assaulted in a Tanzanian prison cell, Agather Atuhaire stood in front of a crowd of strangers and told her story.

Her voice did not tremble.

The Ugandan journalist and lawyer had traveled to Tanzania in solidarity with fellow East African dissidents, only to be disappeared in a black van alongside Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi.

And yet, against all odds, she came back. Not just to her home in Uganda, but also to the stage in Oslo, where she spoke calmly and clearly about what it means to tell the truth under a dictatorship.

Her presentation, “The Digital Free Speech Crackdown in Uganda,” laid bare the authoritarian playbook: social media blackouts, propaganda campaigns, surveillance of journalists and the slow financial asphyxiation of independent media. When the government doesn’t like a story, it simply blocks the platform or website. When a journalist digs too deep, they disappear for a while. Or forever. Atuhaire painted a picture many struggle to even imagine.

And yet, after everything, she didn’t just recount these struggles. She looked out at the crowd and thanked the open source builders and contributors who write code and create tools that make it possible for activists like her to speak, move money and organize under regimes that want them silenced, or worse.

(Ugandan journalist and lawyer, Agather Atuhaire, speaks during the Freedom Tech track at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum.)

From Iran, independent Bitcoin educator Ziya Sadr reminded us that financial privacy is not a luxury but a necessary lifeline for those facing the financial repression by oppressive rulers. Sadr’s detainment during the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom movement following the murder of Mahsa Amini by the Iranian regime is a testament to that. Without financial privacy, activists’ actions, connections and finances are exposed to a regime equipped with widespread financial controls and a sophisticated, restrictive internet firewall that rivals even China’s.

The result is one of the most repressive digital environments in the world. And if that wasn’t enough, the Iranian rial currency has lost more than 80% of its value in just a few years.

Against this backdrop, Iranians are using bitcoin as undebasable savings, and to buy digital services like VPNs in order to access the open internet. But even that act, just reaching the outside world, requires a level of privacy most of us take for granted.

In his presentation, “Securing Lifelines: The Bitcoin Privacy Imperative,” Sadr shared that many Iranians turn to Bitcoin Coinjoins, a privacy technique that breaks the link between Bitcoin transaction inputs. Coinjoins preserve user transaction privacy and, more importantly, shield Iranians from the surveillance and retaliation of a regime who punishes anyone trying to access information beyond its tightly controlled digital spaces. The use of Coinjoins is becoming more difficult as global legal pressure mounts against open source developers, and in the aftermath of the Samourai developer arrests, privacy protocols like Whirlpool are unworkable.

Today, Sadr is learning more about additional Bitcoin privacy tools, including Payjoin, a privacy method that allows two users to contribute an input to a Bitcoin transaction. Payjoin breaks common chain analysis heuristics and conceals the sender and receiver of a transaction as well as the payment amount. Then there is ecash, a form of digital cash backed by Bitcoin that enables very private, everyday payments with the custodial trade-off of trusting mints (entities that issue and redeem ecash tokens) to store user funds.

The continued development of these protocols is crucial for Iranians, who live under a government that not only tracks and surveils digital behavior, but also imposes automatic fines on women for violating hijab rules and manipulates currency exchange rates to profit off citizens’ savings. For millions in Iran, bitcoin offers a last line of defense against a collapsing currency, intrusive surveillance and total financial repression.

(Independent Iranian Bitcoin educator, Ziya Sadr, speaks during the Freedom Tech track at the Oslo Freedom Forum.)

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López took the stage at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum not as a politician, but as a witness to what happens when a state turns its institutions into further tendrils of its repression machine.

After Nicolás Maduro stole Venezuela’s 2024 elections, López watched thousands of his fellow people — activists, students, journalists, opposition members and lawyers — get arrested, disappeared or forced into exile. The regime blocked access to social media, revoked passports, criminalized dissent and used the financial system as a means of controlling the population.

Amid this digital repression and Venezuela’s 162% inflation rate, López sees bitcoin (decentralized money) and Nostr (decentralized social media) as lifelines. When dictators shut down the internet or freeze your bank account, alternatives that are open source, decentralized, uncensorable and accessible become more important than ever for the survival of democracy and freedom.

“Decentralized resistance is the convergence of people, Bitcoin, Nostr, and AI.

People, it’s about the center and the end of what we are doing.

Brave women and men who sacrifice their freedom, who take risks, who are willing to fight for other people.

