ETHDenver
ETHDenver is an annual Web3 event that focuses on building and networking on the Ethereum blockchain and hosting hackathons. ETHDenver is managed by SporkDAO and was founded by John Paller in 2017. [1][29]
Overview
ETHDenver is marketed as the “largest Web3 #BUIDLathon in the world” with their #BUIDL meme as their moto. The #BUIDL meme came about in ETHDenver 2018 as the community’s reaction to the HODL meme that was widely used by the Bitcoin community. [2]
John Paller chose Denver as the ideal city to host the event as he aimed to transform Colorado's limited meetup culture. According to Paller, Denver is a city greatly populated by skilled developers and was undervalued as the country's hub for innovation. [3]
"I recall thinking how incredible it would be if we made Colorado the go-to destination for Web3 innovation and development. We have an abundance of people here - we host the most prominent meetups in the country, and we've never received recognition for it"
ETHDenver aims to amplify the Web3 community by making the event free of charge and also places its hackathon at the forefront of the event’s activities as a chance for people to display their creativity and talents. [3]
“We don’t charge for tickets, because it’s about giving people a blank canvas and a big tent to come and express their own creativity in a way that’s meaningful for them. It’s an egalitarian opportunity to have creative expression.”
Their mascot is a Bufficorn, a legendary creature that is a combination of a buffalo and a unicorn. The Bufficorn is said to offer reliable protection to the Spork Marmot and the Bufficorn Solstice is celebrated annually in the capital city of Colorado. The events were held at Gart Sports Castle, which was used to fit into their mythical, fantastic narrative. [14]
ETHDenver 2026
ETHDenver 2026 is scheduled to take place from February 17-21, 2026, with the theme "New #BUIDL City" and the tagline "The Last Bastion of Decentralization." The event will be held at the National Western Center in Denver, CO. Pre-event activities, including BUIDLWeek and Camp BUIDL, are set to begin on February 15, with a post-event SporkDAO Community Mountain Retreat planned for February 22-27. [29]
The 2026 event will introduce several new features, including the new state-of-the-art venue, simplified transportation options, summit-style programming with smaller stages for more intimate conversations, immersive experiences, and enhanced free and subsidized childcare. The conference programming will be organized into five tracks: EtherSpace (user-owned internet), Devtopia (infrastructure), New France Village (future of finance), Futurllama (future tech), and Prosperia (communities and ideals). [29]
Speakers
Announced speakers for the event include: [29]
| Name | Title | Organization(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Hester Peirce | Commissioner | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) |
| Joe Lubin | Co-Founder of & Founder and CEO | Consensys |
| Caitlin Long | Founder & CEO | Custodia Bank |
| Sreeram Kannan | CEO | Eigen Labs |
| Danny Ryan | Cofounder & President | Etherealize |
| Tomasz Stańczak | Co-Executive Director | |
| Patrick Witt | Executive Director, President's Council of Advisors for Digital Assets | The White House |
| Johann Kerbrat | SVP and GM of Crypto | Robinhood |
| Ameen Soleimani | CTO | 0xbow.io |
| Robert Drost | Executive Director and CEO | Eigen |
| Keone Hon | N/A | |
| Austin Griffith | Founder | BuidlGuidl |
| Maria Shen | General Partner | Electric Capital |
| Griff Green | Co-founder | Giveth, Unicorn.eth |
History
ETHDenver 2018
ETHDenver 2018 was a notable event for the ETHDenver community, as it solidified the organization's values of learning, building, and community engagement. The event had a roster of 35 speakers and received support from 65 sponsors, with food trucks and stalls on-site to enhance the overall experience. However, the event was plagued with multiple technical difficulties from the outset, most notably with the WiFi connection. Furthermore, the event had a loose structure, which was brought to attention during the opening ceremony by the keynote speaker. [30]
Some of the unique features of the event included a diverse range of technical and non-technical workshops, a maker space, a chill-out room with a DJ, and live music. [8]
ETHDenver 2019
