It is actually happening.
At the weekly Bitcoin NYC meetup on November 19th, an overflowing crowd of attendees met guest speaker Nick Spanos and learned of his plans to create a…well, it was not clear at the time what the intent was, but the overall idea was simple – there was going to be a place in the city, basically adjacent to the New York Stock Exchange, that would serve as a permanent home and hub to all things Bitcoin.
Nick Spanos announces the 40 Broad Street Bitcoin center to members of the Bitcoin NYC Meetup group on November 19th 2013.
Upon hearing this announcement, the crowd was immediately abuzz with questions as to what exact purpose this place would serve, how it would be run, and several other questions ranging from high-concept to basic logistics. At that time, answers to these earnest questions from Nick or Bitcoin NYC head, Jonathan Mohan, were not very forthcoming. However the crowd was given an initial tour of the space by Nick and Jonathan and it was clear by the size and scale of the then-empty cavernous space that this was no simple pop-up storefront.
The Bitcoin NYC Meetup group gets an initial look at the 40 Broad Street location on November 19th, 2013.
The scale of the space has to be seen to be believed. This is especially true when one considers that this is located in downtown Manhattan, where space is at a premium. The wide-open area has the potential to hold hundreds of people and the raised stage located in the rear of the place allows for a speaker or even a panel to easily address any gathered crowd.
A look from the large stage at 40 Broad Street on the 19th of November, 2013.
Throughout the rest of November and into the early parts of December, little more was said about the place or any upcoming plans for it until the announcement was made that there would be a holiday party at the spot. This was one of the two major Bitcoin community parties that would be thrown this year and the turnout was quite impressive, featuring many long-term attendees of previous Bitcoin NYC meetups, Patrick and Susan from xCubicle, and even Bloomberg’s Matt Miller were in attendance. Given that there were no such parties in the community last year and with the almost-certain rise of Bitcoin into the mass media and consumer spaces in 2014, it is likely that this year will be the first and last year that such community holiday parties will be able to be held on this sort of scale.
Bitcoin community revelers from across the city descended upon 40 Broad Street for their first holiday party.
And now to bring in 2014, 40 Broad Street is holding a massive New Year’s Eve party, featuring special, as-of-yet undisclosed guests, and promising announcements of no small importance. At this time, the requested donation seems to be just 0.03 BTC and the once-nearly empty space has even been decorated for this and future events. This is going to be amazing!