Ethereum Founders Discuss Strengths of Ecosystem at EthCC 7
The Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC), held from July 8-11 in Brussels this year, became the epicenter of blockchain innovation, drawing crypto enthusiasts, developers, and industry leaders from around the world.
On Wednesday, the event was a full-house spectacle, featuring pivotal discussions by the Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin, the co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of Consensys.
Highlights of EthCC included Lubin’s emphatic endorsement of zero-knowledge (ZK) proof-powered layer 2 solutions. He underscored the transformative potential of ZK proofs in scaling Ethereum.
Lubin discussed the early days of Ethereum, adding that “the elections in the US have really opened things up,” commenting on regulation.
Buterin, the main luminary of the Ethereum world, shared his vision and concerns regarding Ethereum’s future in his keynote address. While acknowledging the strides made with layer 2 solutions. Buterin cautioned that significant challenges remain for Ethereum to fully realize its potential as a base layer. He points out the success of Ethereum’s layer 2-centric approach depends heavily on the robustness and security of the underlying Layer 1.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on stage at EthCC 7 in Brussels.10-Year Anniversary of Ethereum
The agenda and turnout were impressive. EthCC 7 saw more than 6,500 attendees which has raised the bar again, said Samantha Yap founder and CEO of YAP Global.
Yap explains it was also a “monumental event” as it is almost the 10-year anniversary of Ethereum. A historic moment was when the Ethereum co-founders Joe Lubin, Gavin Wood and Vitalik Buterin all reunited on stage.
Commenting on the turnout, XION core contributor Burnt Banksy told CryptoNews, “I had low expectations for EthCC as Brussels isn’t known for their large crypto community but ended up pleasantly surprised that much of the core crypto community was in attendance!”
“The World Cup was also front and center, bringing a new element to networking talking points to events, and even helping us forget about the low market sentiment the industry is experiencing right now,” said Banksy.
Side Events Took Focus Away From EthCC 7
Side events at EthCC 7 significantly diverted attention from the main stage as attendees eagerly broke away to explore the smaller, specialized gatherings.
The side events offered networking opportunities and a more intimate setting for in-depth discussions and collaborations. Consequently, many participants opted to attend these “other events,” over the broader main stage presentations.
“Interesting enough, side events took the main stage. While there is some criticism floating around of too many side events, I personally found many of these events to be equally informative as the main event. Takeaways were that there was huge focus on UX, Fragmentation, Modularity and chain abstraction,” said Banksy.
Another attendee commented on EthCC being “different” this year. Not only due to the change in the location. Usually, the annual Ethereum event is held in Paris.
“EthCC was different this year. While more people attended the side events, fewer went to the main event. The upside was that many speakers were more accessible for chats after their talks at EthCC itself,” said Shyam Duraiswami, CEO of Provably, a firm building ZK for analytics on data.
“I also noticed that a lot of talks focused more on iterative improvements at the margin rather than transformational ones. This shows that many major debates, like modularity and the role of ZK, have more or less been settled. Now, it’s about building and maturing the crypto stack,” Duraiswami told CryptoNews.
Ran Hammer VP business development from Orbs said there were plenty DeFi people in attendance, both those who are doxxed and those who usually remain anonymous. There were “bullish vibes” said Hammer.
Cool Merch, Festival Vibes and Tacos!!
Now the fun part.
EthCC 7 had a festival-like vibe with a “Street Fair” offering beers, burgers, tacos, and coffee. Among the merch stands, Polygon stood out for its impressive merch, giving away Nike-branded caps that were a hit.
On the culinary front, the burger and taco stand was a clear favorite, serving up flavorful, freshly made tacos that delighted everyone. This vibrant setting added a unique, celebratory dimension to the conference.
“This year was the largest EthCC, shifting from a pure conference to a blockchain festival, welcoming friends, famililies, the best speakers, companies and projects,” Bettina Boon Falleur, organizer of EthCC told CryptoNews.
Sara Moric, PR at Trilitech/ Tezos posing happily with a taco.The merch was mostly free t-shirts, caps and stickers at many stands and this drew some criticism.
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