ETHDenver2019 used innovative blockchain technology to facilitate their event. One such example is the use of uPort and Taiga Market for user identity verification during the application process. Applications were prioritized based on a deposit of ETH. ETHDenver created its own ERC-20 token, buffiDai, which attendees could use to buy food and play games. To facilitate fast spending of funds, burner wallets were used to spend buffiDai. Additionally, ETHDenver hosted a scavenger hunt game where participants would receive an NFT from Gitcoin called Kudo. In terms of their hackathon, they introduced 3 of the 4 tracks: bounty, open, and impact tracks in 2019 giving their BUIDLathon more of a structure and providing more opportunities for participants of the event. [5][9]
Burner Wallets
At ETHDenver, a Burner Wallet was used to facilitate transactions for food trucks, vendors, and participants. Attendees received a SolidCoin with an Ethereum private key in the form of a QR code, allowing them to easily seed a wallet and receive instant onboarding into cryptocurrency. Food trucks signed up for a Wyre account, scanned a vendor private key, and displayed a QR code for participants to pay for their meals. [10]
ETHDenver 2020
ETHDenever 2020 was the first ETHDenver event that featured the creator and chief scientist of the Ethereum Foundation, Vitalik Buterin. ETHDenver 2020 marked a significant moment for the ETHDenver community as the organization transitioned to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Attendees who passed Fortmatic's identity verification process received a badge, granting them membership to ETHDenver 2020 and the ability to participate as a DAO stakeholder. [13][13]
The event took place at Denver's Sports Castle, a multi-story warehouse with a continuous corkscrewing ramp connecting its six floors. The atmosphere was described by one attendee as a "hacker dystopia" with an energetic, mission-driven culture. A notable session featured a joint Q&A with Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, who both expressed optimism for the future of cryptocurrency in their states. The event featured an inclusive approach, providing scholarships in partnership with Bounties Network, Devcon Scholars, and Apprentio to promote geographic diversity. The Burner wallet was also implemented into ETHDenver 2020, and free childcare services were also available. In addition, attendees had the opportunity to engage in a variety of activities, including an arcade with both blockchain-based and traditional games, guided meditations, and art installations, earning reputation and voting power in the DAO by participating. [12][13]
ETHDenver also hosted a #BUIDL week from February 10 to 13, 2020, DAOFest hosted by DAOStack on February 13, 2020, and a Mountain Retreat in Breckenridge, Colorado, from February 17 to 20, 2020, to further promote community building and learning. [12]
Pega Bufficorn
ETHDenver 2020 introduced a new mascot, said to be a friendly cousin of the Bufficorn, Pega bufficorn. Pega bufficorn is a limited-edition creature that has been added to the popular online game, Adopt Me. This hybrid creature is a cross between a buffalo and a unicorn with wings, and it features unique characteristics that set it apart from other creatures in the game. The Pega bufficorn has a distinctive mane and a set of large horns that give it an impressive appearance. In addition to its striking physical features, the Pega bufficorn has a special ability to create a magical aura around itself that can boost the mood and happiness of other players in its vicinity. [13][14]
ETHDenver 2021
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ETHDenver 2021 was held entirely online. The event took place for 7 days, open 24 hours a day, and offered a wide variety of activities, including talks and workshops by top blockchain influencers and experts. Through multiple sponsors, they had $250,000 up for grabs for winners of the hackathons and as an incentive for people to participate in live games and BUIDLing. ETHDenver 2021 consisted of live AMAs, live gaming, meet and greets, and also looked for ways to make a virtual replica of the Sports Castle on mediums such as Minecraft and VR. [16][17]
