Over a decade of evolution, for self-justified personal reasons, a handful of members of the cryptocurrency community chose to turn against Bitcoin (BTC), giving rise to a narrative that preached “blockchain is great, Bitcoin is bad.” .
Josselin Tonnellier, founder of Bitcoin exchange StackinSat and organizer of Surfin’ Bitcoin 2022, believes that this particular notion is one of the main barriers to broader adoption of BTC in France.
In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall, Tonnellier discussed several important topics, including the adoption of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in France, the origins and goals of the Surfin’ Bitcoin conference, and overcoming challenges during the bear market.
The executive explained that one of the most pressing concerns in France regarding Bitcoin adoption is the pro-blockchain narrative that paints a negative image of Bitcoin.. He said that:
“For many years it’s been blockchain is cool. Bitcoin is bad. So we try to produce content with leading Bitcoiners and people want us to be able to explain what Bitcoin really is.”
Regarding the connection between surfing and Bitcoin, the executive said that the goal of the event was to have a very cool place where the ecosystem could meet and make connections. Tonnellier explained:
“We wanted to have a place to bring people together in a very nice environment at the end of August so that people can enjoy the beach, feel like we’re on vacation talking about Bitcoin, and we want to be very chill and relaxed, so You don’t see many suits and bow ties.”
The event organizer also noted that there were many Web3 and non-fungible token (NFT) events in the country and few Bitcoin. He added that this prompted his team to organize the event.
Apart of this, Hall also asked Tonnellier about the difficulties they are facing right now in organizing an event during the bear market. The event organizer explained that there are several ups and downs, including setting the budget for the event. He said:
“This limits the number of sponsorship opportunities and, especially in bear markets, it is further reduced and, as you can imagine, the budget for marketing is greatly reduced.”
Despite the difficulties they had to face, Tonnellier said they were able to get people together and go ahead with the event. She expressed how gratifying it was for his team to see people from outside of France come to participate in the event.
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