Miami’s Bitcoin Conference Left a Trail of Harassment
Miami’s annual gathering of Bitcoin zealots began with a bull. The city’s mayor, Francis Suarez, had arrived to welcome more than 25,000 attendees at the Bitcoin 2022 conference, and to unveil a 3,000-pound sculpture of a steer inspired by the one on Wall Street. The bull was meant to mark Miami’s place as a would-be crypto capital, and perhaps to manifest a bull market for bitcoin. The only flaw, some conference-goers complained, was that the figure appeared to be female: It was missing a phallus and testicles.
Rachel Siegel had flown into Miami that week for the conference. Siegel makes a living from yield farming and trading cryptocurrencies, and has a modest online following under the moniker @CryptoFinally. At the conference, she says, “I was having the time of my life.” She wore a “Whale” wristband, which granted her VIP access to some parties and events. She mingled with other bitcoin enthusiasts and took a turn riding the mechanical bull that had been installed on the expo floor.
Toward the end of the week, Siegel noticed her Twitter mentions were blowing up. Someone with the handle @bitcoin_fuckboi had posted a photo that featured an unflattering view of Siegel’s backside. Hundreds of people had replied to the tweet and written disturbing things about her body. Between graphic insults, some men made sexual bids. “I’d still smash,” one wrote. “Would pound,” wrote another.
