I’m back from Consensus! I spent a majority of last week in Austin listening to some prominent names in Crypto and Web3, catching up with old friends and new ones, and soaking up the good vibes while everyone is treading water in the depths of a bear market.
As always, my heart and brain are full from all the conversations, companies, products, and most importantly people that have been doing their part and contributing to the crypto and web3 ecosystems.
It’s so empty! Jk, this was taken Wednesday morning so it was less busy.
This was my second time attending Consensus, so it was nice to compare and contrast my experience with attending last year.
Additionally, I attended ETH Denver in early March, so this conference gave me more perspective on the respective roles each conference has within the larger ecosystem.
So…let’s get to it!
Themes
We’re still here
There were almost 15,000 attendees at Consensus. Despite the market volatility, the regulatory concerns particularly in the US, and the uphill battle towards mass adoption, the space is seeing continued interest and energy.
There were less side events (or at minimum, they were smaller) and the conference floor was less hectic. However, this presented opportunities for quality conversations and more space to think and reflect.
The Speakers
I was personally impressed at the lineup of speakers at the conference and this was what I was most excited about. I mean, take a look at the first two rows of featured speakers! These are some heavy hitters that are shaping the future of Crypto and web3 🤯
Due to the caliber of speakers, I spent a majority of time at the conference attending the various sessions and hustling from one end of the conference floor to the other while taking notes for you guys. (Notes at the bottom 😉)
Though I would’ve liked to spend more time at the booths, the speaker quality forced my hand, and I didn’t mind.
As I’ve expressed in my ETH Denver recap I believe it’s important for attendees to truly experience the conference, and take it in. It’s hard to do, especially when you’re there for business and have a calendar full of meetings. I get it, I’ve been there for most of my career.
However, the serendipity of chatting with a speaker after their talk, attending a side event and meeting strangers-turned-friends, and giving yourself the space to explore the exhibitor booths has immense value as well. I’ve been fortunate to experience conferences in a way that lets me take it all in. Not just as a whirlwind of meetings and meals that turn into a box that is checked.
Regulatory Clarity is Needed to Move Forward
Regulation is probably tied with Accounting and Legal for least sexy niche in web3. However, this it is vital for the US to make progress on this front to hold their reputation as a global powerhouse for tech innovation.
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen the EU Parliament pass MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) regulation. This provides crypto operators clarity around guidelines to comply and operate in the EU.
Meanwhile in the US, Coinbase has been fighting for regulatory clarity and sensible crypto policy.
Check out what Coinbase is up to here
Here’s a sample of Consensus speakers from the political and regulatory sphere:
Christy Goldsmith Romero: Commissioner, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Rep. Patrick McHenry: Chairman, House Financial Services Committee - US House of Representatives
Cynthia Lummis: U.S. Senator, WY - U.S. Senate
David Burt: Premier - Bermuda Government
Julie Foerster: Project Director- Digital Assets - Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
The Honourable Philip Davis: Prime Minister of The Commonwealth The Bahamas
J. Christopher Giancarlo: Former Chairman, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
And that’s just from the ‘Featured Speakers’ section.
We don’t need to be crypto policy experts, but everyone should be leaning in at least a little to understand what is going on. For some of us, our businesses and livelihoods may depend on it.
1 Year Later Reunion
Outside of being at what I believe is one of the best crypto/web3 generalist conferences out there, Consensus has a special place in my heart because it was my first industry conference I attended.
This event was one of the first internal milestones where I realized that I wanted to be serious about the space, and not a tourist (which is fine, but be sure to visit again 😉).
I went from a naive web3 curious individual to someone that has survived rug pulls, been a victim of a scam, and has observed and analyzed the space for over a year. Still not an expert, give me 5 more years.
I hope to be a consistent Consensus attendee for years to come. Not for bragging, but for connecting — with the people, the mind, and the heart.
It isn’t a trip to Texas without BBQ and friends
Interesting insights, companies, and products
Journey - Consensus 2023: Last year, Consensus introduced DESK token. Conference attendees earned DESK by scanning QR codes at various locations of the conference and could redeem the social token for physical tokens for food and conference merch.
Why do my fingers look like little sausages? Must be the angle.
This year, Consensus continued to incorporate DESK with some improvements and adjustments, which continues to show how web3 can provide better forms of engagement. What did they do?
Placed the QR codes in more effective locations: Instead of placing the QR codes in arbitrary locations across the conference like last year, the organizers strategically placed QR codes around areas of interest and at each of the exhibitor booths. This led to more conversations, interactions, and opportunities for engagement.
Adjusted the value of physical DESK tokens: Last year each physical DESK token was worth $20 in food/drink/merch. This year, each physical token was reduced to $10. This devaluation was balanced with more opportunities to earn DESK.
