I Owned Bitcoins.com Before Bitcoin Was Famous — Argentina's Crypto Revolution

What we talked about.

Rodolfo shares how he registered the domain bitcoins.com in 2000 after building a dot-com project called Bitcoins back in 1997, years before Bitcoin itself existed. He held onto the domain for over a decade, eventually selling it in 2011 to Mark Karpeles of Mt. Gox after discovering he had unknowingly received dozens of purchase offers. That sale pulled him into Bitcoin just as Argentina was gripped by strict currency controls under President Cristina Fernandez, when Bitcoin became a real tool for locals seeking a store of value outside the peso. Rodolfo describes trading for a few years before shifting in 2013 toward advocacy, founding the Bitcoin Argentina NGO and LaBitConf, Latin America's longest running Bitcoin conference. He explains why keeping the word Bitcoin in the conference name has always been a deliberate statement, and how LaBitConf became known as much for its cultural experiences, carnival parades, rafting, salt mine visits, as for its speaker lineup. The conversation closes with how he is adapting that energy for LaBitConf's December virtual event.

The man who once owned bitcoins.com on how a 1997 dot-com project led him to found Latin America's longest running Bitcoin conference.

The questions, and the answers.

What's your story before Bitcoin?

I was always involved with technology growing up. In 1997, during the dot-com bubble, I planned a project called Bitcoins, a digital marketplace like eBay. In 2000, for my university thesis, I registered the domain bitcoins.com. I let other domains drop over the years but kept renewing bitcoins.com every year without really knowing why, until someone reached out in 2011 wanting to buy it.

What happened when you found out people wanted to buy the domain?

Someone emailed me in 2011 trying to buy bitcoins.com. When I went to find where I'd listed it for sale, I discovered I already had around 40 offers, and the smallest one was much bigger than what this person offered. That's when I started reading about Bitcoin to understand what I actually had in my hands. After a few months I sold it to Mark Karpeles at Mt. Gox.

What was your relationship with money before Bitcoin?

I was the guy who thought a 100 bill is a 100 bill, you don't ask why. Most people never think about money, they just live with it. It wasn't until Bitcoin that I started understanding the origin of value, why we value things economically and otherwise. It was mind opening in a way I hadn't experienced before, going beyond the superficial aspects of fiat currency.

Was there a leap of faith moment where you decided to fully commit to Bitcoin advocacy?

That was around 2013. You have to understand the context, Argentina had strict currency controls under Cristina Fernandez, and people couldn't legally buy dollars. Bitcoin became a real way for locals and even hotels to access value outside the peso. I felt someone needed to put a face to Bitcoin publicly and defend it, so I decided to stop focusing on my own gains and start giving back.

How did Bitcoin Argentina NGO and LaBitConf come about?

I started the Argentinian NGO as a bridge between government, institutions, media and the community. Keeping the word Bitcoin in our conference name was a deliberate statement, it's hard to get sponsors or government support when Bitcoin is seen as a bad word, especially after cycles tied to Mt. Gox or drugs. We've kept it since 2013, and LaBitConf is now the longest running Bitcoin conference in the world.

People talk a lot about how fun LaBitConf is. Can you explain that?

We have a motto, it's not just a conference, it's an experience. We focus heavily on culture around the event, things like a carnival parade through the streets with police escorts, rafting in Chile, visiting a church inside a salt mine in Colombia. It's not about doing business at a table, it's about building real relationships and intimacy with people that can lead to business later.

How are you capturing that in-person energy for the virtual December event?

We understood we can't fully replicate the offline experience, so instead of trying, we built a different online experience entirely, themed around a moon setting, with a party on the moon. It runs December 7th to 11th, with an English track for the core Bitcoin community featuring names like Max Keiser, and a separate Spanish track covering more introductory and technical topics.