Web3, NFTs and a Solarpunk ethos thrive at the largest and longest running ETH conference in the world
by Alison Sher
from EthDenver.com
Is it a dApp? Is it a DAO? Is it a plane?
No, it’s a flying BuffiGwei.
That’s right - a BuffiGwei. A mix between a unicorn and a Colorado buffalo.
And if you don’t understand why this mystical creature is important, by the end of this post perhaps you will.
EthDenver is not your average conference. With this year’s confluence of NFT art with the crypto world, it feels more like a two week long Burning Man arts festival meets SXSW takeover of Denver, as much as it is a professional forum to discuss the burgeoning field of blockchain technology.
Beyond the A-list DJs and late night parties with open bars, EthDenver 2022 has proven that mass adoption of crypto is right around the corner. If, for no other reason than the hype that it is able to generate. But a lot needs to be done to create real world utility and translate this technology to the masses, before it can become a true sociopolitical democratization tool.
The protocols and developers in the space are building the next internet, and with it will come a new monetary system that has the potential to be organized around the principles of abundance economics. It was heartening to see so many professionals working to make crypto accessible to enough people for it to reach this critical mass conversion point and be a sustainable alternative to fiat.
The 2+ weeks of day-in-and-out presentations included talks about: proper accounting procedures, monitoring tokens for safety and sustainability, making web3 interfaces user-friendly by mimicking web2 design architecture, diversity and inclusion, and environmental stewardship - among many other topics in the jam-packed schedule.
ReSource CEO David Casey on Endogeneous Stable Coins and creating true internet money using the ReSource barter protocol
ReSource COO Ashley Taylor on how to prioritize making the adoption of crypto as a wealth-building tool for the masses feasible
ReSource CTO Duke Jones on micro-scaled localized manufacturing
Some other thought provoking keynotes included:
- 2020 Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang speaking about the importance of electing officials who want to minimize crypto regulations to harness it’s revolutionary potential as a vehicle to end poverty and redistribute power
- Griff Green, cofounder of giveth.io's, presentation on using crypto to monetize charitable giving, abundant economic principles and public goods
- The Winterproof Panel on real world assets and longterm vision of crypto-investing, linking the value cryptocurrency to tangible economic variables (featuring MakerDao, Centrifuge, Teller and ReSource)
The theme of this year’s conference that inspired the visual NFT aspects of it was solarpunk, which they defined as “an art movement that envisions how the future could look in post-scarcity societies. The aesthetic often focuses on renewable energy, technological innovation and living in harmony with nature.”
Solarpunk served as a reminder that even in the times when it may seem like:
- The sole purpose of crypto is to be one giant get-rich-quick scheme that might end in a rug pull...
- Or that the only reason the government has let us hacker kids build out decentralized infrastructure is so they can usurp it for their own ends one day...
- Or that there are far more benevolent ways to spend 1.74M USD than on a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT...
That crypto, web3, and metaverse technology has the potential to create systems that ensure individual sovereignty and collective unification, to dismantle oppressive power structures that rely on hierarchy to function, and usher in a sacred economic renaissance of prosperity. This movement is at its infancy; and as long as these core values stay intact within the protocols in the sphere, it is possible for us get there.
That’s why we must support Buffiwei and all the other heroic Bufficorns in their mission to defeat Moloch (the evil spirit running the empire). Because the movement must be entertaining, a story and a scene we all want to be a part of, for it to flourish.
So there you have it. The recap.
EthDenver 2022 — part intellectual congress, part visual feast — proving that there is truly no limit to our imagination and that the decentralized revolution is establishing itself in the mainstream.
Your friends at ReSource.