LA’s third Satoshi Square was marked by an increase in media attention and an influx of first-time attendees seeking to better understand all types of cryptocurrency, not just bitcoin, event organizers say.

Held Tuesday 21st January from 18:30 to 20:00 [PST] at Grand Park, a 12-acre public space in the city’s center, the event garnered roughly 50 visitors, as well as attention from the local KNBC news team.

Satoshi Squares, such as London’s most recent inaugural event, were conceived as a way to initiate newcomers to bitcoin, while allowing an in-person trading platform for established users.

Perhaps most notable about this Satoshi Square is that the uptick in attendance was observed even though the event was competing against other tech gatherings attended by the area’s long-time supporters.

Pinguino Kolb, the event’s lead organizer and a member of local bitcoin advocacy group Spelunk.in, described the scene to CoinDesk:

“Most people don’t usually show up at the very beginning. Usually, you get there at 18:30 and there’s maybe only six people sitting around, but this time a big crowd was there. At this one, it was all brand-new people who had never been there before.”

Embracing altcoins

A potential contributor to the rise in attendance was the fact that this Satoshi Square was open to all those who wanted to trade altcoins for the first time. Kolb indicated that her group had shied away from inviting altcoin users in the past because the event’s app did not support altcoin trades.

This time, however, organizers chose to forego the official Satoshi Square app developed by Josh Rossi and invite other cryptocurrency supporters.

The result was that this Satoshi Square was frequented by altcoin miners and dogecoin users, and featured “a lot of discussion about altcoin”, Kolb said.

Kolb suggested uncertainty over whether other Satoshi Squares were highlighting altcoin also held back this decision.

Attendance rises, trading falls

Kolb noted that because of the rise in first-time attendees, trading was down at the event compared to previous meetings. Instead of using the app, organizers adopted a less high-tech way for traders to signal each other, using physical flags to alert attendees when someone was looking to buy or sell.

The meetup comes six months after LA’s first Satoshi Square event held on 12th June in Grand Park. The inaugural LA Satoshi Square spawned eight trades, with about 4.33 BTC changing hands, according to a Spelunk.in blog post.

Kolb said the group is looking to continue developing its community presence in both the bitcoin and altcoin communities at its next event on 18th February.

LA Satoshi Square image via Flickr