web3 Product Design Studio Little Nice Things at ETH Denver 2023
Bear market? Not for the builders.
From Games to NFTs, from DeFi to DAOs, you name it. Last month different tribes came together for good vibes in an eclectic event. Please read below our experience and some of our learnings…
Within the conference, a meaningful inner event was The Schelling Point, where smart and positive people gathered.
Talks to highlight:
“How Crypto Protocols Impact our Psychology”
By David Hoffman from bankless
Talking about Social Structures.
And remember: Being “bankless” = Being responsible
After all “It’s all about Human Coordination”.
web3 is the Ultimate coordination powertool as highlighted by Kevin Owocki.
An Antidote to Big Tech’s Harms:
Equitable Ownership and Governance in the Online Economy.
Drips, crowdfunding for the open web. Web3 patreon to support public goods. Devs can create profiles and raise funds. Supporters can donate to projects and devs they love. Beta.drips.network
The question remains:
Shall we Get Greenpilled?
Is ReFi the new DeFi? Is Regen the new Degen?
It is definitely time to build a more solarpunk future.
It’s time to Regenerate our souls and do good.
“DoingGud until every expression of human creativity builds a better world.” Words of wisdom and hope inspired us all at Impact Hub.
Designers certainly play an important role in this positive mission.
Beyond the conference, ETH Denver is known by its productive hackathon and this year didn’t disappoint.
The hackathon brought together developers, entrepreneurs and designers to showcase their innovative projects in different tracks including the world of decentralized finance (DeFi) which is growing at an unprecedented pace.
The event saw a diverse range of projects that aimed to transform traditional finance and create a more inclusive financial system.
Our Founder had the honour to be one of the judges of the DeFi track.
Congrats to the Top 3 hackathon DeFi winners:
1st — zkPoEx (ZK Proof of Exploit)
2nd — Tribe Credit (Peer to peer lending)
3rd — Gasly (A plug-in that will enable users to pay gas fees in any token.)
Based on the Hackathon submissions, some trends in DeFi include:
1/ Margin accounts and undercollateralized lending: Projects that allow for leverage trading and borrowing without requiring full collateralization.
2/ Stable coins backed by commodity reserves: Projects that offer stable coins backed by real-world commodities to increase stability and trust.
3/ Automated risk control and withdrawal monitoring: Projects that use automated systems to monitor and manage risks in DeFi lending and trading.
4/ Liquidity provision: Projects that aim to improve liquidity provision in DeFi through various methods such as reducing friction and visualizing order books.
5/ Staking rewards and flash loans: Projects that offer staking rewards and allow for flash loans to be taken out quickly and efficiently.
6/ Cross-chain liquidity and generic transaction passing: Projects that aim to bridge different blockchains to improve cross-chain liquidity and communication.
7/ Decentralized banking services: Projects that provide DeFi banking services, such as neobanks and off-ramps, without requiring traditional banking institutions.
8/ NFT trading and financing: Projects that focus on fractionalizing NFTs, providing equity-backed lending, and pricing NFTs beyond their floor price.
9/ Crypto credit lines and credit scoring: Projects that provide credit lines and credit scoring for DeFi users to access funds more easily.
10/ Gas tokens and payment options: Projects that provide options for paying gas fees with different tokens and offer more convenient payment options.
Here’s a nice overview by the ETHDenver team of the Hackathon winners in the different categories, including the respective bounties.
DAOs are shaping the future of work, a shift in mentality and functionality, from worker to shareholder.
Permissionless education, credentialing and onboarding.
Organizations begin optimizing their operations around our lifestyles.
Governance & participation will be critical to a sustainable web3.
And if we don’t have time to participate, we can simply delegate.
The art of Delegation…MakerDAO delegates gathered in an insightful discussion panel about Governance challenges facilitated by Payton.
In other talk Retro gracefully distilled MakerEndgame. MakerDAO up to new beginnings, with positive initiatives around climate change.
Open-source gives a boost to builders.
There are three categories of “open source”
Open source — Anyone can copy and modify, Free distribution
Source available — You can see the code, Requires commercial license to copy and modify.
Open-core — Core products are made available, Keeps more advanced functionality behind a paywall
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are being used in innovative ways beyond digital art and collectibles.
3 Tips for experimenting with NFTs By @ddwchen
1- Define your goals
Having clearly defined goals will help you determine how to structure your NFT drop and what to optimize for
2 — Identify your collector.
Software like Bello can help you better understand your collector and their buying habits
3- Course correct.
Don’t be afraid to fail, learn from your experiences, and try something new
“With a modular world, the playground becomes more abundant”
By @Yazanator
@marisahrow Describing @urbit with nostalgic & poetic analogies
Some other highlights were:
Startups are finally building at the cross-section of AI and web3.
Zero knowledge proofs and privacy solutions were a hot topic, with several teams working on ZKrollups.
Sustainability is a priority, and solutions such as proof-of-stake and green mining were discussed to reduce the environmental impact of blockchain.
Interoperability between different blockchains is key for promoting scalability.
Many protocols have two out of the three solutions to blockchain trilemma- decentralization, scalability, and security.
Finally, the resurgence of blockchain gaming, the importance of identity, the significance of community in the Ethereum space and the need for user-friendly projects.
As a web3 Design Studio this has been our challenge: How might we create delightful, meaningful and more user-friendly web3 projects.
We design for DAOs, AI & Sustainability startups, is good to see these 3 themes blending, as they are key in the innovation for a meaningful future.
Independently of the challenge you are tackling, remember to have fun and that there’s a beautiful world outside to explore…
If you are interested in delightful design experiences and beautifully crafted web3 interfaces for your project get in touch.
Let’s collaborate_
studio@littlenicethings.com
www.littlenicethings.com
Follow along: https://twitter.com/littlenicething
