Author: Zen, PANews
Less than a month remains until the opening of ETHDenver. This developer conference, held at the beginning of each year and highly anticipated by the cryptocurrency industry, has grown increasingly popular over the past three years. In 2025, even during a period of continued Ethereum market downturn, ETHDenver still attracted nearly 20,000 attendees to Denver.
However, this large-scale Ethereum-themed developer event has shown a notable cooling-off trend this year, bucking its previous upward momentum. Data provided by the cryptocurrency event information platform CryptoNomads reveals this trend:
During the 2023 conference, approximately 176 side events were registered. This number increased to 325 in 2024 and surged further to 668 in 2025. However, entering 2026, with less than one month remaining before the official start of the conference, the number of confirmed ETHDenver side events dropped to only 56, a decline of about 85%.
When the side event craze experienced a "bursting of the bubble," the once-proliferating side events were drastically reduced. This contrast sends a clear signal and has become a vivid illustration of the decline of ETHDenver and the current downturn in the industry.
Why did ETHDenver go from unprecedented success to a sharp decline?
The Myth of Over-Commercialization
ETHDenver, originating from local Ethereum community meetups in Denver, has always carried a strong atmosphere of "festivity and celebration." As a conference specifically focused on developers, it distinguishes itself from the heavy commercialization of traditional conferences through its free admission, community-driven approach, and core mechanism centered around a buildathon.
Meanwhile, Denver's more central location in the U.S., combined with lower costs of hosting events in non-coastal cities, allows attendees and participants to reduce their overall expenses. As a result, for a long time, ETHDenver has functioned more as a practical community gathering point, rather than a high-cost showcase event held in expensive coastal metropolises.
However, in recent years, there has been an increasing amount of criticism directed at the conference's positioning and changing atmosphere. Many people are questioning whether ETHDenver is transforming from its original tech-focused celebration of open-source hacker culture into an over-polished brand exhibition event.
During the grand ETHDenver 2025 event, some attendees jokingly described their experience as accidentally stepping into a corporate expo. Originally expecting to enter a "sacred place of decentralized innovation," they were immediately surrounded by a sea of corporate booths upon entering the venue. Major sponsors occupied nearly every space, and even the Polkadot booth was handing out free socks to attract attention.
Originally open and inclusive, and not relying on ticket revenue, ETHDenver's initial approach also encouraged a heavy influx of commercial sponsorships. Consequently, the atmosphere of the conference has quietly shifted. This shift toward commercial activities has led some Ethereum community developers to lament that the conference is losing its grassroots hacker spirit from earlier years and being diluted by a strong commercial promotional tone.
The Ethereum narrative is being diluted.
At the same time, the Ethereum-focused theme of ETHDenver has also been questioned.
Many attendees noted that in recent years, the conference has invited and accommodated numerous projects and sponsors outside the Ethereum ecosystem, leading to a broadening of themes and a blurring of the conference's Ethereum identity.
This criticism became a major topic in 2025, prompting John Paller, one of the conference's co-founders, to publicly respond. He clarified with data, stating that over 95% of sponsors and 90% of the content were still related to Ethereum and the EVM-compatible ecosystem.
Nevertheless, many people are still dissatisfied with the exposure given to other public chains and unrelated topics at the conference. Some comments pointed out that, after all, ETHDenver is not an officially organized event by the Ethereum Foundation; it merely uses the "ETH" name, making it easy to include various irrelevant projects and diluting Ethereum's originally focused thematic positioning.
When the main stage even featured guests promoting the idea that "Ethereum has declined" and advocating for switching to other chains, while other ecosystem projects' booths stood in the exhibition hall, the sense of a derailed theme and lost direction intensified the unease among veteran community members.
More concerning is that the industry's diverse narratives and categories have become yesterday's news, with many sectors nearly disappearing. Influenced by the broader environment, ETHDenver has also lost its former creative spark.
The term "creative block" became a common feedback provided by many attendees.
Expectations of a Boost and a Cooling Down from the New Cryptocurrency Policies
Behind the decline after a period of prosperity lies the significant impact of the Trump administration on industry sentiment. The "crypto president's" rise to power at the beginning of last year greatly raised expectations for new crypto-related policies. A large number of participants, filled with hopes for the arrival of a "crypto spring," flocked to ETHDenver, the major industry event held at the start of the year.
However, after a round of symbolic regulatory easing, the industry's situation has not improved effectively. While global risk assets, stock markets in various countries, and various metals have surged, cryptocurrencies remain at the bottom. The sentiment of "anything but crypto" has hurt the crypto community.
At the policy level, although the stablecoin bill was enacted last July, a broader regulatory framework is still under development. Currently, the progress of the cryptocurrency market structure bill is not encouraging. The Senate Banking Committee has repeatedly postponed the bill, pushing it back to late February or even March, and has shifted its focus to more urgent housing legislation that affects people's livelihoods. This contrast between the verbal promises of new policies and the disappointing reality has significantly dampened enthusiasm for participation.
Clash with the Chinese Lunar New Year
In addition to the above reasons, the opening day of ETHDenver 2026 is scheduled for February 17, which coincides with the 2026 Chinese Lunar New Year.
If participants from Europe and the United States can still treat ETHDenver as a regular work week, for many Chinese people and even countries and regions influenced by Confucian culture, this week is originally the least suitable time for business travel throughout the entire year.
After all, the Spring Festival is the most culturally significant holiday. Compared to small meetups, demo nights, or closed-door ecological events that heavily rely on "cross-time zone flights" and "team travel," the majority of people will naturally choose to put aside their busy and stressful year to reunite with their families and celebrate the New Year together.
However, according to the official narrative, ETHDenver 2026 still places "builders" at the center and aims to create a more integrated space in terms of venue, content, and experience. For teams that truly focus on delivery, this centralization could improve efficiency—no longer needing to spend energy navigating the city's logistics or filtering through information noise.
From the controversy itself, criticism does not mean the end. The fact that people argue about it also indicates that it is still expected and regarded as a symbol of industry culture.
Perhaps the real question in 2026 will not be about "how many fewer side events there are," but rather whether, after the crypto bubble bursts and hot money flows away, we can still retain those who are willing to ride through the cycles, relying solely on the technology and the community itself.