Devcon has at all times been a dwelling reflection of Ethereum’s development, challenges, and group ambitions. It showcases probably the most urgent subjects, the latest improvements, and the individuals constructing the way forward for decentralized expertise. As Ethereum grows, so too does Devcon.

Two years in the past, proper earlier than Devcon VI in Bogotá, the Merge took Ethereum’s consensus from proof of labor to proof of stake. Devcon VI centered not solely on the achievement of this milestone, but in addition on the subsequent improvements: early Layer-2 growth, the introduction of Account Abstraction (AA), and the rise of zero data proofs (ZKPs) as an enlargement of Ethereum.

Quick ahead to right now, Devcon SEA celebrated the ecosystem’s readiness to tackle the subsequent large challenges. The content material demonstrated how far Ethereum has come, how Ethereum’s L1 and L2s have superior, how UX is bettering, and the way second-generation cryptographic primitives are enabling new sorts of purposes. The tone has shifted from addressing foundational challenges to leveraging Ethereum for real-world influence.

On this weblog put up, we’ll discover how Ethereum has grown since Devcon VI, what the important thing outcomes of Devcon SEA are, which challenges stay, and how one can contribute in order that we will rejoice the subsequent chapter of Ethereum once we meet for Devcon once more.

Trying again to Devcon VI: How far we have now come

Setting the stage, let’s mirror on the place we had been simply two years in the past: Devcon VI was held in Bogotá, Colombia, in October 2022. It introduced the Ethereum group collectively to handle key technical and governance challenges. On the time, the Merge had simply occurred, and the occasion mirrored the celebration of this transformative milestone and centered on rising progressive applied sciences.

Devcon VI launched main themes for the primary time, and phrases that many hadn’t been aware of again then:

• Zero Information Proofs had been launched to a lot of the Ethereum ecosystem. They had been simply turning into sensible and folks began to know their capabilities. There was no point out but of different cryptographic primitives like Absolutely Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) or Multi-Social gathering Computation (MPC).
• Account Abstraction was new and simply introduced. Most individuals hadn’t heard of EIP-4337, which hadn’t been carried out at the moment.
• The Layer 2 ecosystem was in its early phases with only some distinguished L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism, and the L2-centric roadmap was kicked off.
• Staking infrastructure was nascent and there have been nonetheless uncertainties, with staking withdrawals not but enabled.
• Censorship resistance, whereas an outdated subject, was on everybody’s thoughts with discussions round OFAC compliance and Twister Money sanctions

Devcon SEA: Ethereum’s infrastructure is prepared, now it’s time for influence

Devcon SEA was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November of 2024. Attendance doubled in comparison with Devcon VI (12,500 vs 6,000 attendees), demonstrating Ethereum’s development and group energy. One main objective of Devcon SEA was to deliver your entire Ethereum ecosystem collectively in a single place, foster collaboration, and cross-pollination, and realign the group to enhance Ethereum for actual use circumstances and influence on the world.

Since Devcon VI, the continued use of PoS plus different upgrades like Shanghai and Shapella have decreased power use, fuel charges, and improved UX. The L2 panorama has expanded, with whole worth locked in Ethereum L2 networks surpassing $51.5 billion, a 205$16.6 billion in November 2023. Ethereum’s integration of ZKPs has superior, and we now see extra real-world use circumstances, with DeFi and stablecoins maturing, and gaming, digital identification, quadratic funding, and prediction markets rising.

However over the previous two years, the Ethereum group has additionally debated its path and priorities. Whereas Layer 2s are key for scaling, the rise of latest L2s launched various subcultures, sparking discussions about learn how to keep unity. Many known as for a return to Ethereum’s cypherpunk roots, specializing in privateness, decentralization, and credible neutrality – values that some felt had been overshadowed by viewing Ethereum as a product quite than a protocol. There was a shared urgency to realign on a unified objective.

Devcon SEA aimed to handle these debates by inviting the very best within the ecosystem to share their insights on probably the most related subjects. Over 300 hours of content material from ecosystem consultants, 17 Neighborhood Hubs organized by the group, 70 Impression Areas, and hundreds of conversations in between periods had been held within the lengthy hallways.

