EthDenver 2023: A Global Developer Conference and Insights into New Trends

I just concluded a week-long trip to EthDenver, and this event left a deep impression on me. Here are some of my personal feelings and observations on new trends from this conference.

Overall, the atmosphere and scale of EthDenver far exceed other industry conferences such as Consensus and Token2049.

1. Global Developer Culture

According to statistics, this year's EthDenver attracted about 35,000 participants, including 7,500 hackers. Even in hotels located a 15-minute drive from downtown, attendees could be seen everywhere. Among the participants, the ratio of project teams to venture capitalists was about 5:1. Besides the United States, project teams from China, Canada, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Europe made up a significant proportion. Many portfolio companies from Europe and the United States also took this opportunity for face-to-face communication. In the field of venture capital, most active first- and second-tier funds sent representatives to attend, especially some European capitals that usually make fewer appearances also showed up at the venue.

The unique developer culture at EthDenver fills the entire event with a crypto-native atmosphere. Meetings with project teams often involve sitting down directly, showcasing demonstrations on-site, and diving deep into product details within 30 minutes. This atmosphere inevitably brings back memories of the feeling when I first entered the industry in 2017.

2. Efficient Meeting Strategies

As a venture capital institution, our main goal is to discover high-quality projects. In the face of numerous activities, the most effective approach is to participate in small events and conduct targeted searches.

Small events typically include breakfast meetings, seminars, and parties with a scale of 20-100 participants. Some high-quality events that participated this time include Meet the VC Brekky, Fabric/SevenX Joint Brunch, zkNight After Party, MIT Alumni Founders Lunch, Cosmos on Tap, IOSG Friends Reunion, and Founders Club Launch Ceremony. These events provide many opportunities for efficient dialogue and important networking.

Targeted searches have been regarded as the most effective way of crypto socializing over the past five years. Before the conference, the team spent two days researching the project backgrounds of sub-forums such as ZK Day and StarkDenver, and then arranged targeted one-on-one coffee talks. By the end of the week, we had filtered out more than 20 potential early-stage projects, and these new innovations greatly inspired us.

3. Popular Tracks and Emerging Trends

EthDenver has set up multiple venues covering areas such as infrastructure, DeFi, DAO, NFT, and public goods.

ZK technology

ZK (Zero-Knowledge Proof) technology is the focus of this conference, and various tracks have made rapid progress in this field:

1. Infrastructure projects are beginning to experiment with ZK technology optimization, such as the new cross-chain consensus mechanism transmission scheme proposed by Succinct Labs, and the innovation of Hyper Oracle combining zkWASM technology.

2. Well-known zkEVM/zkVM Layer 2 networks and native ZK Layer 1 networks are showcasing their latest developments, such as certain trading platforms, Scroll, Manta Network, and Aleo.

3. In terms of ZK core service metrics, there have been some hardware acceleration projects, such as Cysic and Ingonyama.

4. Full-chain games based on certain DEX technology stacks, such as Topology, have begun to emerge.

5. Modular blockchain execution layer service providers like Sovereign Labs are developing SDKs for ZK version Rollups.

6. ZK continues to give rise to DID-related projects at the application level, including the underlying technology stack Semaphore under the Ethereum Foundation, as well as user-oriented Axiom and others.

Account Abstraction (AA)

Account abstraction has been widely discussed, yet it remains a hot topic. With the advancement of the EIP-4337 proposal, more and more projects are beginning to focus on core concepts such as Bundler, UserOperation, and EntryPoint. The development of AA will pave the way for improving user experiences, enabling gasless transactions, and facilitating social recovery features.

Existing EOA wallets are also actively embracing AA technology, continuously optimizing in terms of fund security, deposits and withdrawals, user experience, and multi-chain support. Overall, the improvement of AA will open the door for a large number of Web2 users to enter the Web3 world, making it an important track in this new cycle.

Social and AI

In the social field, new applications are breaking through traditional models. After experiencing the social boom over the past two years, this year's projects focus more on how to create exclusive social products for Web3 users. Potential breakthrough points may come from DID-based membership systems, the integration of payment and information, and the fusion of fan economy.

Surprisingly, some projects founded by experienced AI practitioners also made their debut at the venue. Most of these projects are based on OpenAI's open-source algorithms and focus on the integration of on-chain data, AI, and smart funds, such as complex contract operations like flash loans through natural language, as well as features like MEV resistance. This is undoubtedly a significant breakthrough for the algorithm-driven "dark forest" of cryptocurrency.

With the gradual improvement of Layer 2 networks and other infrastructure, the new cycle that begins in 2023 will focus more on the application layer. We expect to see more innovations in the fields of gaming and social interaction, with closer connections to the real world.

4. The Rise of Chinese Entrepreneurs

At this year's EthDenver conference, Chinese projects accounted for about 20%, far exceeding those from India, and comparable to those from Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. Overall, the backgrounds of the founders have significantly improved compared to 2020, especially in the application layer field.

The excellent Chinese founding teams can be mainly divided into two categories:

1. New entrepreneurs who have experience working in large Web2 companies or have successfully started their own ventures, and have a deep understanding of the crypto space. This type of entrepreneur has emerged in large numbers since the end of 2021 and possesses an advantage in product development and iteration.

2. Founders who have studied and worked abroad for a long time and are familiar with the English-speaking world mainly come from New York, Los Angeles, and the Bay Area. These entrepreneurs have an advantage in business development and financing, and they do not face disadvantages when obtaining overseas funding.

Overall, with the significant improvement in the background of Chinese entrepreneurs and the booming development of the application layer, it will become a compulsory course for every practitioner to have a long-term optimistic view of Chinese projects.

In 2022, the entire industry experienced a double blow from market downturns and the pandemic, leading to a generally low mood. EthDenver served as a pool that gathered global strength, where innovative waves from around the world converged. Chinese entrepreneurs traveled globally, with new forces continuously emerging, injecting new vitality and hope into the industry.