Down in the Caribbean, under the palm trees and the hot April sun, about 2,000 gathered last week for the Crypto Bahamas event co-hosted by crypto exchange FTX and investor forum SALT.
Goodie bags containing everything from sunscreen and sunglasses to T-shirts and boat hats were distributed while the air conditioning was on full blast. Participants flew from as far afield as Singapore and came over from FTX’s headquarters, which is about a 20-minute drive from the conference.
Someone joked that it’s between the millionaires in suits and the billionaires in cargo shorts. Anthony Scaramucci
“We wanted to host a premier conference targeting institutions and people that will help shape and differentiate policies and markets from the more retail-focused conferences,” Brett Harrison, president of FTX.US, told Marketingwithanoy.
The three days of speakers started with FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried and SALT chairman Anthony Scaramucci (who is also the founder and co-managing partner of SkyBridge Capital) on the main stage to discuss where crypto stands in its journey.
“There are a lot of different things going on — my generation needs a further, deeper dive into crypto,” Scaramucci, 58, told Marketingwithanoy. “My generation needs to feel comfortable with where this space is going.”
Some of those in attendance were dressed in suits, while many others wore hoodies or T-shirts and casual shorts or jeans, pitting the professional financial world against the new – and arguably more progressive – digital age.