In mid-September, the next Baltic Honeybadger conference successfully ended, which became a landmark eventthis year. To finally sum up the results of the event, Bitnews once again decided to interview Maxim Keidun, co-organizer of Baltic Honeybadger andCEO of a popularP2Hodl P-ExchangesHodl. The famous Bitcoin maximalist willingly shares his vision of the blockchain and Bitcoin, and also gives practical advice and recommendations.
The basis of the Baltic Honeybadger conference was originallyIt was a healthy, productive movement towards the benefits of cyberpunk, so such important things as Bitcoin, Lightning Network, trading, security, investment, technology, etc. became the topics.
Guests and event speakers traditionallysuch extremely significant persons as Andreas Antonopoulos, Elizabeth Stark, Adam Beck, Jimmy Song, Tony Weiss, Max Keyser, Seyfedin Amos, Samson Mow and other interesting and talented personalities.
Maxim Keidun is a bright representativebitcoin movement and a follower of the "old school", which does not accept support for useless altcoins, dubious ICOs, the interests of the banking system and other things that are not trustworthy.
Today, he again shares his view onthe crypto industry, and explains why bitcoin maximalism is everyone’s free choice and how to minimize the risks of losing money to the trader.
BN: Tell me - what is your impression of this conference?
In fact, I have a very positive feeling,It seems to me that she was better than last year, because we took into account a lot of mistakes. It's nice that this time everything is more organized. Peter McCormack, who led this ceremony, helped us a lot - he does it very cool. Again, an unbelievably cool feedback about a separate press-launcher, street food festival, content and the audience who come here. People come who really understand something, and there is no bullshit here. In general, even if the conference is not over yet, but it seems to me that it really succeeded. Yes, of course, there is a lot of work, but the feedback that we get is very pleasing to us and encourages us to do more, more and more.
BN: And what is your best speaker? Who got the best public feedback in the last two years?
In the first year, we had a very big feedback on the performances, of course, by Andreas Antonopoulos, because he went out and just broke the hall.
BN: But if you still take all the conferences, and the current one too?
Yes, there were still such top matches thateveryone liked it - this was Andreas Antonopolus last year and Jason Lock - he told a very interesting story about how special forces came to his apartment on a false tip and tried somehow to quietly extort a blow, after which he made the corresponding conclusions. Also, last year there was a very remarkable economic sense from Nikki Carter, who made very interesting statistical and economic layouts regarding Bitcoin. Surprisingly, this year everyone liked the panels, although with us, they usually are not very popular. Jimmy Song made a very cool joke yesterday, and today, of course, everyone is waiting for Seyfedin to speak, because he really has very, very cool topics.
BN: Would you say that there has been a shift at the conferences and now people immediately want to get as much information as possible at a time, that they have a certain information or educational hunger? If so, why is this happening?
Indeed, to us at the conference oftenpeople come who sit in the hall and listen very carefully, and for me it is very rare because I attend a lot of conferences and, unfortunately, I see that often the halls are half-empty or even empty. Surprisingly, at our conferences they start relatively early, and already at 10 am the halls are practically full. And we have a lot of people who come, listen, receive knowledge, sit all panels and presentations, do not go to the break, afraid to miss something. And this, of course, is insanely happy, it means that we are doing a good job and we are calling very interesting, relevant speakers.
BN: How tall is the number?
This year we have an increase in visitors somewhere on15-20% turned out. But, in fact, we consciously do not want to grow, for example, to a thousandth audience, because then a certain atmosphere will be lost. In general, we now have 650-700 people for the conference.
BN: What are your plans for next year?
Well next year we have a plan to makeconference in Riga, which by itself. Although we have a lot of offers from other regions. They also want to do local events there, moreover, under the brand of our conference. Therefore, perhaps in the spring there will be another Honeybadger, I can’t say where yet, because we communicate with different countries. We have offers from Asia, North America and even from the Caucasus region. In general, there are many regions and countries that want to use our brand.
