The ‘Super Bowl of cryptocurrency’ is happening at the National Western Complex in Denver

DENVER — ETHDenver, the world’s largest cryptocurrency and blockchain festival, launched its first day of main events at the National Western Complex in Denver on Thursday.

By now you’ve probably heard of cryptocurrency. It is essentially a digital currency that does not depend on any government or central bank. The infrastructure that supports it is blockchain, which is basically a decentralized ledger.

More and more people are getting interested in the crypto space, and the numbers show it.

A record 30,000-plus registrations for ETHDenver’s sixth year, usually held at Downtown’s Sports Castle, led to a new venue this year – the National Western Complex.

“We want more people this year than the first five years combined,” John Paller, ETHDenver’s founder, told Denver7 on Thursday. “They come here from over 110 countries.”

The event is primarily a four-day gathering of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, leaders and business owners in the blockchain world who network, interact and learn about the next breakthrough ideas all aiming to build more blockchain products and services.

This year around, the growing interest in cryptocurrency has attracted a higher volume of some amount not seen in previous years.

“Probably half the people that are here are in this crypto-curious bucket, where they’re not really sure where they fit in. They’re not really sure what they might want to build, but it’s like they’re curious. This is part of the reason we don’t charge for people to come,” Paller said.

More than 30% of attendees are from Colorado, and the event is expected to generate between $30 million and $50 million for the local economy.

It’s no coincidence that Colorado is the home base for ETHDenver every year. Governor Jared Polis, a speaker at the event, has been actively pushing for a crypto-friendly Colorado in an effort to attract more blockchain companies and leaders to the state.

In fact, Colorado is the first state in the nation to accept cryptocurrency as payment for state taxes, beginning in September 2022.

So far, only 11 cryptocurrency payments, totaling around $20,000, have been received by the tax department. That number is expected to increase if and when the government becomes more flexible with the various ways cryptocurrencies can be sent to the government.