From DeSci to DeFi, DWF Labs Toasts a Successful DevCon 2024

That’s a wrap for DevCon, the Ethereum conference hosted at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand. The four-day event, which brought together the industry’s movers and shakers, from solo devs to blockchain giants, has been hailed as a resounding success, with DWF Labs among the delegates flying back home to have shared their highlight reel.

Of course, it helps that DevCon 2024 took place during a time of peak market mania when all tokens – even ETH – have been pumping and optimism has been at an all-time high. For those who weren’t able to make it out to Asia, here’s a selection of the hottest topics and freshest takes from DevCon.

DWF Labs Toasts the Two De’s

There were two “De’s” that caught their share of the spotlight at DevCon as DWF Labs Managing Partner Andrei Grachev and Head of Primary Markets Fiona Clairema were keen to emphasize. One of these was DeFi of course, which has been on a tear all year, its TVL now approaching $120B as it prepares to test the all-time highs it last hit in 2022 – despite ETH still lagging compared to BTC.

The other “De” that’s been catching attention is DeSci, as anyone who’s been spending serious time in the Solana trenches lately will attest. Decentralized science might just be the next decentralized finance; at least that’s the impression of many of those in attendance at DevCon, where CZ and Vitalik both appeared at the Binance Labs DeSci day. DWF Labs has been keen to point out that Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong also launched his own DeSci initiative recently, Research Hub. Expect to be hearing a lot more from this emerging narrative in 2025.

As DWF’s Andrei recounts, AI agents were the other hot topic at DevCon, noting: “This was one of the most discussed topics during the week, particularly around AI agents and how they can change crypto UX. More related projects and memecoins are also emerging in the market that make use of AI agents, and we expect to see strong growth in this emerging sector.”

Striking While the Iron’s Hot

With the tailwinds that swept Trump to victory continuing to uplift the crypto market, DWF’s Fiona Clairema noted the optimism that’s permeating the entire industry, commenting: “Projects that launched tokens after the US election have enjoyed favorable price discovery thanks to the strong macro sentiments and BTC’s performance. A lot of existing projects are therefore aiming to list their tokens as soon as possible in 2024 Q4 and Q1 2025. Many projects also see this market as a good chance to fundraise.”

Given the deal flow that must have been passing through DWF’s hands at DevCon, it’s fair to say they have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to this critical crypto vertical. Fiona Clairema also spoke enthusiastically of the talk given by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake on the proposed Beam Chain to replace Ethereum’s Beacon Chain by 2029. This proposed upgrade is not intended to alter the Ethereum roadmap, but rather to aggregate a number of proposed upgrades to Ethereum’s consensus layer including support for native ZK proofs, fast finality, and smaller validators.

These are just a few of the highlights from DevCon 2024, which not only left delegates feeling far more bullish about where Ethereum is headed, but captured the mood that is palpable on every chain, ecosystem, and vertical right now. After so much promise and so many false starts, crypto is about to change the world. Buckle up.