Over 15,000 attendees flocked to the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto as part of Consensus’ self-professed ‘gathering of the tribes’ recently. Taking place for the first (and possibly last) time in Canada, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, blockchain and Web3 conference attracted a plethora of big names, including Eric Trump, Kevin O’Leary, Chairman of O’Leary Ventures and host of Shark Tank, Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports and Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital among others.

Crypto’s global Stage: Consensus comes to Canada

With more than 500 speakers across six stages, talks centered around the crypto landscape, with DeFi, real-world assets (RWAs), decentralised AI, stablecoins, crypto adoption and the evolving regulatory landscape, which dominated discussions among the biggest players in the crypto ecosystem. It was Eric Trump, however, who stole the show at the highly anticipated event, which is now set to take place in both Hong Kong and Miami next year.

The core themes: crypto trends and regulatory evolution

Taking part in several panel discussions, the 47th US President’s son spoke candidly about how his interest in crypto was first fuelled and his experience with digital currencies so far. It’s reported he had a conversation with Michael Saylor, the billionaire who transformed his software company Strategy who advised him to mortgage Mar-a-Lago, his father’s Florida country club, to invest in Bitcoin and get involved in the American Bitcoin Company.

Speaking on stage, Eric Trump said “We have come to love the crypto community, and I think the crypto community has really come to love us, and we’re, we’re so proud to be a part of it. But, you know, American Bitcoin to me is everything. I really believe in digital goals, I believe in store value.” He also talked about American Bitcoins plans to focus on the US as a source of growth as the company plans to enter public markets later this year. “I think we’re pretty, pretty aligned with the United States of America in a lot of ways. And listen, guys, we have the greatest country on Earth. We have a country that’s determined to lead the modern financial system, the modern digital revolution that we’re seeking to take place and, as a family, as a country where we’re spreading forward that goal.” 

From Mar-a-Lago to mining: Trump’s journey into crypto

Another interesting point of conversation was Eric Trump’s shift in interest, from data centres to digital assets. This was something he spoke about in a positive light. “I think the datacenter world is really going to take over. Datacenters make so much sense, they’re the future of technology and how we do business. There’s a longtail to getting into our data centers. It was putting two pet projects for me, together, the speed of execution and in which we are running towards this business and I believe that what we are creating is second to none.”

Although Eric Trump never once mentioned his father, there was one point he wanted to get across to a rather sizable audience at the event – his belief in American Bitcoin. He said, “I think we’re gonna accumulate a tremendous amount of bitcoin. But I also want to be the person who’s mining it, by far the cheapest. And I think we can win that race.” Consensus was held in Toronto from 14-16th May. Its next installment takes place in Hong Kong from the 10-12th of February, with Consensus moving to Miami in the US from the 5-7th of May. Such conference growth is testament to the ever-growing popularity of crypto-currency, which shows no signs of slowing down.