Devcon has at all times been a dwelling reflection of Ethereum’s progress, challenges, and group ambitions. It showcases essentially the most urgent subjects, the latest improvements, and the folks constructing the way forward for decentralized expertise. As Ethereum grows, so too does Devcon.
Two years in the past, proper earlier than Devcon VI in Bogotá, the Merge took Ethereum’s consensus from proof of labor to proof of stake. Devcon VI centered not solely on the achievement of this milestone, but in addition on the subsequent improvements: early Layer-2 improvement, the introduction of Account Abstraction (AA), and the rise of zero information proofs (ZKPs) as an growth of Ethereum.
Quick ahead to at this time, Devcon SEA celebrated the ecosystem’s readiness to tackle the subsequent huge challenges. The content material demonstrated how far Ethereum has come, how Ethereum’s L1 and L2s have superior, how UX is bettering, and the way second-generation cryptographic primitives are enabling new sorts of functions. The tone has shifted from addressing foundational challenges to leveraging Ethereum for real-world influence.
On this weblog put up, we’ll discover how Ethereum has grown since Devcon VI, what the important thing outcomes of Devcon SEA are, which challenges stay, and how one can contribute in order that we will have fun the subsequent chapter of Ethereum once we meet for Devcon once more.
Trying again to Devcon VI: How far now we have come
Setting the stage, let’s mirror on the place we have been simply two years in the past: Devcon VI was held in Bogotá, Colombia, in October 2022. It introduced the Ethereum group collectively to deal with key technical and governance challenges. On the time, the Merge had simply occurred, and the occasion mirrored the celebration of this transformative milestone and centered on rising modern applied sciences.
Devcon VI launched main themes for the primary time, and phrases that many hadn’t been acquainted with again then:
- Zero Information Proofs have been launched to a lot of the Ethereum ecosystem. They have been simply changing into sensible and other people began to know their capabilities. There was no point out but of different cryptographic primitives like Absolutely Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) or Multi-Social gathering Computation (MPC).
- Account Abstraction was new and simply introduced. Most individuals hadn’t heard of EIP-4337, which hadn’t been carried out at the moment.
- The Layer 2 ecosystem was in its early phases with only some outstanding L2s like Arbitrum and Optimism, and the L2-centric roadmap was kicked off.
- Staking infrastructure was nascent and there have been nonetheless uncertainties, with staking withdrawals not but enabled.
- Censorship resistance, whereas an previous subject, was on everybody’s thoughts with discussions round OFAC compliance and Twister Money sanctions
Devcon SEA: Ethereum’s infrastructure is prepared, now it’s time for influence
Devcon SEA was held in Bangkok, Thailand, in November of 2024. Attendance doubled in comparison with Devcon VI (12,500 vs 6,000 attendees), demonstrating Ethereum’s progress and group energy. One main aim of Devcon SEA was to deliver your entire Ethereum ecosystem collectively in a single place, foster collaboration, and cross-pollination, and realign the group to enhance Ethereum for actual use circumstances and influence on the world.
Since Devcon VI, the continued use of PoS plus different upgrades like Shanghai and Shapella have lowered vitality use, gasoline charges, and improved UX. The L2 panorama has expanded, with complete worth locked in Ethereum L2 networks surpassing 16.6 billion in November 2023. Ethereum’s integration of ZKPs has superior, and we now see extra real-world use circumstances, with DeFi and stablecoins maturing, and gaming, digital identification, quadratic funding, and prediction markets rising.
However over the previous two years, the Ethereum group has additionally debated its course and priorities. Whereas Layer 2s are key for scaling, the rise of recent L2s launched various subcultures, sparking discussions about the way to keep unity. Many known as for a return to Ethereum’s cypherpunk roots, specializing in privateness, decentralization, and credible neutrality – values that some felt have been overshadowed by viewing Ethereum as a product somewhat than a protocol. There was a shared urgency to realign on a unified objective.
Devcon SEA aimed to deal with these debates by inviting the perfect within the ecosystem to share their insights on essentially the most related subjects. Over 300 hours of content material from ecosystem specialists, 17 Neighborhood Hubs organized by the group, 70 Influence Areas, and 1000’s of conversations in between classes have been held within the lengthy hallways.
Devcon SEA sparked conversations about essentially the most urgent challenges for Ethereum, controversies in addition to achievements, and a few huge bulletins have been made too. Justin Drake outlined his imaginative and prescient of a Beam Chain, and the Argot Collective, which is a brand new group embodying lots of our shared values of Ethereum, launched itself.
Learn on to find the foremost outcomes of Devcon SEA, and which talks it is best to watch to rise up to hurry if you wish to contribute to the remaining challenges inside the respective subjects.