If it’s not about people, technology wouldn’t be something worth fighting for.

Bitcoin is freedom money. It’s decentralized, nobody controls it, nobody can stop it, it can move around without borders.”

(Venezuelan Opposition Leader Leopoldo López during the Freedom Tech track at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum.)

For decades, Paraguay’s greatest natural resource, hydroelectric power, has flowed out of the country through international contracts, fueling development in neighboring countries like Brazil and Argentina while one in four Paraguayans remained trapped in poverty. Paraguay’s Itaipu Dam, one of the largest in the world, has long symbolized this paradox: a river of energy diverted away from the very people who need it most.

Björn Schmidtke and Delia Garcete of Penguin Group are flipping that script.

In a landmark move, they secured Paraguay’s first 100-megawatt power purchase agreement, marking the beginning of a bold experiment to reclaim that energy for the people of Paraguay. Instead of selling it off to foreign powers, they use it to mine Bitcoin — and the proceeds go to Paraguay’s youth.

(Itaipu dam, Paraguay)

Out of the heat of humming ASICs and the roar of the Itaipu turbines rises Penguin Academy, a free software development school that equips young Paraguayans with coding, development and technical skills. Over 10,000 students have applied, including 800 women; more than 3,000 have already graduated. And over 85% of the graduates from their Code Pro program now work in the tech industry.

What was once wasted or exported is now being transformed into freedom and a future. Through bitcoin, Paraguay’s stranded energy is finding its way home.

Rushan Abbas is a Uyghur activist who has spent years raising the alarm about the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign to erase her people. During the Freedom Tech track, she spoke not just as a human rights advocate but as a sister whose sibling, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, was abducted by the CCP in 2018 and hasn’t been heard from since. Her voice was calm, but her words were heavy.

Abbas described a region turned into a digital and physical prison. The Uyghur homeland, East Turkistan, has been intentionally transformed into one of the world’s most sophisticated police states, where mass surveillance, facial recognition systems, police checkpoints, asset seizure, arranged marriage, sterilization and forced labor are used not just to control the Uyghur population, but to suppress them out of existence.

As Rushan describes it: “Break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins.”

Rushan made clear that monetary control is central to the CCP’s strategy. Uyghurs have their assets and bank accounts frozen, their land seized and their homes stolen. They are stripped of any ability to save, transact or build generational wealth, and are forced into government-run labor schemes under the guise of “poverty alleviation.”

Rushan reminds us that what’s happening to the Uyghurs is not abstract. It’s a targeted, systematic erasure carried out with weaponized technology and financial repression. Her sister’s disappearance is one of millions of silenced lives, but she refuses to let it be forgotten. In Oslo, Rushan stood not just as a witness, but her words served as a warning: When a government can monitor every transaction, surveil every citizen and control every movement, it doesn’t just repress but entirely dismantles the foundations of a people’s identity, autonomy and future.

(Uyghur activist Rushan Abbas speaks during the Freedom Tech track at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum.)

For these reasons and more, you don’t leave the Oslo Freedom Forum feeling defeated. You leave reminded that truth is more powerful than propaganda, that code can protect life and that resistance isn’t just possible — it’s already happening.

And if you’re fortunate enough to live in a place where speaking freely or moving money isn’t a life-risking act, you’re reminded of the privilege that comes with that freedom and the responsibility you have to stand with those who are still fighting for it.

This year, I felt a noticeable pulse of momentum around freedom tech. As we saw above, human rights defenders and dissidents didn’t just talk about the repression they endured. They emphasized the optimism about the tools that help them peacefully fight back: Bitcoin, Nostr, privacy tools, open source AI models, uncensorable VPNs — tools that work in the shadows, beneath firewalls, around embargoes and beyond borders. Tools that build a parallel system, where the right to transact, communicate, organize and resist cannot be revoked at the press of a button.

These are the instruments keeping movements alive, getting money to dissidents and protecting voices at risk. And behind every tool is a quiet builder, a pseudonymous contributor or an open source developer who may never take the stage but is just as much a part of the story.

The Oslo Freedom Forum is not just a gathering of voices. It’s a frontline, a place where the future is crafted by those who refuse to give in. And what emerges from that convergence is a simple, undeniable truth: Authoritarianism adapts, but so do we. With Bitcoin, with open source tools, with decentralized networks, with unstoppable courage.

