Devcon VI Highlights: Recap, Resources, and Community Reflections

In October, the Ethereum community gathered in South America once again for Devcon VI in Bogotá, Colombia!

We want to express our sincere Thank You(!) to everyone who attended, volunteered, or contributed to the success of Devcon VI. This blog post will revisit the highlights of a truly enjoyable event, reflecting on Community Hubs, the Road to Devcon, insightful discussions and panels, beautifully designed presenter areas, and much more.

Catch the Recap Video to relive Devcon VI’s vibrant atmosphere!

What Devcon is all about

For newcomers to the Ethereum ecosystem, Devcon is the sole annual conference organized by the Ethereum Foundation, originating from a modest meetup in Berlin (ÐΞVcon-0) one year before Ethereum’s first blocks were mined. For some, it acts as a family reunion, while for others, it presents a significant platform to learn about the latest advancements in everything from technical research to application launches.

Over the years, it has become evident that Devcon serves the community in additional ways. As we prepared for Devcon VI, we sought to identify those objectives, and now we wish to reiterate them while reflecting on our efforts to achieve each one.

Devcon is not just a platform for presentations; it’s also a valuable space where crucial developers can collaborate in the same physical locations. This year, we aimed to foster discussions, provide whiteboards, and encourage collaborative work.

At Devcon VI, we hosted workshop rooms, dedicated co-working areas, meeting spaces, and a hacker basement where participants gathered to meet and innovate. We also offered continued co-working options at the venue post-event.

The hacker basement – Photo by Shintaro Yoshimatsu

2. Teaching, communicating, and generating new ideas

Devcon offers a unique opportunity for learning and sharing knowledge. Attendees came to Devcon to explore the cutting edge of the Ethereum landscape, as well as to impart their year’s worth of learning to a large audience at the event and online.

During the four days, 60,000 viewers globally tuned into the Devcon livestreams (with 21,780 viewers on the first day alone). Providing high-quality live streams and videos was vital for our Devcon Satellite Events, which were educational meetups held around the world for those unable to attend in Bogotá, including Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Malaysia, Portugal, and Turkey.

Community Hubs were uniquely designed spaces created and powered by the community, offering diverse experiences. Whether you participated in a cacao ceremony in the Regens Hub, crafted a mask in the Temporary Anonymous Zone to go anon IRL, witnessed the launch of the inaugural Token Engineering Fundamentals program, or elaborated on your values regarding decentralization in the Design Hub, we hope you felt more like a member of a diverse community than just an attendee.

Additionally, this was the first Devcon to feature “Impact Booths”, spaces dedicated to teams and initiatives making a positive difference in Ethereum and the wider ecosystem. Great collaboration emerged between previously rival rollup teams, participants earned a rare Gitcoin plushie by promoting their favorite public goods, others collected unique socks.sol swag, and many exchanged ENS POAPs in a friendly contest to conquer the leaderboard.

The Latin American community introduced a creative space: a Colombian Chiva Bus. Participants engaged in discussions, podcasts, and maintained the musical vibe well into the night after the presentations concluded.

The ETH Latam team in front of their Chiva Bus

3. Use our biggest stage to send a message

Devcon offers a pivotal platform to communicate with a global audience about Ethereum. Being the largest conference in our field, it garners the attention of the broader technology sphere and mainstream organizations.

Devcon VI was notably the first following The Merge, which took place in September! The Ethereum Mainnet is now utilizing proof-of-stake for its consensus mechanism, and Danny Ryan discussed the busy months for the Ethereum core developers, the challenges faced during the merge of the consensus and execution layers, and what it signifies for Ethereum as a unified chain.

Other recommended talks to (re)watch include Aya Miyaguchi’s insights on Executing with Subtraction in the Infinite Garden, Kurt Opsahl’s discussion on The Value of Cryptocurrencies in Supporting Human Rights, and Pia Mancini’s presentation on The Future is Collective.

In addition to our recommendations, we’d like to share some of the community’s favorite picks this year:

4. Using tech built on Ethereum through “dogfooding”

“Dogfooding” refers to the practice of using one’s own products or services. Devcon is a conference crafted by and for our community, and our aim is to utilize tools developed by our community that are beneficial for attendees. We hope to empower attendees to learn and experiment directly with Ethereum-based products.

Starting with ticketing, 268 individuals engaged in an on-chain raffle and auction before the general ticket sales opened.

Smart Token Labs facilitated the development of ticket attestations for Devcon VI, enabling attendees to verify their ticket status without disclosing a wallet address or personal identifying information. Their platform also allowed third parties to offer exclusive permissionless perks for Devcon VI attendees.

Regarding dogfooding, how did you book your accommodation in Bogotá? Attendees had the opportunity to pay for their accommodations using cryptocurrency, courtesy of Winding Tree.

All talks and panels from Devcon VI are now available on decentralized platforms as well – Swarm and Etherna contributed to making the Devcon Archive more decentralized by hosting the talk and workshop videos. You can check out the Swarm team’s recap for additional insights into their contribution at Devcon VI.

