The owners of the South Florida venue have calmed down pesky crypto-entrepreneurs who spend a lot of time in Miami nightclubs, handing patrons cash while ordering “champagne baths” and singing along to rappers like 50 Cent.
The sudden collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the devaluation of digital coins have left Miami nightclub owners longing for the days when young entrepreneurs flocked to venues like E11even and its neon lights, trapeze dancers and burlesque shows.
“They would order 12 or 24 bottles of the most expensive champagne and even shower without drinking,” Andrea Vimercati, director of food and beverage at the Moxy Hotel group, told the Financial Times. “[The crypto entrepreneurs] they wanted to show that they have no limits.”
Vimercati recalled that a year ago, the cryptocurrency boom caused a wave of mostly young men in Miami to show off their newfound wealth.
“Unfortunately, all these crypto guys started coming down and spending a lot of money — like, crazy amounts of money,” he said.
“They were booking tables for $50,000 and they were like, ‘Who are these people?’
Vimercati described the crowd as “95% men, young … with a kind of elegant style.”
“You couldn’t tell they had a lot of money if they were just walking around,” he said.
Gino LoPinto, an operating partner at Miami hotspot E11even, told the FT that a group of crypto businessmen entered the club in June last year to celebrate what they claimed was a successful sale of their company.
“50 Cent was performing and their expenses were over a million dollars,” LoPinto told the FT. “They paid in cryptocurrency.”
LoPinto added, “They brought out the champagne tubs and gave 50 Cent a bunch of cash to throw around.”
In April last year, E11even started accepting cryptocurrency payments. LoPinto said that the club carried out 6 million dollars of operations between April and December last year.
However, in the last three months, the club has taken only $10,000.
LoPinto said that crypto entrepreneurs would brag about their wealth by showing each other their digital wallets.
“You wouldn’t normally show your bank account, but people are showing their crypto wallets,” he said.
“I’ve seen more crypto wallets in one year than I’ve seen bank accounts in a lifetime.”
Cryptocurrencies haven’t been ringing for the past year. Instead, they’re licking their wounds along with an entire industry rocked by the implosion of FTX, the exchange founded by the disgraced Sam Bankman-Fried.
FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month after it was learned that Bankman-Fried used client funds to make risky bets through sister firm Alameda Research.
FTX’s collapse came as a shock, given that the famous company, which includes Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Larry David, Steph Curry and others, was worth $32 billion at one point.
BlockFi, another cryptocurrency company in talks to be acquired by FTX, filed for Chapter 11 in federal bankruptcy court in New Jersey on Monday.
The news brought down the value of the vast majority of cryptocurrencies. As of 11:19 a.m. ET, bitcoin was down about 3% and ethereum was down more than 4.8%.
According to CoinMarketCap.com, the global market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies in circulation was valued at $814.55 billion on Monday, down 3.5% from the previous day.