Ethereum has scaled and Layer 2s are web optimistic for Ethereum
Proto-danksharding, EIP-4844, blobs, and the roll-up centric roadmap – The scaling options highlighted at Devcon SEA confirmed how far Ethereum has come. Layer 2s, that are scaling Ethereum, see actual adoption. Every day person exercise has exploded in measurement, and the overall worth locked is rising steadily. We’ve got low charges, and you’ll ship 1, 100, or 1 million {dollars} for lower than a cent. All L2s are and shall be secured by the Ethereum L1 Mainnet, which is sturdy and safe with over 1 million validators and has by no means gone down since its launch in 2015.
There’s nonetheless a lot to do to comprehend the rollup-centric roadmap, scale back fragmentation, and improve safety. Watch the under talks to determine the way to contribute to fixing these challenges for Ethereum’s subsequent chapter:
Ethereum is cypherpunk
Devcon SEA reminded us why we’re right here, and why we’re constructing a decentralized future, specializing in values like credible neutrality, privateness, censorship resistance, open entry, and a cooperative mindset. Devcon SEA had a full programming monitor devoted to this philosophy, and the Hacktivism Hub, organized by the group.
Talks to look at to maintain up with the cypherpunk manifesto:
Other than cypherpunk values, philosophy and ethos performed an enormous function at Devcon SEA. With Aya Miyaguchi, the manager director of the Ethereum Basis, increasing on the philosophy of subtraction along with her discuss “Redefining boundaries within the infinite backyard,” explaining how the Ethereum Basis works, and a full programming day devoted to d/acc (defensive acceleration), the philosophy first launched by Vitalik Buterin, specializing in Ethereum as a defensive expertise, accompanied by talks about biodefense, decentralized AI, neurotech, and public epistemics.
UX is preparing for mass adoption
ERC 4337, ERC 7683, EIP 7702, ERC 3668 are just some examples of how Ethereum is changing into prepared for customers. Fuel charges are low, UX is bettering, and Devcon SEA made us excited for Ethereum feeling like one chain once more. The group organized the Account Abstraction and Adoption Hubs and lots of talks have been centered on making Ethereum approachable to mainstream audiences.
Social restoration is simply the beginning. Watch the under talks to be taught how one can contribute to bettering Ethereum’s UX, particularly should you’re growing a rollup or a pockets, to get on velocity with current developments in UX and Account Abstraction:
The time for real-world functions is now
Ethereum is for customers, and the app ecosystem has by no means been stronger than at this time, although nonetheless, we’re simply tapping into Ethereum’s prospects for real-world functions. Ethereum is made for a lot of issues, and it’s a multi-purpose platform.
Ethereum is house to its most mature use circumstances: DeFi and stablecoins. DeFi is monetary companies and instruments constructed on Ethereum that everybody on the earth has entry to and that give folks higher management over their cash. Ethereum has lots of of groups engaged on DeFi protocols. Stablecoins, too, give each human the liberty to transact and ship worth wherever on the earth.
Ethereum can also be the place new use circumstances occur and new issues are being invented, it’s “the place concepts enter manufacturing” (Josh Stark). We’ve got decentralized social platforms, on-chain video games, digital identification with ENS, Anon Adhaar, and zk passport, real-world infrastructure, quadratic funding with Gitcoin and clr.fund, and prediction markets like Polymarket.
If you happen to have been questioning what are the apps which might be presently being constructed on Ethereum, or should you want inspiration to construct extra dapps, listed here are some talks to look at:
Economics of Ethereum and ETH
The discussions at Devcon SEA reaffirmed the non-speculative worth of Ethereum and ETH within the digital financial system, with its sound financial ideas, sturdy incentives and alignment with long-term targets for decentralized ecosystems.
Talks to look at:
Second-generation cryptography permits new sorts of functions
Devcon SEA featured 1000’s of cryptographic plushy frogs, distributed by the 0xPARC workforce across the Frogcrypto Hub. Attendees collected frogs, and each time they scanned the QR code, they obtained a provable object information (POD). Every Devcon ticket was a POD inside Zupass, an utility that permits customers to securely retailer and handle Proof-Carrying Knowledge (PCD). These cryptographic ideas have been theoretical for a few years and are lastly changing into potential, and mixed with Ethereum, we at the moment are capable of construct functions that have been by no means potential earlier than. Whereas at Devcon VI solely ZKPs have been on everybody’s lips, as of very current a brand new era of cryptographic primitives like FHE and MPC are getting used to create decentralized, privacy-preserving computation and interoperability, unlocking modern and complicated use circumstances for Ethereum-based client functions.
We’re solely now realizing how a lot is feasible with second-generation cryptographic primitives and prospects are extending our creativeness. We’d like extra folks constructing and mixing ZKPs, second-gen crypto and Ethereum. If you wish to do this, watch:
Ethereum is frontier tech
Supply hyperlink
