New Phenomena and Trends in the Eyes of ETHDenver Participants

Interview: Will

Organized by: Claudia, Deep Tide TechFlow

After attending ETHDenver, Teacher Will expressed such sentiments. As a seasoned crypto data collector, diligent Teacher Will rolled up his sleeves again and interviewed 75 attendees during the event, attempting to capture the fresh impressions from the Denver scene.

For developers and most builders, the entire venue washed away the gloom of the bear market, with energy and vitality continuously increasing in conversations. For newcomers and students who have recently entered the space, the atmosphere opened their eyes; some optimists even had a hundred percent expectation regarding the narrative of "China's rise," with many projects featuring a significant presence of Chinese individuals across various stages; however, for many investors, new gameplay narratives and technological breakthroughs have yet to emerge.

Regardless, most participants still hold positive expectations for new projects, with favorites like AI and ZK occupying a significant focus. Whether new narratives have emerged or not, the enthusiasm and energy for the industry that surfaced at ETHDenver are already more valuable than gold. Deep Tide TechFlow has compiled the following content from Teacher Will's interviews, allowing us to transcend time and space and return to the surging atmosphere of Denver.

Early Summer Tiger

Impressions from attending the Denver conference: Pretty good. My wife, who came along, said: This ecosystem is already too big to be extinguished. I’m not very optimistic about those things that rely on technology; most of them, about 95%, will fail, and only 5% might succeed. But we can't determine which ones are in that 5%, so we can only understand them one by one and judge them to belong to the following three categories:

1) Financial services, such as LSD lending, etc.;

2) Data services, such as API methods and development tools;

3) Games.

I am most optimistic about the financial sector; there are some opportunities in data, but they are limited. I hold a pessimistic view on games; entering Web2 is a pipe dream.

Anonymous Z, Certain Fund Investor

1) For individuals, unless you have a particularly good relationship with the project party or founders, the information gap is too large. Therefore, if you only engage in the primary market, it is not worth it unless you have an excellent background in computer science from a U.S. undergraduate program and work very hard;

2) In terms of project narratives, there is nothing particularly new; most are developer tools, not at the core level of Ethereum, but tools based on Ethereum. Therefore, it is difficult to capture value from an economic perspective; what can be captured is mostly older content;

3) Overall, the quality of the Chinese ecosystem has improved significantly compared to the bear market in 2019. However, Chinese individuals still lack a voice and need to rely on leading foreign institutions to drive things;

4) I still feel that large-scale adoption at the application layer is still too early;

5) Back then, it was "Wow, this thing is amazing." Now it’s "This thing sounds amazing, but there are already some amazing projects; whether it works or not is uncertain." This includes MEV, LSD, ZK, and middleware, all of which have this feeling; the competition is too crowded. In the decentralized execution layer, 3-4 projects have already emerged. In the API and security fields, it feels the same; it sounds a bit like aesthetic fatigue;

6) The internet is a vertical field, mainly connecting users. The underlying layer of Web3 is a horizontal field; everyone is laying down infrastructure, and the competition is very fierce. At the same level, everyone knows each other, but it is still uncertain which is better. In the past, we could directly go all in, but now we cannot.

Jenks, Filecoin Developer

Impressions from attending the Denver conference: It felt pretty good. As a project party, I met many builders, of which only 20 projects received grants. The conference attracted many project parties, mainly focused on the EVM field, and they took this opportunity to launch new projects and organized some morning lightning talks to introduce the latest developments of their projects.

2. Views:

1) I think ZK has great potential, is very popular, and I am learning and paying attention to it;

2) The distributed track is a turning point; if enterprises can keep up with the narrative, they will have better development;

3) The ETH Foundation hasn't done much and hasn't launched any activities.

4) Personally, I believe ETH set a precedent, but whether it can succeed is still uncertain. Bitcoin is a promise, while ETH needs continuous iteration after its issuance to solve mainstream problems, so it cannot serve as a good reference. From a technical perspective, Ethereum can provide efficient solutions to many problems, while from an economic perspective, BTC solves the trust issue, but its cost is very high. Organizations also want more people to use BTC, but ETH is cheaper and can solve many problems. The most frightening thing is that it does not need to rely on the state and can achieve human coordination, making it a revolutionary tool, just like personal computers, printing, and writing.

ElAIne Yang, Waterdrop Capital Investor

1) Impressions from attending the Denver conference: The overall quality is much higher than Consensus and Token 2049. Founders and developers can directly connect at the booth, and institutions should find it very efficient to set up booths here;

2) Discussion focus at the conference: Mainly centered around the Ethereum ecosystem, with key topics including L2/ZK/wallet/security/storage/DeFi, etc. In terms of developer tool platforms, the focus is mainly on API and SDK middleware. Last year’s overall financing performance was good, and entrepreneurs in AI and social aspects also mentioned SBT and reputation systems.

