Afroman Is Back—and He’s Bitcoin’s Latest Freedom Fighter

Don Juan continues to extoll Foreman’s virtues. “He's electrifying right now. He wants something new, you know what I mean? And he's not just a rapper, he's a strong personality,” Don Juan says. “Afroman for president, and it’s not impossible.”

“I guarantee you this,” Foreman says. “If I was, everything would be alright.”

For three days, the massive conference floor fills up with booths advertising bitcoin-mining data centers. Men in suits mingle with dudes wearing sailor hats and bitcoin-logo face masks. In a far corner, a large afro peeks out from the crowd: It’s a mannequin wearing Foreman’s signature hairstyle, standing next to a glass case containing Foreman-signed rolling papers, a used ashtray, and his face on a dollar bill.

These are all items put up for auction by the bitcoin auction house Scarce City, which specializes in bitcoin memorabilia like old issues of Bitcoin Magazine and a harmonica set played by bitcoin booster and antivirus software pioneer John McAfee. Last year, when Ulbricht spoke at the conference, Scarce City auctioned three of his prison ID cards and sneakers. After a bidding war, one card went for 5.5 (in bitcoin), or around $371,000.

Sam Kimbrow, Scarce City’s general manager, says she followed Foreman’s trial and reached out in January to ask about auctioning off some of his items to help with his legal fees, including the iconic American flag suit he wore to trial. The 40-year-old calls amassing this collection “a millennial’s dream,” and she wants to share its significance with the “younger generation” who “need to see that artists fight for those kinds of rights.”

“We're really focused on freedom and self-sovereignty,” she says. “Afroman is literally a modern-day freedom fighter.”

When the auction closes, the suit sells for the equivalent of roughly $4,000. The ashtray sells for around $230 in bitcoin, and nobody buys the rolling papers.

The outcome didn’t really affect Foreman’s bottom line. He says he was paid “a lump sum” (though he wouldn’t disclose how much) to attend the conference and do “a whole bunch of different things” over his three days in Vegas. But he makes his primary reason for attending clear: “They said, ‘Afroman! Moneeeey!’”

On the final day of the conference, an hour before Foreman is due to hit the main stage, he sits down for an onstage interview before an elite audience of attendees who paid $12,999 for something called a Whale Pass. The session is locked down, and most press aren't allowed in. Foreman's interviewer is Tracy Hoyos-Lopez, the head of strategic initiatives at the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, who is most widely known for helping get Trump into bitcoin. The 60 or so seats fill up fast.

“I'm accustomed to the police assuming I'm a criminal. I'm patient, and I wait for them to realize I'm not,” Foreman says, responding to a question about what was going through his mind as cops raided his home.

“With your freedom of speech, you can acknowledge corruption. Then after you acknowledge it, you can address it. After you address it, you can possibly solve it,” Foreman continues. “Hopefully, it'll make a whole bunch of money to the point where I'm happy the raid happened.”