Author: Kevin Roose / Source: New York Times
Each week, Kevin Roose, technology columnist at The New York Times, discusses developments in the tech industry, offering analysis and maybe a joke or two. Want this newsletter in your inbox? Sign up here.
Hi, everyone. It’s me again.
One of my kind and magnanimous colleagues will be writing this newsletter next week since I’ll be on vacation somewhere far, far away from email and social media. (I have a large tolerance for internet inanity, but the Laurel vs. Yanny debate finally broke me.)My week took a weird turn on Tuesday, when I walked a few blocks uptown to check out Blockchain Week New York City, a three-day cryptocurrency extravaganza. The conference itself wasn’t particularly unusual — lots of big hitters in cryptocurrency were there, holding onstage panels and talking about their plans to revolutionize this-or-that industry by putting it on the blockchain. There were a few Lamborghinis parked outside — Lambos being the semiofficial status symbol of the crypto-wealthy — but inside, it was mostly business as usual.
The more interesting scenes were found at the many after-parties, lavish invitation-only bacchanals where the irrational exuberance of crypto-world was on full display. I went to one party thrown by Ripple Labs at a venue in the Meatpacking District, during which Snoop Dogg performed a short set while smoking a large blunt on stage, as is apparently his custom. Rumor was that somewhere else in town, Busta Rhymes was performing at another cryptocurrency party.
Maybe it was the wafting weed fragrance, or the Lambos, or just the sight of lots of rich men talking about margin trading while awkwardly dancing to rap music, but I picked up a strong Wall-Street-party-circa-2006 vibe from Blockchain Week.
I’m not an expert on the cryptocurrency markets, and wouldn’t venture to guess what will happen to currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum in the coming months. But it’s…
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