I was in Las Vegas near the end of July to attend DefCon, but did not visit Pirate, nor were there any speeches at DefCon about bitcoin. I am pretty sure the Pirate meeting didn't take place at the DefCon venue, as one bitcoiner I met couldn't enter the DefCon venue because he was in Vegas "to see Pirate" rather than attend DefCon and didn't buy a badge.
The Pirate meeting was at New York New York. I was the guy who met Casascius and could not get in. I had to meet him at a Chinese restaurant near by and he was nice and bought me lunch. I'm pretty sure Pirate did not go to DefCon but could have. I did not spend much time with Pirate other than that dinner and that night after.
lol
.I know who was the first guy to lend to Pirate and might be able to ask him when it started but I'm thinking June-Aug 2011.
Please do, having accurate information helps.
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