BN: Okay, after all, you are positioning yourself as an international conference, but, nevertheless, as far as we know, the bulk of the organizers are Russian-speaking. This is true?
Yes it's true
BN: Then why don’t you want to organize an event, for example, in Moscow?
It's very simple - a visa issue.Riga is a fairly convenient location for all Europeans; we still have the majority of people who arrive without visas. Plus, it is convenient to get to Riga from other EU countries - Latvia has a visa-free regime with many countries, either full or only partially limited. Riga itself is very comfortable, it is not expensive and the city is beautiful. After all, people don’t spend all their time at conferences—they have to go somewhere, watch something. And Riga is ideal, plus the airport is developing - it is the largest airport in the Baltics, in my opinion, one of the largest in Northern Europe. In addition, we have everything covered here, and we are trying to work in a region that we know and understand. I don’t really want to go beyond the limits, plus we have already realized that in Latvia there is no point in counting on the local audience. Unfortunately, for me, as a resident of Latvia, the locals are not very interested in this area, but we have a lot of people coming from other countries, and it is important for them to have a convenient location and a convenient airport. But in such big cities as Moscow and Kyiv, we don’t know anything, and we don’t really want to go there, there is a lot of competition there and it will be difficult there.
BN: Oddly enough, in Moscow there is zero competition for such events
Yes, but visitors in Moscow to suchthere will not be so many events, because, unfortunately, our post-Soviet countries suffer from shitcoins, ICOs and other dubious schemes. In fact, this is firmly rooted in our head and, unfortunately, remains there. And we don’t organize any crazy afterparty with naked girls and unrealistic alcohol, we don’t have any show stars of local spill here. Everything is simple with us, but at the same time with taste and quality. Due to this, we allow people to buy tickets at a reasonable price, we feed them very tasty and, at the same time, they receive high-quality content.
BN: Then the last question about the conference is how do you see Honeybadger in 5 years?
I see a Honeybadger that is no longer turningjust to the conference, but to the Bitcoin festival, and, in fact, it already is. This year we have already experimented and made Riga Bitcoin Week, and next year we will take it even more seriously, and it will not be just an experiment, but put on stream work with a large number of different siders, it will be a really full-fledged Riga Bitcoin Week. After all, it is extremely pleasant for us when Riga becomes the Bitcoin capital for 5-6 days and the BH-2019 hashtag gets out on top in terms of trends in Latvia).
BN: Well, then, about the conference it’s clear, and a couple of questions to let you go. Each time you and I see each other, you are very interesting to talk about your views on the blockchain, Bitcoin, how it should be and how you see it. And at Honeybadger they also hold very strongly to these views. Where do they grow from? Why do you stick to them yourself and consider them right?
They grow, first of all, probably from mypersonal experience, because I worked for a long time in the traditional financial system and saw how it works and how imperfect it is. In addition, I was lucky after all - I entered the crypt through Bitcoin, and, in fact, remained in it. And I see that Bitcoin is the user case, Bitcoin is the biggest liquidity, Bitcoin is the real use of this tool in mechanisms that are understandable to any person, and it was not originally about universal freedom or anarchy, it was originally about personal financial freedom. One can object a lot that someone will use it for bad purposes, but most of the offenses are made with ordinary money and through the same banks. Therefore, it seems to me that this position is untenable, we are creating a new financial system, and it should not work according to the old rules.
BN:I’ll ask you this question - you said about Bitcoin, but you didn’t mention Bitcoin maximalism, although on the same Honeybadger this maximalism is significantly felt, which I won’t hide. I’ll still ask you a question, which, by the way, I ask a large number of people with whom we interview. I believe that, practically, in the very idea of Bitcoin maximalism there is a lot that contradicts the blockchain paradigm, because there is always a paradigm of freedom-free choice, free desire.If you want, use a bank, or use Ethereum, to spite the president or the king. Those. I think you didn’t say anything about this, right?) Honeybadger really does a little bit of promoting Bitcoin maximalism, albeit, of course, with humor, but still...
