The latest chapter for Ethereum & highlights from Devcon SEA

Devcon has all the time been a residing reflection of Ethereum’s development, challenges, and group ambitions. It showcases essentially the most urgent matters, the most recent improvements, and the folks constructing the way forward for decentralized know-how. 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 additionally 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 as we speak, Devcon SEA celebrated the ecosystem’s readiness to tackle the subsequent large 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 varieties of functions. The tone has shifted from addressing foundational challenges to leveraging Ethereum for real-world impression.

On this weblog submit, 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.

Wanting again to Devcon VI: How far we now have come

Setting the stage, let’s mirror on the place we had 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 progressive applied sciences.

Devcon VI launched main themes for the primary time, and phrases that many hadn’t been accustomed to again then:

• Zero Information Proofs had been launched to a lot of the Ethereum ecosystem. They had been simply changing into sensible and other people began to grasp their capabilities. There was no point out but of different cryptographic primitives like Absolutely Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) or Multi-Get together Computation (MPC).
• Account Abstraction was new and simply introduced. Most individuals hadn’t heard of EIP-4337, which hadn’t been applied at the moment.
• The Layer 2 ecosystem was in its early levels 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 outdated matter, 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 impression

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 development and group power. One main objective of Devcon SEA was to carry the complete Ethereum ecosystem collectively in a single place, foster collaboration, and cross-pollination, and realign the group to enhance Ethereum for actual use instances and impression on the world.

Since Devcon VI, the continued use of PoS plus different upgrades like Shanghai and Shapella have diminished power use, fuel charges, and improved UX. The L2 panorama has expanded, with whole worth locked in Ethereum L2 networks surpassing $51.5 billion, a 205$16.6 billion in November 2023. Ethereum’s integration of ZKPs has superior, and we now see extra real-world use instances, 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 route and priorities. Whereas Layer 2s are key for scaling, the rise of recent L2s launched various subcultures, sparking discussions about learn how to preserve unity. Many known as for a return to Ethereum’s cypherpunk roots, specializing in privateness, decentralization, and credible neutrality – values that some felt had been overshadowed by viewing Ethereum as a product quite than a protocol. There was a shared urgency to realign on a unified goal.

Devcon SEA aimed to deal with these debates by inviting the most effective within the ecosystem to share their insights on essentially the most related matters. Over 300 hours of content material from ecosystem consultants, 17 Group Hubs organized by the group, 70 Influence Areas, and hundreds of conversations in between periods had 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 large bulletins had 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 key outcomes of Devcon SEA, and which talks you must watch to rise up to hurry if you wish to contribute to the remaining challenges throughout the respective matters.

Ethereum has scaled and Layer 2s are internet constructive 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. Day by day consumer exercise has exploded in dimension, and the entire worth locked is rising steadily. We now have low charges, and you may ship 1, 100, or 1 million {dollars} for lower than a cent. All L2s are and will probably 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 appreciate the rollup-centric roadmap, cut back fragmentation, and enhance safety. Watch the beneath talks to determine learn how 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 track 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 a giant position at Devcon SEA. With Aya Miyaguchi, the manager director of the Ethereum Basis, increasing on the philosophy of subtraction along with her speak “Redefining boundaries in the infinite garden,” explaining how the Ethereum Basis works, and a full programming day dedicated to d/acc (defensive acceleration), the philosophy first introduced by Vitalik Buterin, specializing in Ethereum as a defensive know-how, 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 had been centered on making Ethereum approachable to mainstream audiences.

Social restoration is simply the beginning. Watch the beneath talks to study how one can contribute to bettering Ethereum’s UX, particularly if you happen to’re growing a rollup or a pockets, to get on pace 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 as we speak, 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 dwelling to its most mature use instances: DeFi and stablecoins. DeFi is monetary providers and instruments constructed on Ethereum that everybody on the earth has entry to and that give folks better management over their cash. Ethereum has a whole bunch 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 instances occur and new issues are being invented, it’s “the place concepts enter manufacturing” (Josh Stark). We now have 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.

