“Just Keep Building” – The Narratives At DevCon 2024

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As someone who has been closely following the blockchain industry for over a decade now, it is fascinating to see how Ethereum continues to evolve and dominate the landscape. The insights shared at Devcon 2024 reflect a maturing ecosystem that is poised for even greater growth in the coming years.

DevCon, a highly anticipated event in the cryptocurrency sphere, consistently gathers the most creative minds working with Ethereum, including builders, adventurers, businesspeople, and users from various corners of the globe. The 2024 edition held in Bangkok was particularly enlightening.

If you missed the event, there’s no need to fret! We managed to connect with several notable representatives from prominent crypto companies who attended DevCon. They shared valuable insights that are currently trending in the industry. Let’s briefly review these key discussions and examine how they could influence the future of Ethereum ecosystem development.

AI’s Intersection With Crypto

A significant topic running consistently during the gathering was the increasing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Participants were more than willing to discuss how AI is expected to be assimilated into blockchain and Decentralized Finance (DeFi), specifically, with an emphasis on broadening accessibility and automation.

According to Ken Timsit, managing director of Cronos Labs, AI agents are becoming increasingly common, beginning with virtual avatars on social media platforms and eventually expanding into a wide array of customized agents.

As per Himanshu Tyagi, one of the co-founders of Sentient, it is likely that many participants will recall Devcon 2024 as the event signaling the start of the surge in the realm of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.

As a researcher delving into the realm of social media and cryptocurrency, I can’t help but feel a surge of anticipation regarding the role of social bots within the crypto infrastructure. These bots, interacting with the community via platforms like Twitter and Discord, are poised to spark the development of the future generation of cryptocurrency products.

Tyagi believes that AI has the potential to not only excel in areas like bots and agents, but also significantly boost crypto security. When asked about the most significant event at DevCon, he pointed out the launch of the OML 1.0 fingerprinting library by Sentient during the Open AGI summit as particularly impactful.

He assured us that these fingerprints will serve as building blocks for the Model Loyalty system, ensuring it remains manageable and stays in line with our community values.

Security Still A Major Focus

Constantly, the call for stronger security measures in cryptocurrency was a recurring topic at DevCon, and participants were heartened by several advancements indicating strides forward are being taken.

At the recent gathering, Nelly Cornejo, Chief Marketing Officer at iExec, emphasized that the standout moment was a discussion focusing on the influence of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and their role in enhancing the decentralization process within Ethereum.

He explained that TEEs could take a protocol to its limits. By integrating them with other cryptographic methods, we can strike the right balance of decentralization without over-empowering manufacturers. Since 2018, iExec has been pioneering this integration of Confidential Computing and blockchain technology, an endeavor that remains thrilling as the field continues to progress, with an increasing number of innovative applications emerging.

During a panel discussion titled “Abstract Bangkok” featuring Vitalik Buterin and other notable figures in cryptocurrency, Constantine Zaitcev, CEO of dRPC, found an intriguing comment about account abstraction particularly noteworthy.

As a researcher, I found that the discussion we had clearly demonstrated Ethereum’s dedication towards maintaining a decentralized structure. Moreover, it became evident how innovative technologies like Schnorr signatures have the potential to dramatically enhance user experiences by bolstering wallet security and usability aspects.

Besides being hopeful, Zaitcev believes that stricter regulations in the cryptocurrency sector could pave the way for more defined guidelines, striking a balance between innovation and adherence to rules. This, in turn, would encourage greater institutional involvement while tackling issues related to data privacy and security concerns.

L2 Networks Gather Momentum

At DevCon, layer-2 networks emerged as a frequent topic of discussion. According to Cornejo, it’s now widely recognized within the Ethereum community that robust infrastructure plays a crucial role in enhancing scalability and user experience.

He stated that upgrades aimed at increasing capacity have led to a substantial reduction in transaction costs, often by as much as 99%. To illustrate this, he referenced Ethereum transactions involving USDC from 2021, which averaged approximately $12 in gas fees. However, by September of this year, the cost had dropped to around $1 on Ethereum and less than a penny on Base, Coinbase’s L2 network. This represents a remarkable improvement, especially when considering that the average cost of an international wire transfer currently stands at $44.

Cronos Labs’ Timsit stated that their collaborative side event with Google Cloud, ZKSync, and other partners has underscored the increasing focus on interoperable Layer 2 (L2) blockchains next year. He anticipates that Layer 2 solutions, particularly zero-knowledge Layer 2 solutions, will serve as the primary strategies for expanding Ethereum’s ecosystem by the year 2025.

Based on Zaitcev’s perspective, there are numerous reasons to look forward to Second Language Studies (L2s), yet the most urgent advantage lies in cost efficiency and price reduction.

“The continued rise of layer-2 solutions and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) will make blockchain interactions more affordable and efficient, with dynamic pricing models for infrastructure services becoming standard​,” he promised. 

Cornejo contends that languages like L2 (second languages) are playing a significant role in the swift growth of blockchain technology as a whole, since they’re contributing to this expansion.

Remarkably, blockchain transactions have increased over fifty times their previous level in just four years. This surge is attributed to Ethereum’s Layer 2 solutions, faster-processing blockchains, and the ETH London upgrade, which significantly lowered fees for these Layer 2 networks.

Priorities Will Shift

Over time, numerous notable L2 networks have sparked a fair amount of competition among themselves, as solutions like ZK rollups and optimistic rollups vie for users while attempting to surpass one another. However, according to Mark Smargon from Fuse.io, in the approaching year these networks are expected to shift their focus away from each other and instead become more attuned to where the genuine competition lies.

Currently, individuals are focusing on past challenges that could potentially appeal to our investors, rather than brainstorming future issues that we can address for our customers, according to Smargon. There seems to be an excessive discussion about L2’s competing with each other and Ethereum versus Solana. I foresee that within a year, such debates will diminish as we prioritize expanding the market. Once we achieve this growth, cryptocurrency could expand 100-fold, and every team will understand that their primary competition is Web2.

The Memecoin Hype Will Expand

Currently, every Ethereum tour doesn’t miss discussing memecoins. According to Cornejo, they are expected to keep expanding their influence on Ethereum since the enthusiasm surrounding them shows no signs of slowing down.

In this current phase, meme coins are seeing a surge in interest, as noted by Cornejo. Interestingly, searches related to “meme coin” and “meme coins” have peaked at their highest levels in five years on Google Trends. Moreover, Pump.fun hit an all-time high with approximately 69,046 new tokens launched in a day. However, it’s essential to exercise caution as market dynamics shift. As Keynes wisely put it, “Markets can behave irrationally longer than you can stay financially sound.

Ethereum continues to be the preferred choice for developers looking for strong infrastructure, active community backing, and a well-established ecosystem.

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2024-12-09 13:40