Created an engagement program to earn DESK: The program encouraged participants to explore different areas of the conference, attend sessions (QR codes popped up at the end of each session), and visit the exhibitor booths (QR codes at each booth). There was a reward for the completion of each level and the first individual to complete each level was eligible for prizes like tickets to Consensus 2024. Not too shabby!
This type of experience was not only fun (at least for me lol), but also provided the right amount of incentivization for participants. On top of that, the conference organizers will be able to use this data to understand what aspects of the conference were more or less effective since this program was tied to a CoinDesk account for pass holders.
I expect to see more variations of this to appear in other events.
Hologress/Meta-Tailor - A digital asset platform for gaming and fashion
Meta-Tailor works with fashion and gaming developers to create assets that dynamically fit to character. For example, if you had a digital asset that was a shirt, Meta-Tailor’s platform allows that asset that ‘fit’ on a human, creature, or any other character, dynamically. No pre-fitting needed.
This results in more efficient asset creation and interoperability of those assets, pretty cool. Check out a demo here.
RNS.ID - Palau’s Digital Residency Program
Want to be a digital resident of Palau? Now you can for as little as $248. Palau ID is a digital legal ID that can be used for KYC. Notable digital residents include Tim Draper, Balaji Srinivasan, and CZ (of Binance).
Krypto Kredit - Building on-chain credit through everyday transactions
I was introduced to Elo and Matthew on the conference floor. The name of their company rang a bell, but I couldn’t recall from where.
Once they mentioned that they were finalists at ETH Denver, I immediately recalled them since I was there! Seeing a hackathon project turn into a full-fledged company looking to raise capital at a conference in 6 weeks is a sight to behold.
Rooting for you guys and your efforts to bring economic opportunities to the underserved 💪
FTSE RUSSELL - Analytics and Data for digital assets
I wasn’t expecting a tradfi financial services company to have a booth, but my interest was piqued. I had a conversation with Erin (Digital Asset Research team) and Kerstin (Digital Asset Research CMO) to understand the types of conversations they were having:
Partnered with Eurex (a European exchange) to launch the first Bitcoin index futures.
Partnering with institutions globally and seeing increased interest in digital assets from Europe, LATAM, and Asia
Institutions are particularly interested in staking (everyone loves that sweet sweet staking APY I guess)
US efforts are limited due to regulation, but they’re waiting on the sidelines
This continues to emphasize the need for the US to provide thoughtful regulation around crypto. The rest of the world is already moving ahead.
Have you seen a desk before? If so, share or subscribe!
People I met
Captain Southpaw - It was great to meet you IRL and thank you for introducing me to Krypto Kredit and RNS.ID. You’re 2 for 2, great taste sir!
The Myosin Team (Blake, Simon, Matt) - I expect there to be a Myosin House at every web3 conference moving forward 🙂
Matty + Exhale Studios - You and your team are builders through and through (and RTFKT maxis). Love it!
Jess - It was a pleasure chatting with you more about Algorand. I don’t spend enough time outside of the Ethereum ecosystem so it was nice to hear about the opportunities and areas of focus for you.
Jason + the Book.io team - From side event to the AirBnB, it was nice to learn more about content NFTs and the approach you’re taking late into the night.
Gr0w - It was great to see you again since ETH Denver, as well as getting to meet Bobcat!
The JUMP Community - Jeff, Marty, Chad, Dean, Max, Kolby, Khayyam, Dan, Ipalibo, Dale, Will, Tony, Nikki, Taylor, Blaine, David, Nick, and everyone else I may have missed. JUMP is the professional group that started it all for me. As an introvert, I sometimes have trouble finding a ‘group’ and getting out of my shell. I’m grateful I can be a part of this one and know that there will be JUMPers no matter which event I attend.
JUMPers literally jumping
Chris - Last and definitely not least, you were my conference roommate and it felt like we were two peas in a pod. From the countless conversations about web3 and beyond and sitting in on conference sessions together, I learned a lot from you. I also appreciate you encouraging that we explore Austin even though time was limited. I need to do that more when I travel for work.
Notes
The section you scrolled all the way down for! Feel free to share them with anyone that would find these notes to be helpful.
I’m slowly moving my knowledge base to Notion, so below is the link to the 10 sessions and the respective notes I took on them.
These are sessions I took notes on:
Web3, Brands and Unlocking the Next SaaS Wave
The Power of Community
Coinbase’s View from the Regulatory Hot Seat
New York’s Gatekeeper Weighs In
Crypto is (Still) Inevitable
How is Polygon Winning So Many Big-Name Brands?
Is a Fiat Crisis Looming?
Aping into Web3 Gaming with Yuga Labs
The State of DAOs in 2023
Lawmaker Town Hall
See you Thursday!