At 30,000 feet, well above the noise and borders they try to enforce, one thing is clear: No authoritarian regime, no matter how brutal or well funded, has ever succeeded in stamping out the human desire to be free. The Oslo Freedom Forum is proof of that. And if you’re paying attention, it’s also a glimpse into what comes next.

This isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of the next chapter. One written not by the powerful, but by the free.

Onward.

This post The 30,000-Foot View of the Oslo Freedom Forum first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Zac Guignard.

Nakamoto Holdings Inc. has been announced as the title sponsor of the Bitcoin 2025 Conference, the world’s largest gathering of Bitcoin enthusiasts, uniting builders, leaders, and believers in the world’s most resilient monetary network. The event will take place May 27-29, 2025, at the Venetian Convention and Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This landmark sponsorship follows Nakamoto’s recent merger with KindlyMD, Inc. (NASDAQ: KDLY), a Utah-based healthcare services provider, announced on May 12, 2025. The $710 million transaction, financed through $510 million raised via private placement in public equity (PIPE) at $1.12 per share and $200 million in senior secured convertible notes maturing in 2028, will create a publicly traded company focused on establishing a robust Bitcoin treasury strategy.

David Bailey, founder of BTC Inc. and Nakamoto Holdings, is seeking to bring Bitcoin to the center of global capital markets. The KindlyMD leadership team will attend Bitcoin 2025, highlighting their commitment to this vision.

The Bitcoin 2025 Conference will feature a keynote speech by Nakamoto’s David Bailey on May 28, following U.S. Vice President JD Vance on the main stage. Bailey will also host an X Spaces event today, May 16, at 1:30 PM EST to discuss Nakamoto’s vision and the conference.

Join thousands of Bitcoin enthusiasts in Las Vegas for three days of groundbreaking discussions, networking, and innovation. For tickets and more information, visit www.b.tc/conference/2025.

Disclaimer: Bitcoin Magazine is published by BTC Inc., a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA).

This post Nakamoto to Headline Bitcoin 2025 as Title Sponsor first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mark Mason.

Austin, TX – bitcoin++, the premier developer-focused Bitcoin event, returns to Austin from May 7-9, 2025. This highly anticipated conference brings together Bitcoin engineers, researchers, and innovators for an immersive three-day experience of technical workshops, cutting-edge talks, and in-depth discussions on Bitcoin development.

bitcoin++ mempools and mining edition offers an unparalleled opportunity for developers to deepen their expertise, collaborate with industry leaders, and engage with the latest advancements in Bitcoin mining. Whether you’re a seasoned Bitcoin developer or just beginning your journey, this event provides a unique environment to refine your skills and expand your network.

Who is Coming:Leading Bitcoin developers and engineers

● Researchers pushing the boundaries of Bitcoin scalability and security
● Innovators and builders exploring mempool dynamics and mining efficiency
● Enthusiasts looking to deepen their technical knowledge

What to Expect at bitcoin++ mempools and mining edition:

● Technical Workshops – Hands-on sessions led by top Bitcoin developers and engineers.
● Expert-Led Talks – In-depth discussions on the latest Bitcoin research, protocol updates,
and emerging technologies.
● Developer Networking – Connect with like-minded professionals passionate about
building the future of Bitcoin.
● Hacker-Friendly Environment – A collaborative space designed to foster innovation and
experimentation.

Bitcoin++ events have become a cornerstone for technical Bitcoin education, attracting some of the brightest minds in the space. The upcoming Austin edition promises an agenda packed with high-caliber content designed specifically for those who are serious about Bitcoin development.

Registration is now open, with limited spots available. To learn more and secure your ticket, visit https://btcpp.dev/conf/atx25.

For sponsorship inquiries, media requests, or additional information, please contact
sponsor@btcpp.dev

About Bitcoin++

Bitcoin++ is a series of developer-first conferences designed to provide hands-on technical education and deep dives into Bitcoin’s evolving ecosystem. Through high-quality programming and interactive experiences, Bitcoin++ empowers developers to contribute meaningfully to the future of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin++ events have become a cornerstone for technical Bitcoin education, attracting some of the brightest minds in the space. The upcoming Austin edition promises an agenda packed with high-caliber content designed specifically for those who are serious about Bitcoin development.

Contact

hello@btcpp.dev

https://btcpp.dev/conf/atx25

This post bitcoin++ mempools and mining edition: The Premier Developer-Centric Bitcoin Event Returns to Austin first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by bitcoin++.