INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Flashy Lamborghinis Spotlight Bitcoin Conference As Blockchain Week Kicks Off

By Samantha Chang
Published on: 10:34 PST, May 14, 2018

Bitcoin evangelists have taken over midtown Manhattan this week as Blockchain Week officially kicked off May 14 with the start of the 2018 Consensus conference, hosted by CoinDesk.

One telltale sign that it’s a cryptocurrency conference are the stylish Lamborghinis parked outside the New York Hilton Hotel in midtown, where the conference is being held.

Lamborghinis are the go-to sports cars that newly-minted bitcoin millionaires purchase when they make their first significant stash of crypto cash, as the Inquisitr previously reported.

When Lambo?

Twitter was abuzz with conference attendees posting photos of flashy Lamborghinis parked on the street.

The meme “When Lambo?” has become popular in cryptocurrency circles, thanks to bitcoin’s soaring prices in 2017 that made many traders suddenly rich.

Peter Saddington, an Atlanta-based computer coder, purchased a $200,000 Lamborghini Huracan last fall by paying for it with 45 bitcoins. He had acquired bitcoin in 2011 when it cost less than $3 a piece. Today, BTC prices hover at about $8,600 a token.

The “When Lambo?” meme has become so common that Vitalik Buterin — the 24-year-old Ethereum founder whose net worth tops $400 million — has slammed cryptocurrency investors for childishly flaunting their newfound wealth.

Cryptocurrencies remain a mystery to most people, but they are gaining traction amid nonstop media coverage and mushrooming adoption. While it still has many vocal detractors, the virtual asset class is quickly emerging as an investment vehicle to be reckoned with.

Billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have slammed digital currencies for being opaque and unregulated, but bitcoin evangelists like the Winklevoss twins, Tyler and Cameron, insist crypto is here to stay.

In February 2018, Forbes magazine released its first-ever list of cryptocurrency billionaires. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss landed at No. 4 in the rankings, with a combined net worth approaching $1.1 billion.

Forbes 2018 List of the Richest People in Crypto (Net Worth)

  1. Chris Larsen, Co-founder of Ripple: $7.5 to $8 billion
  2. Joseph Lubin, Co-founder of Ethereum: $1 billion to $1.5 billion
  3. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance: $1.1 billion to $2 billion
  4. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, Co-founders of Gemini: $900 million to $1.1 billion
  5. Matthew Mellon, Individual investor: $900 million to $1 billion
  6. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase: $900 million to $1 billion
  7. Matthew Roszak, Co-founder of Bloq: $900 million to $1 billion
  8. Anthony Di Iorio, Co-founder of Ethereum: $750 million to $1 billion
  9. Brock Pierce, Chairman of Bitcoin Foundation: $700 million to $1 billion
  10. Michael Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital: $700 million to $1 billion
  11. Brendan Blumer, CEO of Block.one: $600 million to $700 million
  12. Dan Larimer, CTO in Block.one: $600 million to $700 million
  13. Valery Vavilov, CEO of Bitfury: $500 million to $700 million
  14. Charles Hoskinson, Co-founder of Ethereum and IOHK (Cardano): $500 million to $600 million
  15. Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple: $400 million to $500 million
  16. Barry Silbert, CEO of Digital Currency Group: $400 million to $500 million
  17. Vitalik Buterin, Creator of Ethereum: $400 million to $500 million
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