Devcon SEA sparked conversations about probably the most urgent challenges for Ethereum, controversies in addition to achievements, and a few large bulletins had been made too. Justin Drake outlined his imaginative and prescient of a Beam Chain, and the Argot Collective, which is a brand new group embodying lots of our shared values of Ethereum, launched itself.

Learn on to find the main outcomes of Devcon SEA, and which talks it’s best to watch to stand up to hurry if you wish to contribute to the remaining challenges throughout the respective subjects.

Ethereum has scaled and Layer 2s are web constructive for Ethereum

Proto-danksharding, EIP-4844, blobs, and the roll-up centric roadmap – The scaling options highlighted at Devcon SEA confirmed how far Ethereum has come. Layer 2s, that are scaling Ethereum, see actual adoption. Each day person exercise has exploded in measurement, and the whole worth locked is rising steadily. We’ve low charges, and you may ship 1, 100, or 1 million {dollars} for lower than a cent. All L2s are and shall be secured by the Ethereum L1 Mainnet, which is sturdy and safe with over 1 million validators and has by no means gone down since its launch in 2015.

There’s nonetheless a lot to do to appreciate the rollup-centric roadmap, cut back fragmentation, and improve safety. Watch the under talks to determine learn how to contribute to fixing these challenges for Ethereum’s subsequent chapter:

Ethereum is cypherpunk

Devcon SEA reminded us why we’re right here, and why we’re constructing a decentralized future, specializing in values like credible neutrality, privateness, censorship resistance, open entry, and a cooperative mindset. Devcon SEA had a full programming observe devoted to this philosophy, and the Hacktivism Hub, organized by the group.

Talks to observe to maintain up with the cypherpunk manifesto:

Aside from cypherpunk values, philosophy and ethos performed a giant function at Devcon SEA. With Aya Miyaguchi, the manager director of the Ethereum Basis, increasing on the philosophy of subtraction along with her discuss “Redefining boundaries within the infinite backyard,” explaining how the Ethereum Basis works, and a full programming day devoted to d/acc (defensive acceleration), the philosophy first launched by Vitalik Buterin, specializing in Ethereum as a defensive expertise, accompanied by talks about biodefense, decentralized AI, neurotech, and public epistemics.

UX is preparing for mass adoption

ERC 4337, ERC 7683, EIP 7702, ERC 3668 are just some examples of how Ethereum is turning into prepared for customers. Fuel charges are low, UX is bettering, and Devcon SEA made us excited for Ethereum feeling like one chain once more. The group organized the Account Abstraction and Adoption Hubs and lots of talks had been centered on making Ethereum approachable to mainstream audiences.

Social restoration is simply the beginning. Watch the under talks to be taught how one can contribute to bettering Ethereum’s UX, particularly for those who’re growing a rollup or a pockets, to get on velocity with current developments in UX and Account Abstraction:

The time for real-world purposes is now

Ethereum is for customers, and the app ecosystem has by no means been stronger than right now, although nonetheless, we’re simply tapping into Ethereum’s prospects for real-world purposes. Ethereum is made for a lot of issues, and it’s a multi-purpose platform.

Ethereum is dwelling to its most mature use circumstances: DeFi and stablecoins. DeFi is monetary providers and instruments constructed on Ethereum that everybody on the planet has entry to and that give individuals better management over their cash. Ethereum has lots of of groups engaged on DeFi protocols. Stablecoins, too, give each human the liberty to transact and ship worth anyplace on the planet.

Ethereum can also be the place new use circumstances occur and new issues are being invented, it’s “the place concepts enter manufacturing” (Josh Stark). We’ve decentralized social platforms, on-chain video games, digital identification with ENS, Anon Adhaar, and zk passport, real-world infrastructure, quadratic funding with Gitcoin and clr.fund, and prediction markets like Polymarket.

In case you had been questioning what are the apps which are at the moment being constructed on Ethereum, or for those who want inspiration to construct extra dapps, listed here are some talks to observe:

Economics of Ethereum and ETH

The discussions at Devcon SEA reaffirmed the non-speculative worth of Ethereum and ETH within the digital economic system, with its sound financial ideas, sturdy incentives and alignment with long-term targets for decentralized ecosystems.

