Consensus 2024 - Recap

Consensus 2024 ended one week ago in Austin and it truly was a meaningful and special time for all who attended and there were a few key themes and takeaways that I wanted to share from my 4th Consensus to date. 

1- Optimism is infectious- Unlike 2023 when we were deep in a bearish financial and regulatory situation, C’24 had the benefit of the BTC ETF approval and the pending ETH ETF stance. Add into that a variety of bills in discussion and crypto hitting the Presidential race dialog and it seems the sentiment is no more about if, but about when.

2- Politics is taking sides - RFK Jr was probably the most attended session at all of Consensus and his embracing of crypto was certainly felt on the show floor. Messari’s Ryan Selkis and Uniswap’s Marvin Ammouri had a lively debate on whether crypto should be a Democratic, Republican or bi-partisan issue. It will be very interesting to see if post election in November, we see the same level of interest from the political sphere and the eventual President himself.

3- AI and Crypto go hand in hand - The topic was all over the show from many of the trade show booths to on-stage conversations to an entire day long summit at the Gen C stage which was extremely well attended. AI has as many problematic challenges as it also has opportunities and the blockchain and self sovereign identity and content ownership may be the answer we are looking for. I particularly enjoyed the conversation that Leah Callon-Butler and I had with Erik Voorhees and Teana Baker-Taylor about the essential need for privacy and encryption in the AI space, something they are building with Venice AI) and how easily the current big tech approach to AI will even more turn us all into a data mine for others to reap riches from and to help others manipulate the masses. 

4- Still here, still building - Ben Leventhal of Blackbird Labs and I had a deep conversation to wrap up our Brand and Creator Summit in which he said, and I am paraphrasing here, crypto is still not consumer grade but we hold a long view and we will get there and we will be ready for it. That sentiment is seen all around Consensus as we get more adoption, more use cases, more opportunities and more frameworks across the industry. From Justin Breton from Walmart to Laurie Keith from the AdCouncil, Natalie Bruss at Mith and Mattel’s Christina Lee , Erika W. and Dani Mariano from Razorfish, these are just a few of the many brilliant thinkers and builders who are setting the groundwork for how blockchain will power the future internet.

5- The Metaverse is happening, just not in the way we expected - From Ernest Cline (Ready Player One) and Neil Stephenson (Snowcrash) to Justin Melillo from Mona, Evan Helda from AWS and Winnie Burke from Roblox, the Metaverse was on full display at Consensus and it's not just gaming, it’s decentralized identity, it’s digital property rights, it his how many of us only connect in virtual spaces until we gather IRL, we are living in the metaverse, it is being built all around us and to ignore it is to not embrace the future.     

A challenging, and perhaps slightly controversial final thought. Yes there are too many crypto conferences, frankly there are too many business conferences in general. But being able to understand the value of them is important. During Consensus there was another conference happening in Europe, focused on the digital art ecosystem. I have no problem with competition and we can all rise together. I saw many in our community attending that and yes it is glamorous to be flown to an event and hangout with your internet friends but as I told many of the artists, creators and builders who attended Consensus’24, this is where the history is, this is where the visionaries are, this is where the capital is, this is where the developers and chains are, and your future patron and investor and co-founder and collaborator is simply a handshake away.

We need to understand ROI on events are not just about vibes but how you can forward your brand (both personally and professionally) and would you not want to be in the most influential room at the party if you were invited? I know I would.