Our Second Rootstock Rooftop event in Playa del Carmen developed into a joyful dance party.

Around 30 Bitcoin lovers and Crypto newbies came to our rooftop party to listen to talks about DeFi on Bitcoin and local stablecoins, to enjoy live music by Luv Kat or simply to socialise with beers, cocktails and roast sausages Nuremberg style (handmade in Mexico).

I started the evening with a short introductory talk about Bitcoin for newbies, followed by Steph Ferrera presenting the new local cryptocurrency TulumCoin. It has the goal to fund ecological regeneration in nearby Tulum, which suffers from too much tourism and rampant growth.

Then Mauricio Tovar from Tropykus Finance presented this Rootstock-based lending platform which allows Bitcoin owners to get loans in local currencies or US dollars. Mauricio joined us from Bogotá (Colombia) by videochat. Unfortunately the sound quality was not the best, so it was a bit hard to follow him. Tropykus Finance, which focuses on Latin America, is definitely one of the most exciting DeFi-on-Bitcoin projects out there.

The musical section of the party started with a version of “Fly me to the Moon” with new lyrics. Eryka Gemma from Miami and I had created “Bitcoin to the Moon” last year and performed it at Miami Blockchain Week. Yesterday Luv Kat sang it, accompanied by Steph and me.

Luv Kat also sang some of her own songs and a very sexy cover version of Nirvana’s “Love Buzz” with electronic beats instead of distorted guitars.

Later, our meetup turned into a joyful party. People obviously had fun. Tom’s rooftop bar overlooking central Playa del Carmen is just a perfect place for events like this!

Some crypto veterans were present, but most people were totally new to Bitcoin, so I hope they had a good first impression of the Bitcoin scene. Unlike most crypto meetups, which usually have 90% male visitors, our ratio was about 50:50 female/male.

Body paint artist Angie Vitale from Philadelphia offered us to get a face paint. Of course I couldn’t resist.

She adorned my face with this beautiful Bitcoin logo. Then people started to dance to Funk, Disco, Reggaeton and even a bit of hard rock.

All in all, a very nice evening. We will certainly do it again, probably in late January. If you live in Playa del Carmen or intend to visit this hub for freedom lovers from all over the world, please join our Telegram group to get the latest updates.

By Aaron Koenig, pictures by Angie Vitale & Luv Kat