A Bitcoin mining company organized a fake protest at a major New York blockchain conference

It's difficult to stand out in the often bonkers world of cryptocurrency.

With all the scams, hacks, and animated dancing coins, it can be really hard to break through the noise and into the public's consciousness with your surely revolutionary tech. That's where the fake protest comes in.

As the 2018 Consensus blockchain conference kicked off today in Midtown Manhattan, one bitcoin mining company apparently decided that the best way to make a splash was with a few shouts. As the event was getting started, a group of people could be found marching in front of the hotel hosting the 8,500-person-strong gathering. They chanted slogans like "hey hey, ho ho, Bitcoin has got to go," and held signs informing anyone who passed by that "paper checks use less electricity!"

And, as things often go in the world of Bitcoin, everything was not as it seemed.

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The "protest" was ostensibly organized by a group calling itself Bankers Against Bitcoin, which, as you have probably guessed, is not a 100-percent real protest group. It does have real backing, though. Specifically, that of Bitcoin mining company Genesis Mining.

Importantly, it's not like Genesis Mining is trying to hide it. As the organizer's website explains, the company wants everyone to get on the cryptocurrency rocket ship before it's too late.

"This protest is representative of what will happen to those industries and companies that fail to understand times have changed," explained Genesis Mining CEO Marco Streng on the Bankers Against Bitcoin website. "The consumer abuse that’s been possible due to a lack of competition is over. The biggest competitor big banks have ever faced has arrived and it’s not a company or organization, it’s a decentralized technology."

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And Genesis Mining is here to help you avoid the soon-to-be grisly fate of the big banks with a "small," "medium," or "large" mining package for the low cost of $1,520, $4,440, or $12,960, respectively.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

We reached out to Genesis Mining with the hope of getting a little more background info on what appears to be, in effect, a well executed publicity stunt. Were the protesters, for example, paid? Unfortunately we don't know, as we didn't hear back as of press time.

But that shouldn't surprise anyone. After all, when it comes to making it in the world of cryptocurrency, simply grabbing headlines is often good enough.