Many environmentally aware attendees offset their flights via the carbon offsetter by Discarbon. Thus far, participants have helped to offset approximately 403.9 tonnes of CO2. Votes on a snapshot proposal led to retiring credits from the Cordillera Azul National Park REDD+ Project in Perú.

And it’s worth noting that everyone collected a lot of POAPs during the event.

Panel: Signing in With Ethereum: the Most Powerful Protocol in Web3?

5. Growing the Ethereum Ecosystem

Devcon serves as a platform to connect with, inspire, and engage local Ethereum communities across the globe. This year, the Latin American Ethereum community set the groundwork for the Road to Devcon, hosting around 14 community events throughout Latin America that led up to Devcon VI in Bogotá, including the ETH Latam Day organized by community leaders one day before the main event. You can view their recap video here.

We believe Ethereum can create tangible impact in South America, and it’s truly inspiring to witness the robust growth of the Latin American Ethereum community.

EF’s Executive Director, Aya Miyaguchi, recently emphasized the importance of builders experiencing diverse parts of the world they aim to improve. Some Devcon attendees seized the opportunity to explore South America further after Devcon, allowing them to connect with communities they previously knew little about or arriving early to follow the Road to Devcon.

The Road to Devcon map

Devcon is also a chance to engage with blockchain teams and newcomers from various industries. UNICEF participated again as a guest and speaker at Devcon, alongside Arkadiy Kukarkin from the Internet Archive, and geopolitics and tech author Bruno Maçães.

The Ethereum Foundation’s Next Billion team hosted a special one-day event for attendees, including government officials, NGOs, and anyone keen to learn about leveraging Ethereum as a public good to support billions of individuals. This event focused on the practical challenges faced by those utilizing Ethereum to contribute positively.

The programming track Opportunity & Global Impact provided more intriguing discussions and panels addressing how Ethereum can bridge “gaps in representation across various cultures, nationalities, and economic classes.” (Next Billion)

Devcon VI welcomed numerous first-time attendees and newcomers to the Ethereum ecosystem. With tracks like Governance & Coordination and Cryptoeconomics, along with art and music throughout, we hope they departed feeling inspired by our vibrant community.

Growing the Ethereum ecosystem also involves supporting individuals who “have the potential to bring about a positive difference in Ethereum and its community, but needed financial assistance to attend.” This year, the Devcon Scholars Program provided support to 50 individuals to facilitate their attendance. You can read about some of their experiences and views on Devcon VI here!

6. Fun!

Playfulness has always been an integral aspect of Devcon and the Ethereum ecosystem. This is evident in the colorful Devcon swag, Jonathan Mann’s renditions of The Merge Song on stage, as well as the animated bears in the opening video that transformed into a panda symbolizing Ethereum.

To label Devcon as merely a conference overlooks the vibrant stages crafted with meticulous detail, the playful adult space featuring games like giant Jenga, and the hacker basement brimming with digital art to discover.

Ix Shells and Rosendo Merel Choy – Photo by Shintaro Yoshimatsu

Many entertaining experiences at Devcon VI were brought to life by the community itself. The music stage in the Chiva Chillout was a community initiative forged by a Devcon Improvement Proposal (DIP) from The Fellowship of Ethereum Musicians, which evolved into a large project. A highlight reel showcasing the excitement of all four days is available as well; attendees could join a graffiti tour led by CRYPTOMURALS, and teams from Social Dist0rtion Protocol and daedalus industries organized the Treasure Hunt Challenge “Time To DAI”.

7. Feedback & Continued Improvement

We’re continuously striving to learn and evolve, and we appreciate everyone who provided us with their valuable feedback (you can still submit feedback via our attendee survey and earn a POAP.)

This year, we gathered several insights. Wi-Fi was once again a challenge, particularly on opening day, indicating an area for improvement, while SIM cards for attendees proved even more essential! Expanding the food options would also enhance variety, including better vegetarian and vegan selections. Over 20% of Devcon VI’s attendees identified as female, transgender, non-binary, or other genders, but there’s more to be done to ensure both Devcon and the broader ecosystem reflect increased gender diversity and inclusion in this still male-dominated sphere.

As our event continues to grow, with attendance surpassing 6,000, the potential for some attendees to have conflicting interactions increases. The primary directive in the Devcon Code of Conduct is “be excellent to each other,” and we remain committed to creating a welcoming atmosphere for all. We will revisit our Code of Conduct and look for improvements based on our learnings from this year.

What’s Ahead?

We’re positive that we won’t have to wait another three years for the next Devcon. It’s already time for you to contribute ideas to enhance Devcon.

Aya’s talk on subtraction led us to revise the phrasing of DIPs. Devcon Improvement Proposals now aim for communal input regarding what should be changed (subtracted, added, or modified) for the upcoming Devcon7.

As for the location of Devcon7? In short: we’re still figuring that out. Nonetheless, the selection process will be challenging, given the numerous amazing suggestions for Devcon7 locations from Ethereum community members.

We hope you share our excitement as we await further updates in the forthcoming weeks. For now, we extend our deepest gratitude to all attendees for joining us in Bogotá, as well as the presenters, Impact teams, Supporters, Community Hub organizers, DIP contributors, and volunteers that made Devcon VI happen.