EthCC Returns for Year Five in Paris

Paris is hosting the Ethereum Community Conference this year from July 19 to 21. 

“Building for the Future”

EthCC is back for round five in Paris.

From July 19 to 21 the French capital will be hosting the Ethereum Community Conference, the largest annual European Ethereum conference entirely created by the community, for the community.

“Communities are at the heart of the Web3 ethos,” said Ethereum France President Jérôme de Tychey. “Whatever the economic context, communities are what remain… EthCC will continue to be the perfect place to nurture our community… and focus on doing what the Ethereum folks do best: sharing knowledge and building for the future.”

This year’s conference will probably feature discussions around “The Merge”, a term widely used in the crypto community to reference Ethereum’s upcoming transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. The upgrade will, among other things, reduce the emission of ETH by about 90% and curb the blockchain’s energy usage by 99.95%. The Merge is currently scheduled for September or October.

The conversation will certainly not be single-mindedly focused on the upgrade, however. EthCC head Bettina Boon Falleur said that the crypto space was at a “pivotal point of growth” and that she was “excited to see more applications going beyond crypto native audiences, and introducing different focus areas like social impact, sustainability, Web 3 social media and legality.”

Over 200 speakers from around the world will be taking the stage, including Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, Gitcoin founder Kevin Owocki, StarkWare co-founder Eli Ben Sasson, and Toucan Protocol operations and culture lead Beth McCarthy. Various panels, side events, and parties will also be hosted.

Vetted startups will also have the opportunity to pitch their projects to top crypto Venture Capitalists (VCs) such as a16z, Sequoia, Framework Ventures, Cygni Labs, and BPI.

The excitement around the conference heavily contrasts with current market conditions. Ethereum is trading at about $1,045 at the time of writing, about 78.5% down from its Nov. 10 all-time high of $4,878. The market downturn has also led gas fees to hit a 20-month low. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.