Burning Man & Crypto: Common Grounds

It is a truth universally acknowledged that crypto aficionados love Burning Man.

Crypto entrepreneur Jeremy Gardner told CoinDesk he's attended the four previous Burning Man festivals and given talks about blockchain technology at these camps.

There's so much overlap between the crypto community and the Burning Man movement that Gardner joked the market slows to a crawl during the festival, with company announcements waiting until burners return from the desert.

Burning man is a central point of failure for proof-of-stake protocols.

Much like the crypto market, Burning Man has evolved dramatically over the past decade.

Bear Kittay, a former global ambassador for Burning Man who helped shepherd the annual festival as it established a nonprofit, spawned smaller global events and purchased property, told CoinDesk that Burning Man is still generally dominated by people who work in the tech industry.

"It's very natural that Burning Man would help inspire and spawn the next generation of leaders in that sense," Kittay said.

From Bitcoin to Burning Man and Beyond author John Clippinger told CoinDesk there may be lessons the festival's evolution can offer the decentralization movement.

Since festival co-founder Larry Harvey passed away in 2018, Clippinger said the community entered a transitional phase that could determine the future of Burning Man.

"No one can point and say we've solved that problem," Clippinger, the Bitcoin to Burning Man author, said, referencing disproportionate influence from profiteering groups.