It’s roughly two months until the 5th edition of the ETHPrague Hackathon & Conference, making us the longest-running recurring hackathon in the same city in Europe.

There is something important about meeting in real life. Culture doesn’t grow only online. It grows when people share the same space, ideas, and moments together.

That’s also why the location matters. But…

Given the strong history we have in the Ethereum community, the look of our past editions, and the many side events we’ve organized, some people from the roots of the Ethereum community have recently become skeptical about ETHPrague.

The reason? 
We got too commercialized:

• by organizing the event in a fancy venue

• by accepting sponsorships from big companies

• by inviting speakers and attendees from outside the Ethereum community

  • This begs a second question: “Are we even still an Ethereum event?” (We’ll get back into this later)

Our answer is pretty clear.

ETHPrague is still an Ethereum community event.

And we’re writing the following paragraphs so you can better understand our point of view and the reasons behind the actions we take.

In fact, we even ditched the idea of growing in numbers in favor of growing in quality.

Prague’s Municipal House (Obecní dům) was originally built as a symbol of sovereignty and cultural identity. In a way, bringing Ethereum builders here reflects something bigger: crypto is no longer an experiment happening in industrial garages or obscure corners of the internet. It’s moving into the center of the city, because decentralization is gradually becoming part of the foundation of a new civilization.

Moving to a new venue with such history and a fancy vibe might give the impression that we’re becoming corporate and that the whole event is now much more expensive.

Honestly, we would love to have tons of money to flex 💸💸💸💸 But that’s not the case.

Why did we move?

1. Our previous venue at Tržnice was no longer available.

2. We knew this and had already booked Výstaviště, a much larger venue where the event could gradually grow over the next ten years.

3. But last year we decided to ditch the idea of “growing in numbers” in favor of growing in quality, because we’re not interested in ETHPrague becoming another trade fair.

4. Therefore we switched to a venue that is simply more inspiring.

5. So we can inspire others to build to last.

And even though it might not seem like it…

• the venue-related costs are actually on par with previous years

• also thanks to the option of having much of the equipment included in the rental

👨🏻‍🏫 As our founder Josef Jelacic bitched at us during our sync call:

“We want to grow, but not in numbers, in quality and signal. Ethereum isn’t just a cryptocurrency. It’s the world computer that can solve societal problems far beyond the next token design or higher tx throughput.”

This needs to be said. We want to evolve and we want Ethereum as such to grow - we want others to reap what the technological advancements that Ethereum enables

So if you’re expecting the same thing on rinse and repeat, ETHPrague was never supposed to be that. What we want is to keep opening the community to newcomers and people with relevant interests and ideas who could benefit from discovering what Ethereum actually is.

We want to learn from outside opinions. We want to open up dialogues.

That also means inviting crypto skeptics, regulators, or even banks who are increasingly leveraging Ethereum, and letting them mingle with talented hackers and the core Ethereum community.

Accepting sponsorships from companies that make big money doesn’t mean the event is becoming commercial - but with most crypto projects “cutting their event budgets” this is a necessity for survival of the mission - It simply means we can make the event happen.

• The core community comes first - it actually largely decides on the schedule

• Builders - the hackers 

• Founders - the doers 

• Tech enthusiasts - Ethereans & nonEthereans alike 

• People from outside the bubble - to build unexpected connections 

• Crypto-sceptics and even regulators - as we are trying to understand them the same they are trying to understand us

Why? Because if Ethereum shall ever help to solve real world problems, it must intertwine with the world out there. 

Our goal is to connect people from both worlds. Because that’s the only way to spread the positive narrative of the upcoming revolution, not just monetary-wise.

So just remember. We were always all about community. And we always will be.

The beauty and art around us are for everyone. In fact, appreciating art is not something reserved for elites or luxury events.

Culture is created when art, technology, and people meet, and spaces like this remind us that innovation is not only about code, but also about the values and aesthetics of the world we want to build.

We want to give you a taste of Prague with as much of its beauty and culture as we can offer. Because our venue represents exactly what Prague is about.

And we’re incredibly proud to have the chance to walk you through it.

See you in May,
Team ETHPrague

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