What is TABConf?

TABConf is an event focused on building the Bitcoin community, providing education, and supporting developers. We like to think of this as the most inclusive, organic, grassroots event possible for Bitcoin.

Michael Tidwell and Brandon Iglesias saw an opportunity to further Bitcoin education in Atlanta by bringing some of the greatest minds together. The goal was to run a stress-free, low-cost conference that provided real value to the people who came.

In 2018, the first TABConf was held at General Assembly in Ponce City Market. Unsure if anyone would show, we sold tickets to the one-day event for $10. Within one week, they sold 210 tickets, selling out and overbooking their venue, setting the future trajectory of Bitcoin in Atlanta.

The excitement around Bitcoin in Atlanta continued to grow. By 2019, the conference had over 500 attendees. It moved to Georgia State University, where four ballrooms were scheduled simultaneously with talks and panels, and attendees could choose the content that interested them most.

Though 2020 presented curveballs for everyone, Tidwell pushed to bring TABConf back in 2021. But this time, the conference would be hyper-focused on the attendees, what they desired to learn, and the broader Bitcoin development community. Borrowing an idea from DEFCON, a long-standing “hacker” conference, TABConf implemented their version of “Villages,” which gave space for individuals, groups, and communities to create programming. TABConf pledged to donate a percentage of the proceeds of ticket sales to support the Bitcoin development community.

Highlights

Focused on Taproot, Added a hardware component to the conference.

2023

Focused on Lightning, introduced using Github to organize the conference.

2022

introduced Builder Days, expanded the conference to 4 days

2021

Introduced Defcon Style Villages

2019

Introduced in-depth technical workshops

2018

Had the first ever TABConf

Past Conferences: 6, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018