Talks to observe:

Second-generation cryptography allows new sorts of purposes

Devcon SEA featured hundreds of cryptographic plushy frogs, distributed by the 0xPARC staff across the Frogcrypto Hub. Attendees collected frogs, and each time they scanned the QR code, they acquired a provable object knowledge (POD). Every Devcon ticket was a POD inside Zupass, an software that permits customers to securely retailer and handle Proof-Carrying Knowledge (PCD). These cryptographic ideas have been theoretical for a few years and are lastly turning into potential, and mixed with Ethereum, we at the moment are capable of construct purposes that had been by no means potential earlier than. Whereas at Devcon VI solely ZKPs had been on everybody’s lips, as of very current a brand new technology of cryptographic primitives like FHE and MPC are getting used to create decentralized, privacy-preserving computation and interoperability, unlocking progressive and sophisticated use circumstances for Ethereum-based client purposes.

We’re solely now realizing how a lot is feasible with second-generation cryptographic primitives and prospects are extending our creativeness. We want extra individuals constructing and mixing ZKPs, second-gen crypto and Ethereum. If you wish to try this, watch:

Ethereum is frontier tech

Devcon SEA was additionally a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, the place Ethereum was mentioned alongside different frontier applied sciences and within the context of the way forward for our society.

These periods highlighted Ethereum’s potential to encourage and combine with broader technological and societal challenges:

The Ethereum group is robust and international

The Ethereum group isn’t solely rising, it’s increasing globally: At Devcon SEA, we welcomed 12,500 attendees with 60% experiencing their first-ever Devcon. Individuals represented 135 nations, making this probably the most international and various Devcon thus far.

The Ethereum group isn’t solely various in nationalities and ethnicities – the pursuits, identities, and focus areas are manifold with builders, protocol researchers, stakers, degens, regens, activists, artists, educators, and lots of extra being a part of the Ethereum group.
Devcon SEA featured 17 Neighborhood Hubs, from the DeSci Hub, International Majority Hub, and Onchain Creators Hub, to the Governance Geeks Hub, these had been manifestations of the range and methods to become involved within the Ethereum group. The Neighborhood Gardeners Hub centered on Ethereum group builders from all around the globe. In 2024, 73 native Ethereum occasions in 44 nations had been organized across the globe. Our group is decentralized and international, as Ethereum itself.

Now’s your likelihood to form the way forward for Ethereum forward to Devcon 8

Devcon SEA was not only a snapshot of the place Ethereum stands right now, it provides a imaginative and prescient of the place it might go tomorrow. Devcon SEA confirmed how Ethereum is bringing concepts into motion, and each participant carries the teachings discovered at Devcon to proceed spreading the phrase and advancing Ethereum’s mission. And who is aware of, the subsequent particular person to influence the way forward for Ethereum might have first discovered about it at Devcon SEA.

Devcon SEA photographs and sources

• Discover photographs from Devcon SEA right here.
• You may search and watch all talks within the Devcon Passport app.
• DEVAi is on the market to reply all Devcon-related questions, and can quickly have entry to all discuss transcripts. You may already get summaries of all talks within the Passport app.
• Wish to share extra insights about Devcon talks? Go to the Devcon Collab Portal.

What’s subsequent?

Tl;dr:

• Devconnect 2025
• Devcon 2026

Devconnect is the opposite, utterly completely different occasion that the Ethereum Basis organizes. Whereas Devcon is the massive occasion that brings everybody collectively in a single venue, Devconnect is extra decentralized. Devconnect contains many various occasions, centered on completely different Ethereum subjects, organized by consultants in these fields. Devconnect is the time to go deep into the subject you’re most aware of or need to grow to be an skilled in, and be part of day-long occasions centered on that area.

The place will Devconnect 2025 and Devcon 8 happen? You’ll need to attend just a bit bit longer to seek out that out, and within the meantime, you may create your proposal for Devcon, Devconnect, or different Ethereum occasions to happen in your metropolis.

Till subsequent time, xoxo

Deva the Devcon Unicorn & the Devcon staff