Lamborghinis lined the street outside a massive NYC cryptocurrency conference, but it turns out they were only staged rentals

• Lamborghinis were spotted parked outside New York's blockchain conference Consensus this week.
• Cryptocurrency enthusiasts (and others) have long revered the Lamborghini as an aspirational symbol of wealth.
• But it turns out that the Lamborghinis in question didn't actually belong to any of the attendees: They were staged rentals.

Lamborghinis have long been an aspirational symbol within the cryptocurrency community. As such, it made sense that several of the coveted Italian sports cars would make an appearance this week outside Consensus, New York's massive blockchain conference.

Onlookers first posted photos to Twitter of three gleaming Lamborghinis parked outside the Hilton Midtown Hotel in Manhattan early Monday morning. But, as it turns out, the cars don't actually belong to any of the attendees.

Bloomberg reports the cars had been rented by the cryptocurrency exchange BitMex, and it's speculated that the company paid around $1,000 apiece for the flashy stunts. 

The staged Lambos weren't the only part of Consensus that was fake, either. A group of bankers protesting cryptocurrencies also turned out to be a marketing stunt for a mining company.  

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