Anonymous F, Certain Fund Investor

Overall feedback from attending:

1) There are relatively few Asian developers;

2) No new narratives, focusing on communication between funds;

3) Few new projects; after watching for half a day, it’s better to buy Ethereum;

4) Stake your phone to charge BNB;

5) Many Asians went in April to feel the warmth of home;

6) The Wi-Fi was not working well; okay, White sponsored it.

Rick, NGC Investor

1) Impressions from attending the Denver event: Overall, I am very satisfied with the event. I discovered many new projects, and the quality and innovation of the projects are very good. I also enjoyed being able to express ideas actively, experiencing a feeling that online events do not provide.

2) From an investment perspective, the differences in narrative shifts are not very significant. Wallets and the FVM ecosystem have some new LSD projects that are quite eye-catching. ZK is currently the hottest topic. The conference gave me a sense of the brilliance of the Chinese community. In summary, the culture and atmosphere of the event were very good, with high inclusivity, and I gained a lot.

3) My personal feeling is that in the next two years, there will be some opportunities in the social layer and application chains, bringing opportunities to downstream industries. I am currently preparing to study IoTeX, as such projects provide some opportunities related to the Internet of Things. I personally believe that NFT liquidity, AMMfi, and daotools will also have some opportunities.

Anonymous L, Certain Leading Dex Exchange Investor

1) Impressions from attending the Denver event: As someone attending a conference in the U.S. for the first time, the venue design and organization were excellent, and the event was very interesting. There were many people at the venue, very lively, with all types of people appearing, and many project parties were also present. Therefore, I met many people and saw many acquaintances.

2) Views on the track: Projects like Game infra, which are old topics, still generate a lot of enthusiasm.

At the same time, I also noticed many new projects are raising funds, and the entire industry is very prosperous.

Meanwhile, I also saw some Asian forces, like 7x, and some proactive project parties, such as Mask and Scroll.

Regarding DeFi, I found that it is continuously updating and optimizing, having become mainstream. Although ZK is very expensive, I believe its implementation will still take some time, and the same goes for ZK roll. Therefore, I am considering whether to collaborate in advance or wait for better investment opportunities. Although I haven't made many moves, I believe Devcon and Denver events are different; Devcon is more mature, but the atmosphere is not as strong. Overall, the attendees were very enthusiastic.

Anonymous North American Computer Science Major, Fund Intern

1) Entry into the industry: CS major, entered through NFTs in 2021, earned some money and wanted to learn more, joined a fund to find projects, and ended up at a certain fund after attending a conference in SF. Most projects at school are built using tools, which are not suitable for a VC perspective; they create some products they like, and the smaller projects generally have average quality;

2) Impressions from attending the Denver event: I didn’t see anything particularly good; Chinese people are playing with each other and are working hard to integrate into the North American community. Generally, I can only get Chinese projects, which is contradictory; post-investment is relatively difficult, possibly due to cultural differences. Chinese individuals must do their research at home before coming out; in pure social situations, discussions tend to be shallow;

3) Views on the track: It’s very difficult to learn the hottest ZK directly; personally, I am optimistic about NFTs, which will have many use cases in the future, somewhat like a bridge between cryptocurrency speculation and the real world.

ZK Freelancer

1) Impressions from attending the Denver conference: The Chinese community excels at tracking and trial and error; here, we are discussing not just AI;

2) In China, it’s rare to hear questions like "What will it be like in ten years? What changes can money bring?" Governance is difficult afterward; who really monitors information is interesting for the world and developers, but they won’t talk about coins. Chinese people rarely ask what enthusiasm is; they think cooperation and making money are important;

3) Suggestions for the Chinese-speaking community: There is a lot of first-hand information translated, but little incentive for the Chinese-speaking community. Thought leadership, like Vitalik, is about creating faith; there are few Chinese leaders in thought; the opportunities for Chinese individuals are precious, and money leadership is the most valuable.

Carlos Noe Saavedra

1) Views on the event: The quality of the event is very good; during the bear market, many people did not come. I felt the energy; many investors and developers were very efficient in their discussions throughout the week.

2) How to view the track: The discussion on MEV and a theme from cryptoeconlabs is very interesting. Many smart people are researching how to reduce it, and discussions on identity are also very interesting. Gitcoin is fascinating, with many developments; many people are doing complex simulations, and projects have become more complex, with richer tools. Projects cannot be copied anymore; it’s easier to do projects every year. It’s a good time; feedback is blocked, more founders, derivatives, face data, FTX has collapsed, and everyone wants to do things openly. ZK is abundant, but it will take a while; it’s not that fast. There is hope, and there is still much to do to think about the market, identity, and governance faster. L2 is very hot, and there are already many; I like Starknet, Scroll, Polygon, Aztec; many people like my project, which makes me more confident. Newcomers say others are spreading the word, which makes me very happy. The testnet launched in February, and the mainnet will go live in summer.

