🇵🇹Lisbon Recap: DuneCon23, ETHLisbon, NEARCON23

Olá👋

November in Lisbon was filled with the fervor of crypto🔥 I was fortunate enough to immerse myself in Lisbon’s hottest crypto events this time around — DuneCon for Data Analysts, ETHLisbon for hackers, and NEARCON, encompassing both hackers and founders. Here’s my brief recap 🙂

DuneCon23, The Data Must Flow 🧙‍♂️🧙‍♀️

Building on the success of last year, the second DuneCon event once again garnered significant interest. Grand Wizard Fredrik’s keynote speech provided a clear vision for the path towards Dune as a crypto hub. The use of a famous quote from Steve Jobs in his speech was particularly impactful, highlighting his vision for Dune’s future.

...people ask me, "Why should I care about crypto?

...well, to learn about it, to run some fun transactions

...but other than that, there's no good reason to care right now?

But they will be. There will be.

...but other than that, there's no good reason to care right now?

But they will be. There will be.

- Steve Jobs -

Recent updates on Dune’s AI, API enhancements, and blockchain expansions signal a promising future for Dune as a data hub. I’ll share some key takeaways from various speaker’s speech.

[#1] What VCs Do?

Tom Schmidt’s presentation on ‘What VCs Do with Data’ resonated deeply, especially regarding the support for the success of portfolio companies. This closely aligns with Hashed’s process in data and engineering support, providing many learning opportunities. Hashed has been making strides by making their portfolio companies’ on-chain data public, offering transparency to users and simultaneously ensuring robustness and marketing benefits for the protocols. In the crypto space, a VC culture that works not just as money-backers but for the ecosystem and portfolio is increasingly taking root. At the heart of this evolution is the growing importance of on-chain data, leading me to believe in a future where a more transparent and healthy crypto ecosystem emerges.

[#2] Data-Driven Token Distribution

Led by the exceptional DevRel Jackie, the panel discussion featuring Rabbithole’s Bryan, Variant’s Jack, and myself from Hashed explored the value of token distribution from governance and marketing perspectives. We all agreed on the limitations of the one-off airdrop method. While I may not have fully expressed my thoughts at the event, I can summarize them into three key points:

1. From a marketing standpoint, airdrops have the potential to be effectively utilized in achieving an arbitrage between CAC(Customer Acquisition Cost) and LTV. However, many teams approach LTV without systematic calculations based on varied user flows within the protocol.
2. Airdrops can influence the entire AARRR model from a user journey perspective, but post-distribution onboarding is crucial for retention. Without effective onboarding, users may increase selling pressure, negatively impacting the project.
3. Seasonal airdrop models, enhanced through extensive A/B testing, could be more effective in systematic calculation and onboarding.

The insights shared by Bryan and Jack, along with Jackie’s excellent moderation, added depth to the discussion.

[#3] Do airdrops work?

Richard Chen’s presentation on data-driven airdrops was indeed striking. As he pointed out, most airdrops seemed ineffective or expensive. This leads me to propose additional research with the following aspects in mind:

• The cost of airdrops can’t be simply deduced from the token’s value at the time of claim. In cases of low liquidity and high price volatility, it’s more appropriate to consider the price at the time of selling and the current holding value.
• User segmentation can enable more effective analysis. Differentiating between a few airdrop hunters and the majority of real users can provide deeper insights into the actual costs, profits, and retention.
• Comparing user patterns before and after airdrops is also an important analytical element.

The debate between whether it’s merely ‘money-printing’ or ‘the cost of transitioning to decentralization’ is crucial. Can we expect another presentation on this topic at DuneCon 2024?

The presentations & panel discussions from Dune, OPLabs, CowSwap, Blockworks, 21shares, and other amazing teams offered numerous engaging discussions on data utilization for ecosystem support and on-chain analytics. The content was so fascinating that I plan to rewatch the recorded sessions for a second dive. I extend my gratitude to Dune for consistently organizing such fantastic events.

ETHLisbon, the Crypto Hub for Hackers

Lisbon, with its wealth of crypto OG projects and geographic advantages, welcomed participants from diverse countries. At ETHLisbon, I spent around four hours each day in the mentor zone. The interaction was limited due to the hackers’ intense focus on development, but the event was enjoyable thanks to the fantastic venues and various sponsor tracks. Thanks to 1kx Network & Lightshift (especially Diogo) for organizing such a successful hackathon.

NEARCON2023, New Era for NEAR

“Black Dragon” Ilia is BACK!

NearCon23 was captivating from the beginning, with venues stunningly decorated to align with the themes. (Additionally, I particularly want to give high marks to the makeup and performance of the Head of Social that started right at the beginning of the event.) Personally, NearCon2022 felt more focused on mass adoption through financial Dapps like stablecoins or payment systems. Moving forward, NearCon2023 embraced a wider range of crucial themes such as developer-oriented OpenWeb, AI, Consumer, and Governance, leading to a discussion on mass adoption throughout the ecosystem.

Highlights of the event included the expansion of developer-friendly infrastructure, like BOS, Account Aggregation, Near DA, Polygon CDK with zkWASM, and partnerships with EigenLayer, LayerZero, which sparked considerable interest among developers and protocols. Beyond the technical aspects, the event also covered consumer-centric discussions, led by leaders of top DAU consumer apps (Cosmose AI, Sweatcoin), enterprise integrations like SKT, and discussions on Web3 branding and marketing.

Participating as a moderator in the discussion about the intersection of AI and Blockchain was a privilege for me. It was an enriching experience to share diverse perspectives with notable experts in the field. I am deeply grateful to the panelists for their invaluable contributions and insights. My thanks go to Julien Bouteloup from Stake Capital Group, Olga Feldmeier from Smart Valor and ELONN.AI, James Tromans from Google Cloud, and Matt Stephenson from Pantera Capital for their engagement and expertise.

My two weeks business trip to Lisbon has been greatly inspiring. I look forward to seeing you at various blockchain tech conferences in the future.

Adeus 👋