Forget about price! Polkadot Decoded 2023 says bear markets are for building

Polkadot Decoded 2023 conference just ended and this year more than 100 speakers and 100 blockchain projects attended.

The beauty of cryptocurrency bear markets is that they stimulate a realignment of perspectives and goals.

All hidden leverage is gone and most of the speculation is gone.

SBF gone.

Do Kwon is gone.

Three Arrows Capital, Sue Cho, Kyle Davies and a handful of other vendors and sellers of snake oil were exiled.

And bad luck to them all. Cryptocurrency does not need hippies, messiahs, populists and dream sellers. What we need are builders, new ideas, solutions that fit the product to the market and some kind of real-world applications.

This is what I love about blockchain conferences. Especially during a bear market.

The first buidl mentality is the whole atmosphere of Polkadot Decoded. Over the past two days, a tight-knit community of ecosystem siblings made up of developers, investors, ambassadors, and a few curious journalists like myself have converged at the Oxnehallen Convention Center tucked away from the bustling cobblestone streets of central Copenhagen, Denmark.

The location is almost idyllic given that it is a surprisingly quiet space nestled discreetly within a thriving downtown, and that spirit was carried through during the conference events where the focus was:

• creating better interoperability between projects in the Polkadot ecosystem;
• making the blockchain more welcoming to builders; And
• Improved cross-chain bridges connecting Polkadot to Ethereum, Cosmos, and other blockchains.

Hardly anyone is talking about airdrops, token prices, memecoins, Bitcoin (BTC) hitting a new all-time high or any public conversation fodder that makes up the bulk of most crypto discussions.

It’s bigger than a dollar sign

Instead of price, speakers discussed the challenges and occasional successes of helping TradFi and Web2 companies transition to Web3, steps being taken to make VC funding for projects more transparent, and the need to put all crypto jargon and rigamarole into the backend for DApps and frontend UX to be smoother.

Many people even suggested not mentioning “blockchain”, “crypto”, and “Web3” in project websites, apps, roadmaps, etc.

According to CEO of Public Lobbying Julia Maresca:

“I think it’s not a matter of talking about technology because mass adopters don’t know how a phone works or Google Maps or any other technology. We need to create products that are really user friendly, but given the advantage that it’s built on Web3 technology. It has to be It’s really easy for the user; it shouldn’t be complicated. We shouldn’t be talking about wallets, bridging or doing complicated crypto stuff. People get scared once you start talking about wallets. It should be as easy as using Instagram.”

Speaking of Web3 and the need for cryptocurrencies to have better product-to-market compatibility and connectivity to real-world assets, I moderated the inaugural session at Polkadot Decoded, which focused on cross-chain entertainment within music and movies. It was an interesting conversation, given that the general consensus among creators and builders is that music and movies will be the most consistent when it comes to user growth and retention and their collective application of NFTs in everyday life.

During the session, Mareska explained why she believes there is a natural synergy between the creative industries and Web3 ideology:

“Web3 is a very social and creative space, and it aligns with the workflow and ideas of artists and creators.”

Maresca firmly believes that Phygital NFTs and experiences will gain a solid foothold in the fields of fashion design, the film industry, and all aspects of the music industry.

Providing a real-world example of how fashion brands like Diesel have entered the Web3 space, Maresca explained:

“Diesel would like to be more into Web3, so we helped them build a really strong concept with music at the center of their strategy, so Diesel acts like a discovery label, scouting emerging and established artists to give their art a voice. And they did a few drops with us already that were really successful, but we We’re planning a big drop for the beginning of September which will be a vegan drop.So I think now a big part of the future is Vegetal.It gives experience and facilities and what the community wants is to have a VIP experience.They want something from the brand, not just the clothes.They want to be Part of the Diesel family. It’s a long process and has a lot of education to C-level, but there are plenty of opportunities for the brands to work with the music community, fans and new fans.”

Ed Hill, senior vice president of media services at Beatport, emphasized that rather than being a mere buzzword, Web3 needs to become a tangible, actionable ideology within the entertainment industry’s corporate structure.

When asked about the disconnect between consumer desires, creators’ goals, and the products and experiences that the entertainment industry currently provides, Hill said:

“It’s hard to crack, but we have to dig deeper and build better communities. If you look at YouTube and Facebook, these platforms are building audience, and all anyone cares about is views, reach, impressions and things like that. We have to dig deeper into building community, and the failure to do so is why younger audiences are so disconnected from traditional Web2 social networking platforms, and I believe that over time, if we build better authentic communities from the ground up, that space gap between business, creator, and consumer starts to narrow.”

Related: The new Web3 ID app allows users to find each other based on proven interests

Community members are stakeholders, not just consumers

In my view, in my view, and in the view of most conference attendees, coding is about the community, and the most viable projects tend to take a very grassroots approach where members of the community are stakeholders and their desires are a factor in the direction of the project. Historically, every time the cryptocurrency sector strayed from this ethos and fell victim to the whim of money-chasers and demagogues, investors and community members were essentially robbed of their agency within the project.

For businesses to transition to Web3 in an authentic way to fruition, creators, consumers, and community members must be seen as more than a simple proletariat within a system focused solely on increasing revenue, polarizing culture, and transforming the creator’s intellectual property into corporate marketing trinkets. Encoder media should also take note, but I digress.

Similar sentiments, which culminated in an optimistic outlook on the future of Web3, were expressed by Define Creative founder Finn Martin, who said:

“What makes me excited about Web3 is that it provides all the tools and solutions to fix the problems that traditional Web2 suffers from. By moving assets on a thread, you can make it transparent to creators, and you can give them a direct return because the streaming model is currently broken. As a music maker, you own a fraction of a cent from each broadcast, and all of that can be processed and resolved via Web3.”

Blockchain should stop aspiring to be a socket of all trades

In general, huge blockchain ecosystems tend to feel disintegrated as investors and advocates feel lost in the multiplicity of goals and philosophies. These projects tend to struggle to clearly define their purpose, and this has the indirect effect of affecting the efficiency of the market fit.

Basically they’re still struggling with the age-old problem of cryptography, which entails creating solutions to problems that aren’t actually problems for regular people. What stands out to me most about Polkadot Decoded 2023 is a unified goal to make the series easier to use for builders, investors, and users.

Whether the project was an AMM, DEX, lending marketplace, blockchain gaming startup, IPFS storage solution, or cross-chain bridge, each panel pointed to the need for composability, interoperability, and transforming the concept of Web3 from thought into reality by building our architecture. Infrastructure for projects to thrive.

This is why I once again stress the importance of getting out from behind the screen and tradingView token price action charts and fellowshiping with the community at the conferences. No human being is an island, and there is value in finding a safe space to socialize, reflect, test and refine investment thesis and perspectives on the evolution of blockchains.

Hat tip to Polkadot Decoded for getting the combo right on the lock this year.