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Burning Man Accepts Bitcoin for Their Desert Spectacular That Your Stereotypes Are All Wrong About

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Clay Michael Gillespie
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In a world where the bitcoin community wants bitcoin accepted worldwide, the bitcoin community should expect bitcoin accepted by everyone. Burning Man, a popular festival in the deserts of Nevada, is accepting donations in bitcoin this year toward their non-profit organization. After accepting bitcoin through Coinbase, Burning Man urged their following to utilize bitcoin because of its self-reliance factors, as well as the overall communal effort associated with the blockchain.

“Donations will help provide more grants, training and support to creators of radically interactive art and events on and off the playa, fund civic programs, teach communities the power of collaboration, strengthen our infrastructure and make the Burning Man experience accessible year-round,” said CEO Marian Goodell. “Accepting Bitcoin for donations is an experimental first step. We plan to explore other possibilities in the future, including expanding Bitcoin to the ticket-buying process.”

Donations to the organization will help their cause, but most people view Burning Man as a stoner-party in the desert, secretly funded in drugs from the Silk Road.

Then again, now that the Silk Road is down how else will dirty desert hippies get their drugs? Well, believe it or not, Burning Man isn’t the stereotype that most people think it is.

Burning Man is Radically Different Than Speculators Believe

When thinking of Burning Man, most people think of dirty hippies and vagabonds combing the desert in search of free acid. It’s a stereotype that’s honestly been carried since Woodstock took place decades ago. Unfortunately for those that think Burning Man is a stoner-party, they couldn’t be more wrong.

Burning Man over the years has come to be a mecca for tech-savvy, futuristic people. According to Chris Taylor, who wrote an opinion article over the topic this year for Mashable , the Burning Man festival has always been ruled by the tech-savvy.

“Who thrives in that environment? People who are a little bit crazy, quite a bit determined, and a whole lot of wiry and smart. People with an Iggy Pop-style lust for life. Here are punks of all stripes: cyberpunks, steampunks, biker punks, punk punks. People who do what it says on the ticket — voluntarily assume the risk of death. People who are brought roaringly to life in this killer of a desert, and fight fiercely to build an all-inclusive volunteer-driven civilization that lasts for as long as a mayfly.”

Taylor has been attending Burning Man off and on since 1999 and finally got fed up with the stereotype that the festival was just a bunch of screw-ups in the desert. According to him, Burning Man has always been on the brink of technology, always looking for the latest innovations. In fact, it almost makes perfect sense that their acceptance of Bitcoin romanticizes the culture surrounding the currency.

Burning Man isn’t the party people assume it is. Yes, punks risk their life in the desert for an almost tribe-like, temporary community. But it seems to be something much more than that. In fact, uptight people might want to give a chance.

After all, we all live in this world together; maybe some understanding and radical ideas could change the course of this ship for the better.

Images from Wikipedia and Shutterstock.