When you had been questioning what are the apps which can be at present being constructed on Ethereum, or if you happen to 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, strong incentives and alignment with long-term objectives for decentralized ecosystems.

Talks to look at:

Second-generation cryptography allows new varieties of functions

Devcon SEA featured hundreds of cryptographic plushy frogs, distributed by the 0xPARC group across the Frogcrypto Hub. Attendees collected frogs, and each time they scanned the QR code, they acquired a provable object information (POD). Every Devcon ticket was a POD inside Zupass, an utility that allows 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 attainable, and mixed with Ethereum, we are actually in a position to construct functions that had been by no means attainable earlier than. Whereas at Devcon VI solely ZKPs had been on everybody’s lips, as of very current a brand new technology of cryptographic primitives like FHE and MPC are getting used to create decentralized, privacy-preserving computation and interoperability, unlocking progressive and complicated use instances 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 try this, watch:

Ethereum is frontier tech

Devcon SEA was additionally a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, the place Ethereum was mentioned alongside different frontier applied sciences and within the context of the way forward for our society.

These periods highlighted Ethereum’s potential to encourage and combine with broader technological and societal challenges:

The Ethereum group is powerful and international

The Ethereum group will not be solely rising, it’s increasing globally: At Devcon SEA, we welcomed 12,500 attendees with 60% experiencing their first-ever Devcon. Individuals represented 135 nations, making this essentially the most international and various Devcon thus far.

The Ethereum group will not be solely various in nationalities and ethnicities – the pursuits, identities, and focus areas are manifold with builders, protocol researchers, stakers, degens, regens, activists, artists, educators, and lots of extra being a part of the Ethereum group.
Devcon SEA featured 17 Group Hubs, from the DeSci Hub, World Majority Hub, and Onchain Creators Hub, to the Governance Geeks Hub, these had been manifestations of the range and methods to get entangled within the Ethereum group. The Group Gardeners Hub centered on Ethereum group builders from all world wide. In 2024, 73 native Ethereum occasions in 44 nations had been organized across the globe. Our group is decentralized and international, as Ethereum itself.

Now could be your likelihood to form the way forward for Ethereum forward to Devcon 8

Devcon SEA was not only a snapshot of the place Ethereum stands as we speak, it affords a imaginative and prescient of the place it might go tomorrow. Devcon SEA confirmed how Ethereum is bringing concepts into motion, and each participant carries the teachings realized at Devcon to proceed spreading the phrase and advancing Ethereum’s mission. And who is aware of, the subsequent particular person to impression the way forward for Ethereum might have first realized about it at Devcon SEA.

Devcon SEA photographs and sources

• Discover photographs from Devcon SEA here.
• You possibly can search and watch all talks within the Devcon Passport app.
• DEVAi is obtainable to reply all Devcon-related questions, and can quickly have entry to all speak transcripts. You possibly can already get summaries of all talks within the Passport app.
• Need to share extra insights about Devcon talks? Go to the Devcon Collab Portal.

What’s subsequent?

Tl;dr:

• Devconnect 2025
• Devcon 2026

Devconnect is the opposite, utterly totally different occasion that the Ethereum Basis organizes. Whereas Devcon is the big occasion that brings everybody collectively in a single venue, Devconnect is extra decentralized. Devconnect includes many various occasions, centered on totally different Ethereum matters, organized by consultants in these fields. Devconnect is the time to go deep into the subject you’re most accustomed to or wish to develop into an professional in, and be part of day-long occasions centered on that area.

The place will Devconnect 2025 and Devcon 8 happen? You’ll need to attend just a bit bit longer to search out that out, and within the meantime, you possibly can create your proposal for Devcon, Devconnect, or different Ethereum occasions to happen in your metropolis.

Till subsequent time, xoxo

Deva the Devcon Unicorn & the Devcon group