CoinDesk has concluded its long-running and highly influential Consensus 2024 crypto event, which has become one of the most exciting on the industry’s calendar. One of the main takeaways – it set a new standard for inventive interaction, with dozens of reactive booths to entertain and educate the thousands of attendees who dropped by.
The three-day conference ran from May 29 to 31 in Austin, Texas, and saw a host of well-known names in the crypto industry discuss the latest advancements in crypto tech, including the likes of Bitcoin developer Casey Rodarmor, Chainlink creator Sergey Nazarov, MakerDao’s Rune Christensen and Avalanche’s Emin Gün Sirer.
Aside from the main stage, attendees were able to explore dozens of interactive booths from some of the hottest crypto projects, and there was plenty to drink, eat, do and see.
Despite still being in May, it was pretty hot outdoors, which must be why Dabba Wifi’s booth became a popular port of call for event visitors, treating them with a refreshing cup of authentic Indian Chai. Visitors to the booth were given a free taste of India in the shape of its most iconic drink – the sweet, spicy and milky hot beverage that you see people gulping down everywhere you go in India, be it on the train, the streets or sari shops.
With a refreshing brew in hand, visitors were invited to sip away while they learned about Dabba’s ambitious plan to transform internet connectivity in India with its decentralized physical infrastructure network, or DePin network. The company recently announced Season 2 of its service rollout, with plans to deploy 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots both in India and across the world, alongside the launch of its Solana-based token, which rewards Wi-Fi suppliers. Dabba is attempting to incentivize Indians to fill a digital connectivity gap that has left approximately 44% of its population without reliable Internet access.
Dabba also provided free Wi-Fi access to attendees, showcasing the capabilities of its DePin network, alongside its ability to brew up a deliciously refreshing favorite that almost any traveler to India is familiar with.
The omnichain protocol Somnia, which aims to create a unified metaverse in which digital assets are fully portable across virtual worlds, also hit on a winner with its free, branded bags of popcorn that was handed out to every passerby at its booth.
Somia recently launched its flagship product, the Metaverse Browser, and was keen to showcase that milestone at the event. Alongside its booth, it hosted and co-hosted multiple events through Consensus, including the Consensus Coffee Meetup at Halcyon, the late night To Da Moon event by Meta Era, BitMart, AscendEx & P2P, and its very own Uniting Societies cocktail networking party on the final day of the event.
Another big draw was Polkadot, which provided a host of interactive experiences for attendees to learn, interact and build with its interoperable network and meet its founding teams. Taking advantage of its recent sponsorship with Nascar and Indy 500 race driver Conor Daly, Polkadot tasked visitors with earning Proof of Attendance Protocol (POPA) tokens by participating in four different pit-stop themed stations.
The first stop, Play with Polkadot, was focused on GameFi and immersed visitors in the world of blockchain games like Exiled Racers and Unique Network, while Interact with Polkadot was all about decentralized finance on Polkadot, teaching visitors how to custody, stake, swap and more within its DeFi ecosystem. Enterprise with Polkadot showcased the diverse, real-world applications of Polkadot’s growing ecosystem of apps, with visitors earning NFTs and POAPs as rewards for their participation.
Although time-consuming, the effort would have been well worth it for fans of Polkadot and motorsports, for the final “chill-out zone” pitstop gave attendees an opportunity to meet Daly himself, as well as his pink, Polkadot-branded Indy racing car for autographs, photos, chats and more.
