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The Moment Everything Changed

Four years ago, I stood in the rain in Nashville, Tennessee.

It was August—gray skies, light drizzle. And I was standing there wondering, Is anyone even going to show up?

One by one, people started walking in. Twenty of them. Some were skeptical, some excited. Then a guy—Twitter handle "Dr. Fomo"—shook my hand and said:

"Rod, I thought I was the only Bitcoiner in town. My wife thinks I'm crazy. But now? Now I know I'm not alone."

That night, something clicked.

This wasn't just a casual meetup. It was the start of something much bigger.

Because here's the thing: community-supported meetups, physical spaces—these "third spaces" for Bitcoiners—are the backbone of grassroots Bitcoin adoption.

And today, I want to share with you how a single meetup, just like that one, can transform a city. Maybe even the world.

From a Small Meetup to Bitcoin Park

Today, Bitcoin Park has hosted hundreds of meetups and welcomed thousands of people through its doors. None of this would be possible without our individual members and company supporters like Ten31 (from day one), HRF, Fedi, Unchained, Foundry, and CleanSpark, who support Bitcoin Park every year.

But Bitcoin Park didn't start as some grand vision.

It started with a simple conversation. My friend Mills, who had just moved to town, turned to me and said:

"I want to start a Bitcoin meetup."

So we did.

First meetup? 20 people.
Next one? 50.
Next? 100.

People started flying in. Driving in. Biking in.

We had a high school student take two bus rides just to sit in the front row. That kid? Now he's at Vanderbilt—and still comes to NashBitDevs.

Pretty soon, it was obvious: We needed a space of our own.

A real, physical home for Bitcoiners—to work, learn, collaborate, and build.

So against all common sense, we went out and found one.

And what happened next? Nothing short of incredible.

The Power of Physical Spaces

Let me give you an example.

At our Grassroots Bitcoin Summit, Casey—who was leading SF BitDevs at the time—asked if he could host a Rust meetup on a Saturday morning.

I was drained from the previous night and thought: No one is going to show up.

But we posted the event anyway. Six people RSVP'd.

One of them? Matthew Ramsden.

As we went around the room introducing ourselves, Matthew casually mentioned:

"I'm the creator of Block Screen. You may have heard of it on TFTC."

Wait—what?!

Matthew was this low-key, humble guy, but his work was top-notch.

That meetup? It sparked a conversation with Steve Myers. And from that, NashBitDevs was born.

Today? I'd argue NashBitDevs is one of the best BitDevs in the country.

These things don't just happen. They happen because of physical spaces.

I can rattle off so many names—from Brian Boerst (now leading the BlockWatcher project), to Steve Myers (BDK Foundation), Rob Hamilton (AnchorWatch), Joe Angello (Guardrail Mining), Kim and Josh, and, of course, Matt Odell. From day one, he has been a core pillar of Bitcoin Park, and I'll forever be indebted to him.

The Wildest Story Yet

Now, let me tell you the craziest thing that's ever happened at Bitcoin Park.

Some of you may know about our telehash experiment.

The goal? Mine a Bitcoin block, live, during an event.

The odds? 1 in 1,000.

But seven hours in… BOOM.

We solo mined a block.

Right there. In front of a room full of Bitcoiners.

If you ever need proof that Bitcoin is real, alive, and powerful—that was it.

What This All Means

So what does this all mean?

It means that local Bitcoin spaces matter.

It means that these dedicated Bitcoin third spaces aren't just social clubs. They're launchpads for innovation, collaboration, and real Bitcoin adoption.

And it means that we need more of them.

More BitDevs.
More Bitcoin Parks.
More BitLabs.
More The Space.
More Presidio Bitcoin spaces.

Because Bitcoin is decentralized, but progress happens when people come together.

The Call to Action

Y'all have inspired me to do even more. There are still so many problems and opportunities in Bitcoin—especially in education. And Bitcoin Park is going to make significant time, capital, and reputation investments to reset the level of excellence in Bitcoin education and research.

So, I'll leave you with this:

If you believe in Bitcoin's future—support your local Bitcoin space.

Here's how:

Show up. Attend meetups. Participate. Be part of the energy.
Spread the word. Tell people about these spaces. Share them. Because you never know—
Financially support them. If you believe in these spaces, help them grow. Be a member. Sponsor an open-source developer.

That one meetup.
That one conversation.
That one handshake...