One of the main topics of the occasion was NFTs, where there were seven presentations on the main stage. Speakers and listeners discussed the use cases of NFTs and how they will evolve in the future. Alex Salnikov of Rarible explored the convergence of DeFi and NFTs, discussing concepts like fractional ownership and using NFTs as collateral. Despite the growth, Zach Burks of Mintable highlighted the user adoption challenge, stating, “the gateway for interaction with NFTs just isn’t there yet.” The discussions covered future applications beyond digital art, such as using NFTs to represent real-world agreements like mortgages. [15]
ETHDenver 2022
ETHDenver 2022 was the largest and longest-running Ethereum event in history, with more than 20,000 people registered to attend, and over 13,000 people attending the official gathering. The event featured non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and Ethereum's major upgrade from a proof-of-work mining model to proof-of-stake. The conference featured a wide range of activities and services, including massages with crystals, meditation rooms, workshops for circuitry tinkering, a life-size chess set, bean bags for napping, and a puppy playroom. [18][19]
Speakers included former U.S. presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who announced that cryptocurrencies would be accepted to pay off taxes and fees in the state of Colorado. ETHDenever 2022 was also known for its diverse attendees as the conference was also filled with venture capitalists, speculators, politicians, and EDM enthusiasts. [20]
ETHDenver 2023
ETHDenver 2023 took place from February 24th to March 5th, with attendance estimated between 15,000 and 16,000 for the main event and another 4,000 for various side events. The conference featured over $2 million in bounties and prizes. [21][26][27]
Key themes of the 2023 event included interoperability, Zero-Knowledge (ZK) technology, and web3 gaming. A significant moment of the conference was the deployment of ERC-4337 for Account Abstraction on the Ethereum mainnet, announced during the WalletCon side event. Other prominent side events included the Axelar Interoperability Summit, ZK Day, and PoolyCon. [26]
The event also highlighted contributions from university students, with teams working on developer tools and solutions focused on user experience, security, and privacy. Notable student-led projects included 0xPass, an SDK for account abstraction; Modulus Labs, which used ZK-proofs to verify AI models on-chain; and HoneyDApp, a security tool for dApps. Additionally, the Polkadot Blockchain Academy announced a partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, for its third educational course. [27]
The BUIDLathon attracted 6,000 individual competitors and resulted in nearly 400 project submissions. Speakers included Colorado Governor Jared Polis, Ethereum Foundation Researcher Danny Ryan, and Mythical Games CEO John Linden. [31][28]
ETHDenver 2024
ETHDenver 2024, themed "The Year of the SporkWhale," was a ten-day innovation festival that took place from February 23 to March 7, 2024. The festival welcomed an estimated 20,000 attendees and featured over 600 speakers. The event was divided into three main parts: BUIDLWeek (February 23–28), the Main Event (February 29 – March 3), and the MTN Retreat (March 4–7). [23][24]
The BUIDLathon hackathon featured over 10 million fund to invest in projects emerging from the event. Attendance was free for SporkDAO members, with regular tickets priced at 2,500 for non-members. The festival also included Camp BUIDL, a free educational initiative for those new to Web3. [24][25]
Speakers included Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Sreeram Kannan (EigenLayer), Illia Polosukhin (NEAR Protocol), Jayendra Jog (Sei Labs), Rene Reinsberg (Celo Foundation), Eric Chen (Injective Protocol), Kara Calvert (Coinbase), Michele Korver (a16z crypto), Michael J. Casey (CoinDesk), Caitlin Long (Custodia Bank), Andy Bromberg (Beam), Fabian Vogelsteller (Lukso), Sandy Peng (Scroll), and others. [25][29]
ETHDenver 2025
ETHDenver 2025, themed "Year of the Regenerates," took place from February 23 to March 2, 2025, at the National Western Complex in Denver. The festival, organized by SporkDAO, was structured into BUIDL Week (February 23-26) and the Main Event (February 27 - March 2). [32][33]
The event maintained its focus on community, education, and innovation within the Web3 ecosystem. The broader ecosystem heavily participated, with organizations like the Filecoin Foundation hosting and sponsoring numerous side events. These included the DePIN Day summit, Gitcoin's Schelling Point conference focused on public goods, and various workshops centered on decentralized storage, Layer 2s, and DeFi. [34][32]
