Consensus 2023 Brought the Brightest Web3 Minds to Austin
Web3 isn’t going anywhere, as leaders from across industries converged on Austin to discuss the industry’s future
Consensus was the best Web3 conference of 2023 by more than a mile!
From the all-star panelist discussions to unbiased multichain events throughout, there was plenty going on for the nearly 15,000+ people gathered in Austin, TX.
The Future of Web3
Thanks to Coindesk, the speaker sessions were the best place to hear about the future of Web3 from a wide variety of the industry’s most credible perspectives. Many thought leaders and industry professionals spoke at the event, including Circle Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO Jeremy Allaire, LVMH Global Head of Web3 and Innovation Nelly Mensah, celebrities like William Shatner and Jon Heder, and a range of US politicians and representatives from agencies like the CFTC and IRS.
Here are a few trends I tracked during the conference—
The one and only Brycent interviewing Yuga Labs CGO Spencer Tucker
Ready Player Everyone: Gaming and The Metaverse
Web3 has big plans for gaming and the metaverse this year, and we learned a lot about how that will play out. Of note is the shift from user-generated content (UGC) to user-generated experiences (UGX), which is a meta-trend that’s likely to onboard new users to the ecosystem.
Delta Blockchain Fund Founder, Kavita Gupta had some great direction for brands looking to enter the space during her panel with Piper Alderman Partner Michael Bacina and BreederDAO CEO Renz Chong. Interactivity and engagement are key goals for many Web3 (and Web2) projects. However, the metaverse needs to be built with intuitive UX, beneficial tokenization as well as monetization options. Brands looking to enter should be prepared to invest in creating a great experience above all else.
Daniel Alegre was very frank when explaining how the metaverse long existed in online games like World of Warcraft. He should know–he was President and Chief Operating Officer at Activision Blizzard prior to becoming the CEO of Yuga Labs. He’s focused on removing the stigmas around Web3 and the metaverse with well-designed gaming experiences in Otherside and other games based on BAYC IP.
Expanding the Expected: IP and Digital Collectibles
David Maisel gave a fascinating talk about the early days of Marvel Studios and how it correlates to Web3 and Mythos Studios. Listening to him speak was truly inspiring. He truly believes in the power of art to make a difference when it’s freely shared versus sitting stale in a museum. While the industry focuses on utility and tech, Maisel reminded the audience that art itself has priceless value, too.
Oana Ruxandra outlined some great information on how musicians and celebrities can leverage digital collectibles. As Warner Music Group’s Chief Digital Officer, Ruxandra works closely with artists as they explore both the metaverse and Web3. One big takeaway from her talk is the importance of how you can expand upon your existing audiences needs as you plan your go-to-market strategies for releasing an NFT.
Andre Lyon also echoed these sentiments in a panel discussion with music industry veterans as they discussed the importance of building community in Web3. Everyone’s incentives must be aligned, including the artist, investors, and fans, and the music industry is deeply interested in on-chain digital assets.
Austin Federa on stage outlining why Solana is the best blockchain
Cross-chain Development and Upgrades
The best part of Consensus is the cross-chain focus, and it’s clear Polygon and Solana are continuing to scale by attracting major brands and communities to their ecosystems. Web3 was compared to an industrial revolution and brand partnerships will be a major part of that as well.
Sai Krishna at Polygon Labs outlined how they leverage their resources to win deals based on their ability to partner with clients for long-term flywheel use cases, like Web3 and loyalty programs. Their white-glove service and technology helped seamlessly onboard major companies like Starbucks.
Austin Federa, The Solana Foundation’s Head of Strategy, explained the chain’s development and how it remains strong despite the FTX fallout. This includes new validator clients (becoming a multi-client chain), and new token features, like privacy-preserving transactions, improved transaction fees, and required memos. Solana is also heavily focused on its NFT community and creating better royalty structures in their smart contracts.
Cross-chain compatibility is a huge focus for both projects, as well as developers, as users should be able to seamlessly move digital assets wherever they want. As technology continues to develop, this was identified by multiple speakers as key to widespread adoption.
Experience > Bells & Whistles: Prioritize Multichain & Incentive Design
Something that stuck out to me was how much smoother of an experience Consensus was compared to other Web3 conferences we attended, like NFT.NYC and EthDenver. I attribute this to CoinDesk doing two things very well:
Multichain Inclusivity - A lot of industry conferences focus almost exclusively on Bitcoin and Ethereum. That’s totally expected at an event like Bitcoin Miami or EthDenver that is obviously meant for their respective maxis, but it gets tiresome at more industry-wide events when it still focuses on those two.
Coindesk did a great job of showcasing projects across different blockchains and bringing in expert panelists that understand the true decentralized nature of this industry, rather than just rooting for the one chain they got a huge bag on.
DESK - Coindesk’s DESK token proved how effective tokenization can be in creating engagement in live events. Our journey throughout the event included scanning QR codes scattered across the venue to collect tokens redeemable for food, drinks, and merch.
Although NFT.NYC did include this tokenization aspect, it was much more disjointed and spread throughout the city. Scanning QR codes felt much safer within the relatively secure confines of Consensus.
Check out my coverage of NFT.NYC for comparison.
Not going to lie, it’s been a busy week since getting back from Austin, but on that note, I especially want to give a special s/o to Kats.eth and Gr0wCrypt0, who won our two-day Consensus ticket giveaway and came out to join us for a memorable weekend.
We will definitely be working out ways to do more Web3 giveaways throughout the year, so subscribe to the newsletter and follow ZEITG3IST on social media to stay in the loop.
Also, TPan (who I ate the best barbecue of my life with) has a great Consensus recap that’s worth reading for more information about the major trends across business, tech, and regulation. It’s definitely worth checking it out for more insights.
Final Thoughts on Consensus 2023
I’m exhausted after attending three conferences over the course of the past month. But I’m also very confident about the direction this industry is heading in. It was great hearing from some of the most brilliant, creative, and innovative leaders from so many industries.
We had fun exploring the full exhibition hall and side events scattered around the city, but what really made the trip worthwhile was the speaker sessions. It was great hearing about the future of the industry from some of the most influential people in every sector.
It’s gearing up to be a busy summer as the technology continues to evolve and more brands, communities, and creators onboard into the ecosystem.
Lena Grundhoefer is the Founder of ZEITG3IST, a globally-recognized digital marketing and strategy agency. Through future-proof marketing solutions for the brands of tomorrow, we help Fortune 500 companies as well as brands just starting out break into web3.