Bitcoin bros really go viral

RATHER than any virtual computer virus, some techies who attended last week’s packed Bitcoin conference are battling the real thing.

Several cryptocurrency enthusiasts have tweeted that they tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the Miami gathering.

The event — which drew 12,000 people to see panels featuring everyone from Twitter’s Jack Dorsey to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez — took place at the Mana Wynwood Convention Center. There were also a number of blowout parties tied to the conference that appeared to be mostly mask-free with no vaccine requirements.

“Everyone I hung out with in Miami got COVID,” tweeted an employee at crypto Web site Block.

“Looks like I’m joining the BTC Covid list,” said another, using the shorthand for Bitcoin.

“I literally just assumed everyone was vaccinated,” an attendee told us. “If you are smart enough to make the money to afford a $1,500 ticket and pay the super high hotel price, you should be able to figure out how to get vaxxed.”

Suarez commented to Page Six, “My office has been made aware of a number of unconfirmed tweets about people contracting COVID-19 during last weekend’s Bitcoin 2021 conference. Based on public data from hospitals and other watchdogs, we have no reason to believe the conference was a ‘superspreader’ [event].” He also told the Miami Herald: “At this point, with the information we know, this characterization of the event is not only unfair but also irresponsible — Miami played host to over 50,000 people throughout the weekend while the conference sold 12,000 tickets.”

Reps for Bitcoin Magazine, which ran the event, told Vice, “Vaccines have been freely available for months in the US, to the extent that anyone who wanted to be vaccinated could do so by the time of the event. Because the vaccine is effective, the US has been able to begin to open back up with live sports, concerts and events.”