Balancer Goes on Tour
The Balancer team attended Paris Blockchain Week Summit and DevConnect in Amsterdam, let’s take a look back at what went down.
In April 2022, Balancer Labs and the Balancer DAO traveled to Paris and Amsterdam for the Paris Blockchain Week Summit and the inaugural DevConnect and ETHAmsterdam.
Paris Blockchain Week hosted over 3,000 attendees attending talks around traceability, leveraging blockchain innovation, digital governance, and much more. In Amsterdam, the first-ever DevConnect was a week-long gathering focused on in-depth sessions, bringing the ETH community together to talk, learn about, and make serious progress in DeFi. DevConnect events were decentralized throughout the city of Amsterdam each day filled with different sessions at different locations. Balancer kicked off the week as Sponsor of ETH Day and ended the conference as the sponsor of DeFi Day.
Paris Blockchain Week Events
Instead of sponsoring the conference, we decided to team up with InsurAce, Hacken, and Okra Finance to throw what we are calling the DeFi Retreat.
Paris Blockchain Week Summit attendees were encouraged to take a break from the conference craziness and stop by our DeFi Retreat. Located directly across from the conference, frens could co-work, chill and connect to WiFi while indulging in free coffee, mimosas, and meals all day. We also had the sickest swag at the door for attendees to take with them. After the madness of ETHDenver and the ensuing Bufficron virus, we have been looking for fun ways to connect IRL that are safe and don’t mean standing at a booth all day.
The DeFi Retreat in Paris was such a success that we decided to follow our co-sponsors to Amsterdam and continue the tradition. Keep an eye out for our DeFi Retreats in the future!
Check out highlights from our DeFi Retreat below:
WAGMI on the Seine
To celebrate the opening day of the Paris Blockchain Week Summit, Balancer, Aleph, ParaSwap, and Synaps, set sail for an exclusive night event, “WAGMI on the Seine.” Guests boarded the MIRAGE for an evening cruise on the Seine filled with food, drinks, networking, and dancing.
Over 300 people filled the yacht for the sunset cruise, passing by historic Paris landmarks like the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, and Notre Dame.
DevConnect
ETH Day
ETH Day showcased the best of Devconnect, featuring high-level talks about the latest technical developments in the ecosystem. Attendees included developers, builders, and entrepreneurs wanting to dive into the world of Ethereum.
Held at the Westergas, ETH Day had talks, and panels, and offered designated spaces where Web3 could network. The event was catered, and guests received coffee and drinks, and meals all day.
A massive three-story event center transformed into an intimate gathering, ETH Day was a great start to the conference.
On Stage
Title: Digging Into DeFi
Speaker: Balancer Labs’ Head of Growth, Jeremy Musighi
Summary
Balancer Labs Head of Growth, Jeremy Musighi, gave a lightning talk at ETH day, that went “Digging Into DeFi.” Jeremy spoke about the technical capabilities of Balancer Protocol and honed in on the Protocol’s focus of being a building block for DeFi. Balancer originated as an AMM platform; due to its unique and highly configurable technology, it has since transitioned into a building block for other AMM designs created by independent teams, focusing on different use cases. Balancer went from a product phase, where proof of concept was demonstrated — to a Protocol phase, where scaling happens through strong network effects.
“Balancer V2 is a platform for AMMs. We want to open the space for Devs to innovate.” Musighi listed teams building on Balancer and called out the first-ever Revenue Sharing Model proposed by Balancer, allowing projects building on the Protocol to benefit directly from the financial activity they help generate. Following his lightning talk, Jeremy joined a panel with Curve Finance and Cow Protocol to discuss the highs and lows of DeFi.
Panel: DeFi Surfing the Highs and Lows
Speakers: Jeremy Musighi — Balancer Labs, Julien Bouteloup — Curve Finance, Alex Viñas — Cow Protocol
DeFi Day
Balancer finished off DevConnect by sponsoring DeFi Day. The event centered around DeFi developers working on applications and infrastructure layers together. Balancer finished the conference by participating in a panel with Aave and Figment that focused on crossing chains and layers.
Panel: Crossing Chains and Layers
Speakers: Jeremy Mushigi — Balancer Labs — Stani Kulechov, Aave — James Parillo, Figment
The DAOist
Title: BalancerDAO from Zero to Infinity
Speaker: Andrea Cianfruglia
Members of the Balancer team attended the DAOist’s Global Governance Gathering, two full days entirely dedicated to manifesting intentional coordination between DAOs. Balancer DAO member Andrea Cianfruglia spoke about the evolution of the Balancer DAO, which began with five members to now a structured and sophisticated organization.
Events, Happy Hours, and More
DeFi Retreat
Balancer again joined InsurAce, Hacken, and Messari to host its second DeFi Retreat, this time in Amsterdam. ETHAmsterdam and DevConnect Conference attendees stopped by Bar Italia for free food, free drinks, and free WiFi and to get away from the hustle and bustle of the conference events. It was amazing to see the space filled with folks taking meetings, coming to say hey in between sessions, and just really being a home base for our Web3 frens outside of the conference.
See what you missed in our recap video below:
Never Rekt at DevConnect
Balancer Labs, Oasis, 1inch, Arbitrum, ENPS, and frens danced the night away at the Heineken Experience. Over 400 people showed up to experience the best music and venue Amsterdam has to offer. The party had a lineup of three incredible DJs all spinning disco house tunes: TWÆN, LO:ST, and Jolijn.
The Balcony of the Heineken Experience gave an incredible view of the sunset overlooking the entire city. We’d like to thank the Heineken Experience for not only dropping alpha with their new Heineken Silver beer but having an incredible on-site staff that brought the party with them. We’re honored to have been your first big event since Covid. Cheers!.
DeFi, Scaling, and Drinks
Balancer Labs, OX, Optimism, and Matter Labs hosted a happy hour for DevConnect attendees to network with teams building out different facets of the Ethereum ecosystem, from the protocol layer to DeFi apps to scaling solutions. Located at the Desmet Studio, this happy hour sold out immediately and witnessed impactful conversations from start to finish.
Quick Shoutout to CryptoCanal
CryptoCanal is the community organization that put together the inaugural DevConnect in Amsterdam. Founded by Eléonore Blanc, CryptoCanal fosters a vibrant and diverse community of crypto enthusiasts and investors while educating about the wonders and reality of DeFi.
Balancer has attended and sponsored countless conferences and events, and there was a unanimous sentiment that DevConnect was one of the best events of which we have been a part. From the initial meeting, Eléonore and the CryptoCanal team were organized, supportive, and overly responsive. The events fostered a great environment where Web3 could come together for meaningful industry conversations. Huge thank you to this amazing group of people. You have fans in Balancer!
Where is Balancer Headed Next?
Balancer will be throwing it down at Permissionless, co-hosting what is to be the party of the year with Aave, 1inch, Polygon, and Blocknative on the $40million Seafaire Yacht. We will be dropping some elite swag, there will be fireworks, and the best DJ in DeFi (not to give you too much FOMO). If you’re not able to make it to Palm Beach follow Balancer on Twitter for some giveaways and info on future events.
