Sponsored by Gnosis, DappCon 2025 just concluded. It convened leading figures from across the Web3 ecosystem to explore cutting-edge developments and reimagine the possibilities of a decentralized world. The first conference brought together over 80 diverse speakers, from protocol architects and policy experts to privacy advocates and user experience researchers. Attendees were wowed by a pitch competition from over 25 startups, giving a glimpse into the future of what’s next on the Web3 innovation frontier.
The jam-packed event opened with a raucous, high-energy VC Day. Startups were able to showcase their innovative ideas, pitching directly to qualified, top-tier investors. The energy and builder-first spirit of this next era of Web3 was especially amplified in this invite-only event. Keynote presentations and panels were filled with stimulating discussion on important subjects such as artificial intelligence and privacy enhancing solutions. They discussed how community currencies have shifted in the blockchain space.
Keynote Speakers and Protocol Upgrades
DappCon 2025 featured an amazing roster of talented speakers. Their passion and deep knowledge regarding the state of Web3 and where it’s heading provided a real spark. Joe Lubin, CEO and Founder of Consensys and Co-Founder of Ethereum, and Vitalik Buterin, Co-Founder of Ethereum, engaged in separate fireside chats, offering their perspectives on the evolving landscape. With a keynote address from Martin Köppelmann, Co-Founder of Gnosis, the conference continued to demonstrate its commitment to innovation and cutting-edge strategies.
Toni Wahrstätter also dived into the nitty-gritty of core protocol upgrades, with an in-depth explainer on EIP-7886 and EIP-7928. Collectively, these proposed improvements will significantly enhance the scalability and user experience of the Ethereum network. This upgrade lays the foundation for mass adoption and makes way for more complex decentralized applications. These technical discussions armed attendees with more technical know-how about the infrastructure that powers such an ecosystem and what it could look like under the Web3 umbrella.
Ann Brody and Paul Dylan-Ennis shared insights inspired by their scholarly work “Tending the Infinite Garden.” Their scholarship rigorously investigated the social and economic vibrancy of these self-declared, decentralized, emerging communities. It provided some very helpful ideas to help create inclusive and sustainable ecosystems. This presentation illustrated the necessity of including the human element in the design and development of Web3 technologies.
AI and Prediction Markets Take Center Stage
AI was the runaway star at DappCon 2025. It felt like half the presentations and workshops focused on improving or building decentralized applications—or dApps—with the help of AI. Gnosis AI’s Gabriel Fior demonstrated production-grade versions of autonomous bots that trade on prediction markets. He made the case for how AI could improve market efficiency and automate necessary processes in a smart, efficient way. That demonstration showed the promise AI holds to transform and improve the future of decentralized finance (DeFi), enabling a more robust, sustainable cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The conference featured deep discussions on the future of prediction markets. Today’s topic was on the importance of these markets to the decentralized forecasting and decision-making. We often took deep dives into the Circles protocol, particularly v2.0. Its creative approach to community currencies and decentralized governance ignited fascinating discussions inside and outside of government. Attendees explored the potential of prediction markets to provide valuable insights and drive more informed decision-making processes across various industries.
The DappCon 2025 startup showcase ending with an awards ceremony, rewarding the most innovative and promising projects. Onit, a new prediction market protocol, took home first place overall, wow-ing judges with its rigorous, unique methodology and potential social impact. Taking second place was XO Market, a decentralized prediction market powered by the modular blockchain Celestia. This milestone is a testament to the growing momentum and creativity in this space.
Privacy and Community Currencies
Privacy solutions and community currency initiatives were big themes of the event since its inception at DappCon 2025. Conversations focused on the need to protect user data and ensure privacy in a future of decentralized applications. These experts dived into a number of methods, such as zero-knowledge proofs and secure multi-party computation, to improve privacy while maintaining usability.
Through the investigation of alternative currencies, we unearthed many inspiring examples and ideas for building more localized, decentralized, and resilient economies. The Circles protocol is built upon the power of social connection and mutual support. This serves as an ideal use case for how decentralized technologies can advance community empowerment and foster increased local economic autonomy. Attendees shared their ideas on the difficulties of actually implementing community currencies. They identified the significant opportunity, exploring challenges such as scalability, security, and user adoption.