Yes, we are partly promoting, probably, but we are not doing it on purpose, and, of course, we give everyone the opportunity to choose whether you want to come - if you want to, do not come, what's the difference.
BN: Well, what do you think yourself - if there were a bunch of everything, a wide selection
Yes please - you want a bunch of everything, do a bunchTotal. If someone wants to work on the air, well, actually, good luck, God grant you health, and so that everything is fine with you. But, in fact, this is a personal choice of everyone, you say it right.
We're into Bitcoin, we're Bitcoin maximalists, becausethat this is our personal choice. We see the logic in this. I say it again, I always repeat the same phrase - I see a use case, I see a practical application for Bitcoin. And if at some point something appears that will be better and the use case will be broader, well, we’ll think about it. But at the moment, there is nothing like that.
And everyone seems to be waiting, everyone is saying that right nowBitcoin 2.0, just about now, but this does not happen. And this gives an understanding that for us this story is apparently a long-term one and, I say again, people come to Bitcoin-maximalism not because someone forced them, but because it is their choice. I know a lot of bitcoin maximalists who were originally active sheetcoin miners and stuff, stuff, and used some other tools.
BN: Ok. Another question about the conference: a lot this time at a conference about security. What do you personally advise users, both simple and more experienced in this regard?
Well, probably the most such simple mantra is “notkeep funds in a savings bank ", in fact, if you are not an active trader, you must very correctly and competently approach the choice of storage location, i.e. not mobile wallets, not some such things, but buy yourself normal hardcore wallets. After all, it is very important to initially properly store and understand why you are doing this.
Yes, if you speculate, then, of course, youyou need to constantly keep some kind of liquidity pool for yourself on the exchange. Everything here is logical, but at the same time, you must understand that this is not your crypt, and if the crypt is yours, then, naturally, it is in your wallet. And if it is on the stock exchange, then it is, as it were, not yours.
BN: Great, then let's talk a little aboutHodlHodl - and how muchIs HodlHodl more secure and profitable than other similar projects? What tools does it offer, for example, in terms of end-to-end encryption and everything else?
We have two main points. First, if, God forbid, they compromise us in some way, then your data will not leak somewhere there, because we simply do not have it. And the second point - we are non-custodial, i.e. all the trades you do on HodlHodl, but at the same time you do not store anything on our wallets, you trade from your wallet, and this is the most correct approach at the moment. Unfortunately, we have so far a centralized exchange with decentralized storage, let’s say so. Yes, it’s not necessary to be centralized, but, exchanges that use non-custodial instruments, they cannot boast of great liquidity and the same speed of order execution, as is the case on centralized exchanges, but maybe at some point we will see changes, and, possibly, there will be instruments due to which trading through decentralized platforms will be the same as on centralized ones.
BN:I didn't notice any hard technical topics on Honeybadger. Do you specifically avoid them? Will there be similar themes at the festival next year? What if a person wants to come and learn, for example, how to unravel a knot?
You know, there are conferences that are dedicated tonamely technologies, for coders, for programmers, there are a lot of them. There are brackets that are purely technical. There is now SQL and Bitcoin in Tel Aviv, i.e. it's all super-technical conferences for techies who come, sit in the hall and discuss something between themselves. We are trying to do our event for a wider Bitcoin audience: enthusiasts, journalists, traders, in general, so that it is interesting to everyone. Therefore, we always try to maintain the right balance between technical and non-technical. Still, when you come, the person is non-technical, and you listen for a day about the code, how it is written, etc. - this is frank tin, right?) Therefore, in order for people to come and understand something for themselves, it is necessary to analyze some broader topics. Therefore, we try to focus both on technology, economics, social things, and on political or trader topics.
BN: And yet, you did not answer - next year there will be workshops aimed directly at technology?
Yes. In fact, we had similar sidevents this year, really technical workshops. Well, about the node and how to install it, we will have a technical workshop on Tuesday. Those. we will try to dilute it all, but cryptography is likely to be the main topic of the conferences.
BN: Great. I was glad to talk to you again and I hope that next year we will also discuss no less interesting things
Certainly
