It’s the end of DevCon, the Ethereum conference held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand. The four-day event, which brought together industry players from solo developers to blockchain giants, was hailed as a resounding success, with DWF Labs among the delegates going home for sharing their highlights.
Of course, it helps that DevCon 2024 took place during a time of market frenzy, when all tokens – even ETH – were inflated and optimism was at an all-time high. For those who couldn’t make it to Asia, here’s a selection of the hottest topics and latest hot takes from DevCon.
DWF Labs toasts both De
There were two “De”s that caught the eye at DevCon, as Andrei Grachev, Managing Partner of DWF Labs, and Fiona Clairema, Head of Primary Markets, were keen to point out. One of them was of course DeFi, which has been on a tear all year, with its TVL now approaching $120 billion as it prepares to test the all-time highs it last hit in 2022 – although ETH still lags behind BTC.
The other ‘De’ that’s been getting some attention is DeSci, as anyone who’s spent much time in the trenches of Solana lately will attest. Decentralized science could well be the next decentralized finance; At least that’s the impression of many at DevCon, where CZ and Vitalik both appeared at the Binance Labs DeSci day. DWF Labs was keen to point out that Brian Armstrong of Coinbase also recently launched his own DeSci initiative, Research Hub. Expect to hear a lot more about this emerging narrative in 2025.
As DWF’s Andrei recounts, AI agents were the other hot topic at DevCon, noting: “It was one of the most talked about topics during the week, especially around AI agents and how whose crypto UX they can modify. Other related projects and memecoins are also emerging in the market that use AI agents, and we expect strong growth in this emerging sector.
Strike while the iron is hot
As the tailwinds that pushed Trump to victory continue to drive the crypto market, DWF’s Fiona Clairema noted the optimism that permeates the entire sector, commenting: “Projects that launched tokens after the US elections benefited from favorable price discovery thanks to strong macroeconomic sentiments and BTC performance. Many existing projects therefore aim to list their tokens as soon as possible in the fourth quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. Many projects also see this market as a good opportunity to raise funds.
Considering the flow of transactions that must have passed through DWF’s hands during DevCon, it’s fair to say that they have their ears to the ground in this critical crypto sector. Fiona Clairema also spoke enthusiastically about Ethereum researcher Justin Drake’s presentation on the Beam Chain proposal to replace Ethereum’s Beacon Chain by 2029. This proposed upgrade is not intended to modify the Ethereum roadmap, but rather to consolidate a number of proposed upgrades for Ethereum. Consensus layer including support for native ZK proofs, fast finality, and smaller validators.
These are just some of the highlights from DevCon 2024, which not only left delegates much more optimistic about the direction Ethereum is heading, but also captured the vibe that is palpable across every chain, ecosystem and vertical right now. After so much promise and so many false starts, crypto is poised to change the world. Fasten your seat belt.
