Ethereum Builder Highlights & Insights from Devconnect 2023

Touching down in the city of Istanbul for Devconnect 2023, “a week-long gathering of independent Ethereum events to learn, share, and make progress together” as defined in Devconnect’s Twitter bio, felt like coming home to a place we’d never been before. 

The Devconnect team made sure the Ethereum builders who traveled far and wide received a warm welcome at the Istanbul airport, while the city of Istanbul proved to be the perfect host with its unmatched fusion of ancient and modern cultures and rich history expressed through art, architecture, and arguably the cutest cats in the world. With a mission to inspire and empower the builder in everyone and onboard one billion participants to web3, Consensys showed up to Devconnect in full force with a roster of events, meetups, talks, presentations, panels, and (of course) parties.

Consensys Hyperlink for every shade of Ethereum builder

We kicked off Devconnect with Consensys Hyperlink on November 13th, an event series that brings the most influential topics, trends and thought leaders under one roof. Hyperlink inaugurated at EthCC in Paris earlier this year and found its way to Devconnect to ensure collaboration continues to drive progress in web3.

"In the realm of web3, true progress lies in collaboration. As partners in this dynamic ecosystem, we strive to gather the brightest minds and finest products to build the future together,” said Joe Lubin, Founder of Consensys. “Through collaboration, we unlock the boundless potential of web3 and redefine what's possible. We are excited to bring this vision to life in Paris and beyond.” 

Builders were offered a full day of technical talks, panels, and workshops to get them up to speed on all the permissionless innovation Consensys is enabling for the future of wallets, infrastructure, DAOs, L2 scaling solutions, NFTs, and more. There was an particular emphasis on the future of identity in web3 and how attestations enable proof-of-humanity to ensure discussions focused the most critical challenges to solve for mainstream adoption. 

Builders were treated to innovative experiences that brought web3 technology to life through thoughtful activations that put a spotlight on some of the amazing initiatives percolating at Consensys. Attendees selected an NFT to mint created by one of our featured builders. As they went through the claims process to mint, that same design was live screen printed onto branded t-shirts. 

MetaMask, Linea, and L2BEAT host Rendezvous to thank the Ethereum community

Next up, it was important for MetaMask, Linea, and our amazing co-host L2BEAT to thank the community for their steadfast support with a rendezvous party equipped with drinks, snacks, master DJs, and a killer view of the Istanbul bay.

The Linea x L2BEAT after-party created an energetic and engaging atmosphere, bringing together L2 and crypto enthusiasts, industry experts, ecosystem collaborators, investors, and innovators. The event facilitated vibrant interactions, encouraged collaboration, and provided a space for relaxation. The event was carefully crafted to nurture meaningful discussions, cultivate new connections, and celebrate the essence of Layer 2 technology and innovation.

Live on Linea, convening the Linea ecosystem IRL for the first time

To keep the Linea community buzzing we continued Devconnect with Live on Linea, the first of many IRL stops on the Linea Voyage. This event was the center point of the Linea ecosystem. With talks, panels, workshops, and meetups to explore Ethereum scaling, emerging markets, on-chain identity, decentralized social, and more. Our goal was to bring partners and developers together to connect with our team and learn more about the Linea ecosystem. To learn the three most important takeaways for L2s from Devconnect, check out: Three takeaways for L2s from Devconnect 2023.attending this event.

MetaMask Snaps Builder’s Meet Up: Decentralizing web3’s most used wallet 

It wouldn’t have been a proper Devconnect without a MetaMask Snaps team and fellow Snap builders meetup. Whether you were part of the initial Snap launch or a new Snap builder, this event offered insights and best practices for building and using Snaps. Snap builders were given the opportunity to share best practices, experiences, and learn from each others’ journeys. 

What made this meetup particularly special was that Snaps celebrated 60k installs by over 50K unique users at Devconnect, a testament to web3 builders willingness to evolve MetaMask as a community and in a decentralized manner.

Builder Nights L2 special edition presented by MetaMask, Linea, Polygon, Scroll, Fuel

After the great success of the APAC tour with speakers including Vitalik and Yat Siu, we brought Builder Night to Devconnect for another magic evening. This time dedicated to L2s with a very special group of speakers such as MetaMask Co-Founder, Dan Finlay and leaders from across the L2 ecosystem:  

• ​Hudson Jameson, VP, Polygon

• ​Ben Jones, Co-counder & Chief Scientist, Optimism Foundation

• ​​Sandy Peng, Co-founder, Scroll

• ​Nicolas Liochon, Head of Linea

• ​Nick Dodson, CEO & co-founder, Fuel Labs

It was an epic night where leaders across the L2 landscape came together to represent each of their chains and ecosystems, and discuss their shared challenges and approaches to solving them. One topic that was top of mind for many was the forthcoming Dencun Upgrade and how EIP-4844 is set to level the L2 playing field with lower prices for all chains. 

Consensys and Ethereum Foundation core devs discuss Dencun Upgrade and “Role Call” for L2 standardization 

With the forthcoming Dencun Upgrade top of mind for many builders, especially those working on L2 networks, following core dev discussions on EIP-4844 and how it’s set to evolve the Ethereum protocol through improved data availability was a must while at Devconnect.

As the next major upgrade to the Ethereum protocol, several discussions and panels highlighted that EIP-4844 will enable proto-danksharding, a new form of accessing data on L2 networks that renders existing methods such as call data obsolete. This is exciting news for L2 networks as the Dencun fork fundamentally evolves how L2s interact with the Ethereum base layer and will not only make transaction finality faster - but cheaper. 

In addressing these technical challenges, we were intrigued to learn of the new working group forming that aims to set standards for L2s called, Roll Call. Look out for this group and their work to create interoperability amongst L2s to make frontend development for builders more seamless and hopefully more beautiful though improved UX. Roll Call will introduce RIPs, with the same function as EIPs, which stands for Roll-Up Improvement Plans. 

Cherished memories and more to come from Devconnect 2023 

Devconnect 2023 was an incredible experience that deepened existing friendships, fostered new ones, and showed the world yet again that the Ethereum community thrives through decentralization, collaboration, and innovation. We will be sharing a playlist of all panels, presentations, and talks once they’re available. Follow us on X (Twitter) to be informed once the playlist is published.