New Bitcoin Embassy Opens In America
A proposed Bitcoin Embassy is the first of its kind, since an early attempt in New York City, for a bitcoin gathering place. It was American Institute for Economic Research (AIER) Editorial Director Jeffrey Tucker who had a revelation of sorts to launch a Bitcoin Embassy in the United States. The idea is to bring cryptocurrency aficionados together. Promising a welcoming environment staffed by people who can help with wallet recovery, other folks who’re curious about a new technology, seminars, and even a place for Dilly Dilly and wine, this could be the start of something big.
Double-breasted suit, collar starched faultlessly, Mengerian pince-nez befitting a fashionable manner, and of course the bow tie, his mandatory Rothbardian calling card, all of it announces a Jeffrey Tucker happening. Mr. Tucker is a force of nature, a one-man sanguinity machine, a crypto-anarchist without appeal to hooligan crotch grabbing and other assorted rank behavior attached with a radical worldview. You don’t meet Mr. Tucker. He happens to you.
“The Atlanta Bitcoin Embassy,” his most recent project instigating thrill within cryptoland, “is open now but we have not officially launched,” he advised. “That could be in April, depending on how fast we can build out the site, get the crypto ATMs in here, line up all the contractors and services, and so on. One of our services is a wallet recovery business, with a friend who works in Atlanta. The service is slammed with requests to recover lost bitcoin. He uses a variety of techniques and myriad of machines to bruteforce passwords and help people regain control of their money. That service now becomes a sector of the life of the Atlanta Bitcoin Embassy.”
That’s right. Atlanta. As in Georgia. As in the United States. Hot’lanta. ATL. The Big Peach. The city too busy to hate. It’s the home of the first official Bitcoin Embassy in the United States, and Mr. Tucker is heading the effort.
“In addition, we will be holding free seminars,” Mr. Tucker details, “paid seminars, boot camps, training sessions, and so on, all using the public spaces in our co-working office. This is the beauty of the Embassy model. Each city will take a different form. They exist in many places around the world but this is just the beginning. I would like to see an Embassy in every large city in the country and the world.”
“Inspiration for this Embassy came from my visit to Tel Aviv, Israel,” Mr. Tucker explained to News.Bitcoin.com. “I got to [Tel Aviv] and knew of ten thousand things I should see in Israel, but my honest reflection drew me inevitably to the Bitcoin Embassy that I found from googling. It is across from the Tel Aviv stock exchange. It is not a fancy place. What makes it magical is the intelligence there and the ethos. A hugely diverse crowd is always coming and going, some experienced crypto people and lots of newbies. The atmosphere of teaching, sharing, and mutual inspiration is constant. It was so inspiring.”
Jeffrey Tucker is perhaps the most eloquent spokesperson for cryptocurrency within the ecosystem today. He’s a mandatory significant invitation at nearly all crypto conferences, and routinely brings down the house with rousing calls to bitcoin’s better angels. Mr. Tucker, 54, cut his teeth on politics after college, joining the staff for then Congressman Ron Paul. From there, it was on to a little known endowment to keep the name of the obscure Dean of the Austrian School of Economics alive, The Ludwig von Mises Institute, where he’d spend the better part of two decades. His building and curation of the Mises.org site prefigured an open and free internet, leaving many better funded and known institutional peers in the dust. He’s since gone on to resurrect the stalwart Laissez Faire Books, founded a social media platform Liberty.me, and even took a stint with the veritable Foundation for Economic Education.
His current hometown of Atlanta has “two large [bitcoin] meetups, lots of companies, Bitcoin ATMs everywhere, and fans all over town, but nothing permanent to bring us together,” Mr. Tucker continued. “I like hanging around the ATMs in town where you meet this hugely diverse crowd of people. It’s fascinating to me. In this culturally diverse city, people are always conceiving various ‘community service projects’ to ‘reach out’ and ‘bring people together.’ With Bitcoin, you don’t need that. It happens organically because crypto loves everyone. People sense it. It is a truly democratic technology.”
At his new AIER gig, its clear Mr. Tucker has filled more crypto-related content into its rotation. As he expounds, recently “at a meetup, it occured to me that we need the Embassy. Actually, I think I said it first but the idea was already in the air. As soon as I mentioned the possibility to people standing around, you could just feel the moment. It was instantaneously obvious that it had to be done. It’s what everybody has been waiting for. Even the rumor got everyone excited. Sponsors were coming out of the woodwork. Same with consultants and services. I’m now thinking that this can be a real success.”
He’s confident in the model, paralleling what he’s seen: “The Tel Aviv Embassy is on the street. I like that idea but these days Bitcoiners have to worry about security. This is why we chose to locate the offices in a co-working space, a wonderful new WeWork right in the heart of midtown. Anyone can visit as a guest but the space has to let you in with minimal registration at the front desk. That makes sense to me. WeWork also has all the essential infrastructure: coffee, sofas, screens, parking, and 24/7 access, and plenty of wine and beer for late night hangouts.”
