The Outcome Of Our EthDenver 2023
Intro
This year’s EthDenver was different compared to my first experience last year. Last year, I tried to learn about the Ethereum ecosystem mainly. There were a rather last-minute prepared couple of Cosmos projects’ side events, but primarily after-party types. Also, last time I was alone just attending events, but this time Ethan was here, and we secured some speaking seats for him. Sara was there to help with social media marketing; the more, the merrier. We were a good team.
These were our goals for EthDenver 2023 trip that we had set:
- Create more CosmWasm awareness in the Ethereum ecosystem.
- Look for potential funders.
- Learn dev-centered community events and get inspired for our AwesomWasm and HackWasm.
- Networking with Ethereum and other L1s (Polkadot, Avalanche, Near, and Solana) to explore potential AwesomWasm collaboration scope
- Learn from the innovation state of Ethereum cross-chain and rollups.
And guess what? We nailed everything.
My Takeaways
- Tell me you’re multi-chain without saying multi-chain
Last year there were side events in parallel with the main EthDenver events, physically near the main venue; other L1s had their venues separately.
But this year, we could see several cross-protocol collaborations. Many projects building across Ethereum and Cosmos. Events like Shared Security and Interop Summit had a nice mixture of distinct L1s. We could see Juno folks at the Near event at EthDenver, and DoraHacks organized a party called Crypto Cosmopolitan; I loved the name and also the thinking that we don’t need to focus on one protocol to make everything happen. Same vibes with the GameOn party, in which Celestia was one of the co-sponsors. See, We don’t mention L1 names in most of the events’ titles.
One of the most impressive mentions I heard during EthDenver was
“We should make this tech easy as possible. People click one button without knowing what is going on behind them. People don’t need to know about transactions across different L1s.”
quote Maksym from Near, Ethan's long-time online dev friend, because they have been communicating for three years. ;)
This is very promising to escape the typical crypto ‘siloed’ or ‘tribalism’ and move forward with collaboration.
2. More organized Cosmos joint events; kudos to BDs from each chain
Multiple events, Cosmos peak, breakfast, and pub talk, were planned ahead, unlike last year. And a big part of it was thanks to the regular monthly call among Cosmos BDs, so kudos to Frank from WestComms, who are taking the initiative of monthly calls. This shows that each project in Cosmos got mature enough to collaborate and make synergy together; I found it very promising and optimistic for the future of Cosmos. A small wish is for this group of Cosmos BDs to be more inclusive to open-source projects like Confio next time, considering the different funding statuses and business models.
Highly appreciate the shoutout to CosmWasm during the talk, Dave from Nym, and Tor from Secret!
3. Long-waited, honest, and heartful conversation in person
We are all remotely working; zoom calls are standard. But…. in-person meetings can give you so much more than that.
With Confio’s funding issue at stake, and lots of uncertainty on core Cosmos organizations and their dynamics in the past, Ethan Frey reached out to Ethan Buchman in 2022, and those were not answered for many reasons. We were there to solve all the regrettable past issues and decided to move forward with better communication from now on.
It was also good to see Ethan talk with Jae when we went to Jae’s Gnoland event, as he was the 3rd engineer after Buchman and Jae. Good to see him back.
4. Ready or not, here comes Cosmos/CosmWasm!
Ethan introduced CosmWasm to Ethereum devs on three different occasions during EthDenver; a tech talk at Interop Summit, a panel speech with Halborn, and a keynote speech at Spork Castle, EthDenver’s main venue.
Last year, I was already happy to meet people who recognized CosmWasm when I was wearing the T-shirt. Ethan gave multiple excellent speeches this year, and I saw many people eager to talk with him waiting in lines. We definitely noticed more Cosmos presence in Ethereum, and CosmWasm has contributed somewhat as more than 60% of IBC chains are using it, and more and more are coming in and outside of Cosmos.
5. Building Open-Source Public Goods, which path in the future?
After we announced Confio’s new path on Feb 1st, some community members approached us, who convinced us to submit Hub proposal #103 — the two weeks of the voting period ended in the middle of our stay in Denver on March 1st, and it passed! We got lots of congratulations in Denver, and we were happy to be able to keep building public goods for everyone. Also, there were voices to join forces among 5–6 entities working hard on public goods development in the Cosmos ecosystem. We have not solved the fundamental funding problem, so my homework remains. Appreciate all the constructive feedback and ideas from Barry and Mag from Skip protocol and Josh from Keplr/Osmosis.
6. Bonding with Cosmos Ladies
It was my first time hanging out with Cosmos Ladies in person, which turned into a fun evening. Sara and I were building businesses while Ethan was building Mesh Security that night. Big shout out to Erin for organizing the wonderful dinner and allowing us to taste American culture.
As an extension, I was invited to speak at the 1st Cosmos Ladies Summit 2023 online. It was an honor, and I appreciate you giving me this opportunity, organizers!
What Next?
With all our accomplishments and lessons from EthDenver, we will make our AwesomWasm even more awesome.
Confio is organizing the very first CosmWasm-focused events, AwesomWasm and HackWasm, this July in Berlin. Check out the website, follow Twitter and Telegram, and the early bird ticket will be on sale soon!
