During EthCC 7 Ethereum founders discuss ecosystem’s strengths

EthCC 7 Ethereum founders. This year’s Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) drew crypto fans, engineers, and industry heavyweights from all over the globe. It took place in Brussels from July 8th to the 11th and became the blockchain innovation epicenter. A sold-out crowd witnessed Vitalik Buterin and Joseph Lubin, co-founders of Ethereum and CEO of Consensys, have crucial conversations at Wednesday’s event.

One of the most notable aspects of EthCC was Lubin’s strong support for layer two solutions backed by zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. He emphasized the revolutionary power of ZK proofs for Ethereum scalability. Lubin elaborated on Ethereum’s infancy by saying that “the elections in the US have opened things up,” referring to regulatory changes.

Buterin, the leading light in the Ethereum community, gave a keynote speech outlining his goals for the future of Ethereum and his reservations about it. The progress achieved with layer two solutions is not to be overlooked. However, Buterin did warn that Ethereum still faces substantial obstacles to realizing its foundation layer promise. In particular, he stresses that Ethereum’s Layer 2-centric strategy highly depends on Layer 1’s security and resilience.

10th Anniversary of Ethereum

Both the agenda and the attendance were remarkable. According to Samantha Yap, founder and CEO of YAP Global, the attendance of EthCC 7 Ethereum founders, which surpassed 6,500 people, has once again set a new standard.

Yap adds that it was a “monumental event” because Ethereum is approaching its 10th anniversary. Vitalik Buterin, Joe Lubin, and Gavin Wood—Ethereum’s co-founders—regrouped on stage, marking a watershed moment.

“I was surprised to see that many members of the core crypto community were there,” XION core contributor Burnt Banksy told of the turnout, adding, “I had low expectations for EthCC because Brussels isn’t known for their large crypto community.”

In addition to providing a fresh perspective on networking topics at events, the World Cup was a major conversation point, which helped Banksy and his team forget about the current negative market feeling in the business.

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 attended 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 found many of these events to be equally informative as the main event. Takeaways were that there was a 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 attended 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 many talks focused more on iterative improvements at the margin rather than transformational ones. This shows that many major debates have been settled, like modularity and the role of ZK. It’s about building and maturing the crypto stack,” Duraiswami said.

Ran Hammer, VP of business development from Orbs, said plenty of DeFi people were 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!

A “Street Fair” selling burgers, tacos, coffee, and beer gave EthCC 7 a festival feel. Polygon displayed the most attractive merchandise, handing out popular Nike hats to passers-by. Regarding food, the burger and taco stand stood out as the crowd-pleaser because of its delicious, freshly prepared tacos. This lively venue brought a special, festive vibe to the gathering.

Bettina Boon Falleur, the organizer of EthCC, said that this year’s event was the biggest ever, transitioning from a simple conference to a blockchain festival that welcomed friends, families, top speakers, firms, and initiatives.