Liberty Con 2018 Brings Freedom and Bitcoin to Washington DC

[Cordillerabit]

On March 2-4 the international pro-liberty nonprofit, Students For Liberty, hosted a three-day conference called Liberty Con, an event that aims to “to educate, develop, and empower the next generation of leaders of liberty.” In addition to the many ideas that promote freedom attendees got a taste of cryptocurrency from the Bitcoin.com booth alongside a 45-minute debate about the legitimacy of bitcoin between Bitcoin.com’s communications ambassador and the well-known precious metals advocate and economist Peter Schiff.

Libertycon Attendees Learn About the Free Market Benefits of Cryptocurrency

This year the organization Students For Liberty (SFL) hosted a three-day event aimed at teaching and promoting liberty throughout the many college campuses located all across the world. Liberty Con was filled with many organizations that promote liberty across many different global campuses, industries, and business sectors. This includes groups like the Atlas Society, Institute for Human Studies, FEE, Reason, Young Voices, Free the People, Tzero, the Mises Institute, and of course Bitcoin.com. Many of the Liberty Con attendees, sponsors, and organizations were very interested in cryptocurrency solutions and blockchain technology as a free market concept that can help remove the chains of tyranny.

Hundreds of Wallets Downloaded

Over the course of the weekend, hundreds of Liberty Con participants downloaded the Bitcoin.com Wallet and received a few bucks of bitcoin cash (BCH) during the event. Students were taught how to send and receive cryptocurrency transactions, and many of the young minds were very interested in this emerging technology.

Attendees learned the very basics of digital currencies because many of them had heard about cryptos but never invested or tried them before. More importantly, Liberty Con participants learned how cryptocurrencies can be used as a free market tool to help remove money from the nation state’s control.

Bitcoin, Gold, and Beanie Babies
One highlight of the three-day event’s festivities included a debate between Bitcoin.com’s communications ambassador Sterlin Lujan and the celebrity ‘gold bug’ Peter Schiff. The debate discussed whether or not bitcoin or cryptocurrencies, in general, are ‘legitimate.’ Mr. Lujan kicked off the debate by explaining that there’s nothing wrong with precious metals but gold and silver are not entirely evolutionary — rather precious metals have always done the same things. He explains that bitcoin, however, is an evolving peer-to-peer technology that will relentlessly grow and evolve into a continuous innovation much like the internet. Further, Mr. Lujan details that intrinsic value is based upon the subjective valuations of market actors a concept solidified by the school of Austrian economics. Which means the value of bitcoin, gold, and everything else on this earth is based on the subjective theory of value. 

Of course, Mr. Schiff didn’t see eye to eye with Sterlin’s arguments and pretty much went over his usual arguments that bitcoin is nothing more than “Beanie Babies and tulips.” Mr. Schiff details that gold does have intrinsic value and he explains how gold has been used for millennia. Moreover, he says that bitcoins can easily be stolen or confiscated by the government, but it would be more difficult to steal people’s gold. Of course, Mr. Schiff must have forgotten when FDR seized everyone’s gold in the U.S. back in 1933 and made it punishable by law for owning the precious metal. Additionally, Schiff explains that he believes cryptocurrencies are not scarce due to the 1,500 other altcoins and eventually the price of bitcoin will plummet to zero — “with no one left but bagholders.” Of course, Mr. Lujan countered the arguments but he could not persuade Mr. Schiff to see things a different way.

Conscious Capitalism
Besides the debate about the legitimacy of bitcoin, many of the attendees saw quite a few keynote presentations and an SFL awards dinner featuring the founder of Whole Foods Markets, John Mackey. Mackey discussed his debate with the economist Milton Friedman and explained his concept and book called “Conscious Capitalism.” Further students saw presentations from individuals like Tzero and Overstock’s Patrick Byrne, the anarcho-capitalist David Friedman, the economist and author Deirdre McCloskey, among many other special guests.

Overall the event was a success in the eyes of the many participants who attended this year’s Liberty Con. SFL’s Dr. Wolf von Laer closed out the day by thanking all the students who attended and the many liberty promoting organizations who helped out. Meanwhile, hundreds of students got their very first wallets and some fractions of BCH to test and experience how the technology works. Many of the attendees were happy to see a booth dedicated to cryptocurrency education as the technology goes hand in hand with the promotion of free markets and liberty.

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