Blog:
Five things we learned at Paris Blockchain Week
At Paris Blockchain Week, we were delighted to host over 300 industry professionals at the HUMAN Stars Up Night, which was just about the biggest side event of the week. People came for the startup pitching contest, and stayed on to learn and chat about HUMAN Protocol. The week itself was a time of new connections, chances for collaboration, and great insights. Here are the five key things we learned at Paris Blockchain Week 2023.
Many of the companies in attendance at Paris Blockchain Week were established Web2 companies. Some of them have found ways to enter Web3, and were there to extend the role blockchain and crypto could play in their business; many of them were attending to see how Web3 could help to enhance their business, and solve key issues.
Among these companies, there was a recognition of the value of blockchain technology. It was understood that this exciting, new wave of technology could bring about efficiency, business streamlining, and the opportunity for the creation of new economies, and business models. However, while the appetite was there, there was still evidence of the struggle to understand and adopt Web3 technologies, which has never been a seamless task. This is an issue we have consistently worked on - most recently exemplified by the development of a fiat on-ramp by a grantee, Basenode.
Ease of integration and adoption will be highly important going forward.
Blockchain technology has created the potential for innumerable spin-off technologies. What we observed in Paris was that certain projects have built and mastered a specific technology; and other projects are looking to collaborate to make use of that functionality, rather than having to build everything from scratch themselves.
It seems that ecosystems are becoming more collaborative than ever. Such openness signals the potential for an ever-increasing diversity of blockchain-based products, while also emphasising the need for transparency.
But they are still being talked about.
Last year, there was a huge amount of hype and excitement around NFTs. That initial frenzy has quietened, and the conversation around NFTs has matured to a more broad consideration of digital ownership, particularly when it comes to games. Web3 gaming companies were by far the biggest exponents of NFT utilities.
It was incredible to see the number of projects that are either based-on AI, or utilize AI in some form. That distinction is important - a company does not need to be, or brand itself, as an 'AI company' to utilize it in some form or another. In Paris, one thing that struck us was the diversity of projects using AI (and the diversity of ways in which it was being applied), from DeFi trading, to gaming, content moderation, and metaverses, the integration of AI technologies into Web3 projects was evident this year.
As a Protocol that is fuelling AI products by offering a new solution to data-annotation, this is something the we were excited to see.
At the HUMAN Stars Up Night on Wednesday, we revealed that a new product has been built using HUMAN Protocol. Ask Athena is a powerful new tool, built using HUMAN Global Queries, that allows marketing professionals to validate products and ideas, and enhance CTRs.
The positive response to the launch of the product made it clear: every project needs to test. Whether it is the branding for a DeFi project, or a Web2 luxury fashion brand, the requirement is the same: to test and validate their ideas by reaching real humans.
Did you miss us in Paris? There will be plenty more opportunities to connect. We'll be hosting more events, bigger and better parties - make sure you stay up to date with the latest by following us on Twitter or join our Discord.
Ultimately, Paris Blockchain Week was extremely useful, and informative. The key takeaway is that people and projects are valuing utility, validation, collaboration, and transparency. Importantly, we found that people understood how HUMAN Protocol fits into their tech stack, and how it can be applied to almost any project in one way, or another.
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The HUMAN Protocol Foundation makes no representation, warranty, or undertaking, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or reasonableness of the information contained here. Any assumptions, opinions, and estimations expressed constitute the HUMAN Protocol Foundation’s judgment as of the time of publishing and are subject to change without notice. Any projection contained within the information presented here is based on a number of assumptions, and there can be no guarantee that any projected outcomes will be achieved.
