BUIDL Asia 2024 has once again shown itself to be the premier gathering for Web3 professionals in the Asia-Pacific region. As the official PR partner for BUIDL Asia, we were at the heart of the action, with access to the innovation and collaboration highlighted across the event. Join us as we share our recap of the event, our role in telling its story, and the themes that defined this year’s event.
Setting the Bar High at BUIDL Asia 2024
BUIDL Asia 2024 has once again set the standard as one of Asia-Pacific’s leading annual crypto and Web3 conference, connecting visionaries, innovators, developers, and builders since 2018. Held in the vibrant city of Seoul, this year’s event brought together an incredible lineup of speakers including Ethereum Co-founder Vitalik Buterin, NEAR Protocol Co-founder Illia Polosukhin, Messari VP of Research Maartje Bus, Animoca Brands Co-founder and Chairman Yat Siu, and other representatives from major crypto players like Anoma, The Solana Foundation, Celo Foundation, ChainLight, and more. Hosted by Kryptoplanet Founder Erica Kang, the two-day event saw important discussions such as AI integration in blockchain, chain abstraction and interoperability, and the bridge between Web2 and Web3.
BUIDL Asia continues to play a pivotal role in driving innovation and collaboration, firmly positioning Asia as a global powerhouse in the future of Web3 and crypto development.
Shaping the Web3 Conversation at BUIDL Asia 2024
As the official PR partner for BUIDL Asia 2024, we looked towards highlighting key innovations and announcements at the conference to the public.
Our goal was to raise the profile of key speakers, showcase panel discussions, and ensure the insights from Seoul resonated across the industry. We built relationships with the media, managed the press lounge, and connected spokespeople with journalists, with the focus on highlighting Asia and its influential role in shaping the future of the industry moving forward.
3 Key Themes from BUIDL Asia 2024
BUIDL Asia 2024 highlighted several major trends in Web3. Here’s a deep dive into 3 themes we identified:
1. Integration of AI and Blockchain Technologies
The event covered a fireside chat featuring Vitalik Buterin, Co-Founder of Ethereum Foundation, and Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol discussing the state of AI and crypto, and what needs to happen for this concept to be realised.
“We need more sophisticated software for AI-crypto models whose goals and incentives are explicitly aligned with the user side to protect the user. Helping users understand the difference between interacting with a secure vs insecure system is going to fall on software like that. On the practical side, we need to ask what the business model and incentive mechanisms would look like,” said Buterin.
When asked where Buterin sees the immediate and long-term future of the intersection of AI and crypto, he said, “To me, the immediate intersection is things that don’t require fancy cryptographic techniques or formal systems that we are not sure exist. Basically, applications where AI is at the edges because those are the applications where AI can continue to run as is and does not need to be modified in some crazy way and the risks are the lowest.”
Polosukhin added, “The benefit with blockchain that we have is that we can create incentivised networks to incentivise some type of behaviour, and even if it’s not working, we are kind of running a gradient descent for the people to find the right approach.”
2. Chain Abstraction and Cross-Chain Interoperability
Vitalik Buterin, Co-Founder of Ethereum Foundation took the stage to officially kick off the day’s agenda on the future of account abstraction and how it can enhance both the security and convenience for Ethereum users, with the goal of streamlining user experience and integrating advanced security features moving forward.
Buterin shared, “For the past 10 years, Ethereum has really been focusing a lot on improving the very bottom-level theoretical properties of the chain… The next 10 years are going to be about really upgrading the ecosystem at the user level.”
“This is a big work in progress, but I think for the sake of improving user experience, convenience, and security, this is an extremely important one,” said Buterin.
Illia Polosukhin, Co-Founder of NEAR Protocol underscored the importance of chain abstraction as a key advancement in blockchain technology, with the aim to harmonise user interactions across diverse blockchains. This approach simplifies the blockchain experience, enabling seamless access to various applications and smart contracts without the complexities of navigating multiple platforms.
“Chain abstraction is what we want to achieve. We’re trying to achieve this invisible infrastructure, similar to how the internet works. You want to ensure that users and developers are not limited by infrastructures and be really able to navigate the wallet,” said Polosukhin.
3. The Bridging of Web2 and Web3 and the Future of DeFi
Makoto Inoue, Data Analytics Developer at Ethereum Name Service (ENS) took to the Builder Stage to deliver his keynote on the expansion of ENS beyond Web3. Inoue also touched on ENS’s latest development, the introduction of gasless DNSSEC. This innovation enables users to convert their Web2 domain names into an ENS name at no cost, encouraging a smoother transition for more users into Web3.
“People always say it’s Web2 vs Web3, DNS vs ENS – but that doesn’t really help us across the canvas. If we can combine the two, DNS and ENS, we’re stronger together”, said Inoue.
Brian Pak, CEO and Co-Founder of ChainLight, covered the dangers and complexities of ZK technology, emphasising the importance of rigorous security measures and expert understanding to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
“Exploiters rely on the fact that people make mistakes. As we secure some of the vulnerabilities, they’re going to look for the next target where people are going to make mistakes, so unless we secure this technology to the point where we’re very certain, ZK is going to be the next target,” said Pak.
Until Next Time
Thank you for a wonderful BUIDL Asia 2024, and we hope to see you again!
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