Original | Odaily Planet Daily
Author | jk
At the end of February to early March 2025, the cold winds of Denver, Colorado, are biting, but the enthusiasm of the crypto world is burning fiercely in this city. As the largest annual event in the global crypto industry, ETHDenver 2025 has arrived as scheduled, attracting developers, investors, and project teams from around the world to gather together. From the RiNo conference center to cafes and bars in the city center, discussions about blockchain technology and the sound of keyboard typing intertwine, collectively sketching a future picture of the crypto world.
This year's ETHDenver not only continued the technical fervor of previous years, hosting an official hackathon, but also showcased the resilience and innovation of the crypto industry amid cyclical fluctuations, with expectations surrounding DeFi, AI, Ethereum's roadmap, and king-level projects. Whether it’s the massive entry of institutional investors or developers exploring the AI ecosystem, this event has become a microcosm of the crypto world in 2025. Odaily's frontline reporters bring back firsthand experiences from the conference.
Billboards at Denver Airport boldly state: “The crypto market now has a market cap of $3 trillion, do you regret not buying more?”
DeFi and AI: Ice and Fire Intertwined, Institutions and Developers Parallel
As the largest Ethereum ecosystem event in the world, ETHDenver 2025 continues the enthusiastic atmosphere of previous years, but this year's focus presents a more complex picture. The two major ecosystems of DeFi and AI occupy most of the core topics, but the heat between them is distinctly polarized:
The Bitcoin ecosystem and institutional entry have become the absolute protagonists in the DeFi field. The entry of asset management giants like BlackRock and Fidelity, along with expectations regarding the Trump administration, have filled all theme meetings with the word “Institutional,” as developers attempt to carve out a piece of the trillion-dollar market. Institutional compliance custody solutions, developers' responses to institutional offerings, future visions, and ETF-based derivative protocols have attracted significant attention. One developer told reporters: “Since institutions have rushed in, the number of suit-wearing men you see in Denver has been increasing.”
An unexpected highlight came from the appearance of Trump Jr. At the DeFi World event, Trump Jr. logged in remotely as a special guest, interpreting many external views and doubts about the Trump administration. Although some of his remarks were considered to have a strong public relations flavor, they still sparked heated discussions among attendees. If you are interested in his remarks, you can read this article “Full Transcript of Trump Jr.'s Dialogue at ETH Denver 2025: Suggesting Newcomers Enter with Small Amounts and Continuously Learn DeFi.”
The AI ecosystem, after experiencing a price plunge at the end of 2024, appears somewhat fatigued, but leading projects still hold high flags. Projects like Virtuals and ai16z have sponsored several AI Agent Hackerhouses and various peripheral events, while Base and Sui, two major public chains, have also spent heavily to show their support for AI developers at the venue or during events. Despite the market having significantly receded from AI's previous peak, developers have not stopped their pace. Many engineers candidly told reporters that the AI solutions conceived last December are only now able to present an MVP; they believe that with the support of the public chain ecosystem, the AI concept will not falter in this wave.
Ethereum: Crowded Venues and Divided Consensus
As the "home ground" of the Ethereum ecosystem, ETHDenver 2025's Ethereum-related activities remain vibrant, but there is a hint of anxiety in the air: Events hosted by leading ecosystem players like Consensys and Linea are hard to come by, and the news of the new co-director of Ethereum has become a focal point of discussion.
However, in private conversations at cafes and outside events, many attendees openly expressed concerns: ETH's price has been stagnant for three years, yet the ecological narrative is becoming increasingly complex. Many voiced various doubts: Given that the Ethereum ecosystem performed poorly during the recent downturn, who still has confidence? What if many technical upgrades are not perceived as valuable by ordinary users? With the foundation openly selling tokens and constant disputes, is it time to consider alternatives? Various doubts emerged, and ETH Maxis have almost gone silent. Regarding whether the two newly appointed co-directors of Ethereum can turn the tide, developers mostly maintain a wait-and-see attitude.
Recommended Reading: “Vitalik Supports Aya Miyaguchi's Promotion to Chair, Can EF Reform Break the 'One Voice' Dilemma?.”
PMF, Decline of Modularization, and King Projects Stirring
This year's ETHDenver has seen the widespread dissemination of a new buzzword: PMF (Product-Market Fit). Whether in roundtable discussions or speeches, “finding PMF” has almost become a catchphrase for project founders. This term itself is not new, but just as people used to say “issuing tokens” instead of “TGE,” it has become a new hot topic in the context of a bull market. Projects like Movement, which successfully issued tokens, are attributed to having “reasonable PMF,” while other projects that launched and fell below their initial value are analyzed from this perspective. It can be anticipated that in the coming months, VCs may again question major project founders from the perspective of PMF.
In contrast to the buzzword, the once-prominent modular blockchain ecosystem has clearly cooled down, with a noticeable decrease in visitors to DA concepts and modular-themed activities that were previously very popular at other conferences. Developers are more inclined to discuss “how to quickly build applications using existing modules” rather than the abstract technical architecture itself.
One peripheral event was held at the local transportation museum, featuring various vintage cars.
At the same time, following the successful token issuance of king-level high-financing projects like Berachain, Story, Kaito, and MyShell, market expectations are now focused on a batch of king-level projects set to issue tokens in the next two quarters:
Monad, whose testnet was launched in mid to late February, with well-known projects like Uniswap and Layerzero already online on the testnet;
MegaETH, a public chain supported by high-performance parallel technology, seen as a strong competitor to Monad;
Babylon, as a leading protocol for Bitcoin staking and re-staking, has already launched several ecological projects, with high market expectations.
From the reasons behind this, people generally attribute the success of these projects to either having top-tier teams, significant top-tier venture capital funding, or aligning with many current hot topics; attendees have shown great enthusiasm for these projects.
Despite the controversies and divisions throughout, ETHDenver 2025 still demonstrated the resilience of the crypto world with over 30,000 attendees and hundreds of peripheral events. When developers discuss PMF at parties by the ski slopes, and institutional executives clink glasses with crypto OGs while holding local Denver beers, the industry seems to have found its rhythm again—stumbling toward the next cycle amid the collision of technological ideals and market realities.
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