The "Miami Bitcoin 2022 Conference" has come to an end. What are the exciting moments that cannot be missed?

On April 9, the four-day Miami Bitcoin 2022 conference came to an end, attracting people from all walks of life, with more than 35,000 people attending the world's largest Bitcoin conference. The event was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, and speakers included PayPal co-founder and Facebook early investor Peter Thiel, NFL players Aaron Rodgers and Odell Beckham Jr, tennis superstar Serena Williams, former University of Toronto professor and clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson, and Senator Cynthia Lummis.

The themes of this year's conference were similar to last year's: the need for a universal, decentralized currency; the importance of a diversified portfolio; and the use of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as a glue in an increasingly divided world.

Many attendees said they attended the conference to learn about Bitcoin as new investors or even skeptics of the cryptocurrency world. Others were industry experts or early investors who attended Bitcoin educational events to introduce Bitcoin to others.

At the Bitcoin Conference, the mining industry took up nearly half of the exhibit space at the show, and the venue was packed with visitors and there was a lot of lively discussion about mining.

New mining rigs were unveiled, long lines formed at booths of mining service companies, and some larger mining companies said they had employees scouting for deals. In addition, Wall Street investment firms and financial institutions such as B. Riley, HC Wainwright and BNY Mellon held events to chat with miners.

“This year … they promoted [mining], their speakers were more engaging, they drew the crowds, which was awesome,” said Whit Gibbs, founder and CEO of Compass Mining, a bitcoin mining and services company.

The Compass Mining booth was packed with conference goers. There were a lot of them, including the three largest mining equipment manufacturers, three or four energy service providers pitching their environmental solutions, and three miners serving retail customers. There were also several other new mining equipment manufacturers on site.

“A real trading center”

Interestingly, the actual mining companies themselves were noticeably absent from the show floor. They were probably too busy meeting with their Wall Street friends, as there were plenty of cocktail parties and private dinners throughout the week that brought the two sides together.

Meanwhile, Frank Holmes, executive chairman of Hive Blockchain (HIVE), said at the conference that given the large number of participants in the mining industry, large miners such as Hive Blockchain (HIVE) have their own teams looking for trading opportunities at the conference. "We received a lot of deals, and it was a real trading hub," Holmes said.

Mining rig manufacturers had a strong presence at the conference, with both MicroBT and Canaan launching new, more powerful and efficient rigs.

Meanwhile, Bitmain showed off not only its mining equipment but also giant mobile Antbox containers that can hold up to 180 machines, freeing miners from having to create their own expensive infrastructure.

Additionally, there were some lesser-known hardware vendors at the conference, suggesting that new entrants may be trying to break into the very competitive but potentially lucrative mining equipment manufacturing industry. “On the hardware side, there were more products from different vendors than I’ve ever seen at a conference before,” Gibbs noted. However, he said he was “a little concerned” about all the new entrants: “I think we have some people here who are pushing unproven products and therefore may pose a risk to people who are interested in buying them.”

Many different price predictions were made at the conference. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel firmly believed that Bitcoin could increase 100 times by the second quarter of 2023.

Peter also claimed that Bitcoin’s “real” competitor is global stocks, which are valued at $115 trillion. As Bitcoin heads toward a trillion-dollar market cap, there’s still a long way to go.

Another prominent public figure lamented the potential of Bitcoin at the conference. Jason Urban, a senior official at Galaxy Digital, said in an interview that both Bitcoin and Ethereum could rise by 100% by the second quarter of 2023.

He further stated that certain factors are currently driving the Bitcoin market. Today, more and more people understand the need to adopt cryptocurrencies.

It is worth noting that institutional adoption is a major factor in determining Bitcoin’s future valuation. Currently, according to Jason, 15% of institutions are doing what makes sense for them to further enter the ecosystem.

Gemini's COO Noah Perlman shared his views on cryptocurrency exchanges, NFTs, Bitcoin, and stablecoins in an interview at the conference.

When asked what makes Gemini different from other exchanges, Perlman’s answer was simple. He said, “At Gemini, we’ve always been very focused on security, regulation, and compliance. So our customers are the ones who value that.”

When it comes to NFTs, Perlman said he hopes skeptics keep an open mind. He sees a lot of utility and potential in the space.

Perlman is also bullish on Bitcoin as a long-term store of value and inflation hedge. “Personally, I don’t spend my Bitcoin,” he said of whether he would use some of his Bitcoin on e-commerce sites like Shopify.

Jack Mallers, CEO of payment company Strike, said at the Bitcoin 2022 conference that it will integrate Bitcoin Lightning payments for e-commerce giant Shopify. Jack Mallers said: "You will be able to walk into" millions of US stores that accept Bitcoin and Lightning Network payments. Shopify is a one-stop SaaS e-commerce service platform that was listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges in 2015.

Mallers also said Strike will also work with NCR, the world's largest point-of-sale (POS) provider, and payments company Blackhawk. He said: "If we can help make the Bitcoin network more accessible and usable, we believe we can change the world... Since 1949, there has not been a superior payment network that allows us to innovate for consumers, let's build a superior payment network from the ground up."

Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy (MSTR), said that President Biden's recent executive order directing federal agencies to coordinate their approaches to regulating the crypto industry is equivalent to "the president of the United States giving Bitcoin a green light." He said: "If I look back at the past 100 years of history and ask when was the last time a president of the United States directed the government to accept a new asset class, the answer is no. This time Biden is like telling different institutions to 'get educated on Bitcoin and figure out how to incorporate it into the government.'" Saylor also believes that the true potential of Bitcoin will be realized when billions of people around the world have a mobile phone and an app with a lightning wallet.