ETHDenver returns to bridge the gap between innovation and user-centricity for web3

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January 30, 2024, Denver, CO – ETHDenver, the world’s largest annual Web3 Community Innovation Festival returns for its 7th year from 29 February to 3 March 2024 at the National Western Complex, Denver, Colorado to drive key conversations in web3 and crypto innovation with a focus on setting new standards for strong user experience to onboard the next million users.

“Ethereum and web3’s potential in 2024 is boundless. Confidence is evidently returning to the market as we’re seeing consistent growth in user activity and decisive actions by regulators and institutions. What we now need is a renewed focus on improving user experience (UX) and Ethereum’s original ethos which will pave the way for adoption to take place. By uniting the global Ethereum community, ETHDenver will be that meeting point for new ideas and standards to be set for the industry,” said John Paller, Founder and Executive Steward of ETHDenver.

The festival anticipates over 20,000 attendees and will feature 600 speakers including Hester Peirce, Commissioner of US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on US crypto policy and regulations, Li Jin, Co-Founder and General Partner at Variant on DeFi lending, Jesse Pollak, creator of Base on the future of CeDeFi, Christine Kim, VP of Research of Galaxy on value accrual from L1 to L2, and Nick White, COO of Celestia on data availability.

The event also features the #BUIDLathon, the industry’s largest hackathon, offering $1 million in Web3 bounties this year. #BUIDLers will team up in groups of two to four and have up to nine days to bring their unique Web3 ideas to life, with 24/7 support from peers, mentors, stewards, and sponsors.

Vitalik’s recent blog post called the community’s attention back to the basics of decentralization as adoption remains low while existing activity occurs mostly on centralized platforms and ETHDenver will be the place for these discussions to happen.

While the ETHDenver stages will be the platform for developers to tackle technical issues like the blockchain trilemma (security, scalability, speed), a meaningful shift must be made toward creating user-friendly products.

“Innovations in Ethereum, including ENS, ERC-721 (enabling NFTs), The Merge, L2 solutions, and rollups will empower the next generation to transact on-chain. In the face of these advancements, the community should return to our roots by focusing on UX and inspiring new ideas at this year’s event. Our goal is for developments such as proto-danksharding, which have been conceived at ETHDenver, to be one of the many innovations that play an important role in the adoption of web3 by millions,” said John Paller.

The Colorado state government which pioneered openness to blockchain has created a framework for technology-driven governance with initiatives such as crypto tax payments and myColorado Digital ID. The government has also made Colorado a legal formation gateway for DAOs to have legal infrastructure in the United States through the Limited Cooperative Association (LCA). SporkDAO, a DAO that owns ETHDenver, utilizes the LCA’s legal framework. The framework’s principles are aligned with the ethos of DAO governance, making Colorado a beacon for Web3 protocols, dApps, and platforms.

“Colorado is not just adopting blockchain technology; we are leading its integration into government, setting a model for others to follow. This is just the beginning of our journey towards a more secure, transparent, and efficient future,” Gov. Jared Polis has said.

Other notable festival speakers include Sam Kazemian, Founder of FRAX Finance, Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol; Jordi Baylina, Technical Lead of Polygon; Erik Anderson, President of FaZe Clan; and Juan Benet, Founder, CEO & Engineer of Filecoin.

Presenting sponsored projects at ETHDenver include Opolis, MetisDAO Foundation, and SevenX Ventures.

The event will run both in-person and virtually, ensuring accessibility for all. The physical event is free to attend, offering a diverse range of community-building activities, educational opportunities, and networking events.

SPORKDAO, ETHDenver’s DAO since 2019, is actively integrating conferences into the community-owned ecosystem.

Other sponsors include Chronicle Labs, Story Protocol, Chainlink Labs, flat.money, Zetachain, XDC Foundation, Zircuit, 0x, Hedera, API3 DAO, Lorenzo Protocol, LUKSO, Filecoin, Union.fi, Kontos, NEAR, Beam by Eco, and Polkadot.

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