Greg, Hackathon Course Mentor

1) Impressions from attending the Denver conference: This is my second time in Denver; I was here last year too. There are twice as many people this year, with 35,000 participants and 7,500 hackers. The event is at a new venue; if the Wi-Fi were better, it would be even better. I really like it because the people are energetic, happy, and helpful, which is why I come often. Last year was just a showcase; this year I am a mentor. I hardly went up; I spent all my time chatting with hackers and discussing technology rather than selling my products. Being a mentor feels great. I help others solve problems. The most common issue people face is that I help others pitch; it takes 15 minutes to give a better pitch, and they don’t know how to express themselves within 90 seconds. I teach them how to tell a good story.

2) Views on the ZK track: Regarding narratives, ZKsnark has finally been discussed for five years and is finally usable. L2 is also usable, and the AA field finally has standards; it has gone live. There are improvements every year; ZK and L2 have become cheaper and faster, allowing more people to interact, which is a good thing. AA is very useful; I spent a day mentoring and had no time to learn. Developers are facing very small and specific problems. This hackathon emphasizes getting beginners started; it usually takes three days, but there will be many courses in two weeks. It’s a very good thing.

3) As a developer's perspective: Many Web2 developers find it difficult to understand Web3; it takes time to grasp the differences. There is a huge learning curve. This year is different; last year, VCs were throwing money around, but this year has tightened up quite a bit. There are millions of Web2 developers and tens of thousands of Web3 developers; some of the best developers are in Web3 because it’s easier to make money. I spoke with several developers who are resigning because it’s easier to raise funds, and the things they build can earn money directly. It’s possible to build things at a very low cost. I am also an investor; I will invest in some companies I am familiar with and know the CEO or CTO very well. Generally, I look for an experienced CTO while I handle the business side.

Jake, Hackathon Mentor, blswallet

1) Impressions from attending the Denver conference: The feeling is similar to last year; this year is much larger, with many booths. I’m happy to see many people doing a lot of things, like the NFT market for poetry.

2) Views on the ZK track: There were also many ZK projects last year, like a ZK battleship game, with booths proving they can be played, ZKmap. Many people are in hackhouses, so everyone is programming at home. There will be a lot of education here, like how to use compilers. I still think this is a great place to dig for projects; award-winning projects will be showcased tomorrow like a science fair, where you can walk around and ask them questions. Watch their pitches tomorrow morning from 10 am to 2 pm; if I were a VC, I would stroll around.

3) Views on other tracks: L1 Gnosis has some new approaches; I haven’t paid much attention to others. I’m mainly looking at the ETH ecosystem and L2, and I’m glad to see Coinbase working on permissionless L2.

Anonymous S, Storage Track Developer

1) Views on the storage track: Currently, my understanding is that besides transactions, the most important aspect of Web3 is storage, which is quite competitive. Web2 is still in its early stages, focusing on file storage, greenfield, and ETH storage. No one has solved the database issue; we must decentralize the backend. We need to solve the database because it’s an engineering problem, not an academic one. ZK is an academic issue; the engineering problem is that everyone knows the solution, but who can do it more stably, more energy-efficiently, and more clearly? Web3 lacks engineering and standardized practices. Its demand is aimed at grand needs, but the actual demand is still low; tens of thousands of users are enough for single-point storage, and there’s no need to tell such a big story. Therefore, an awkward problem arises: everyone is competing with the latest technology and scalability, but there are no user cases. At least ten projects are working on it, but there isn’t a significant user base. I have doubts about whether this is right. Back then, AWS was self-driven; now web storage is still copying, but without users, it’s hard to spur technology.

2) Impressions from attending the Denver conference: Denver is very enthusiastic, but I don’t like this kind of thing; the threshold is too high. Currently, in this space, L1, L2, and ZK are too difficult for ordinary people to understand; it’s just the circle playing among themselves. The threshold is too high for newcomers, which is unreasonable in the long run. It’s not like Google and Apple, where everyone sees and understands; playing within the circle can only lead to more competition in technology and closure.

3) Views on the ZK track: With ZK being so hot, is there really an application in Web2? Will Web2 applications develop in Web3? A clear trend now is decentralization of the backend, storage, and serverless computing, leaving it to others. This includes the ceramic composed database (uploading to IPFS, CRUD updates are all done in the node network). The database is placed in the middle layer, and IPFS serves as the storage layer; this is borrowed from Web2’s snowflake. Everyone’s solutions are the same. There’s also the Chainlink function, learning from AWS’s Lambda; FVM is also about backend-less computing, with the core being EVM compatibility. That’s why I say it’s an engineering solution rather than an academic one.

Benli, Apus Network Developer

1) How do you view the computing track you are in: In our track, we see more projects shifting towards computing, like FIL, which has released fEVM, leaning towards the computing track. Storage public chain projects have thin landing scenarios; adding computing allows data to be processed, offering greater imaginative space. The track is still very popular, with projects like Flicker and Fluence also moving towards computing, so I see a bright future.

AIGC also requires a large number of edge GPU nodes for inference. With the boom of AIGC, computing power is becoming increasingly scarce, presenting an opportunity for us.

2) Views on other tracks: There are many tracks, but it’s not easy to thoroughly research one. I hope to have the opportunity to study more tracks.