Is ETHDenver's Halo Fading as Side Events Potentially Shrink by Over 80%?

Original Author: Zen, PANews

There is less than a month left until the opening of ETHDenver. This developer conference held at the beginning of each year, which has garnered significant attention from the cryptocurrency industry, has grown increasingly popular over the past three years. In 2025, even as Ethereum remained in a prolonged slump during that period, ETHDenver still attracted nearly twenty thousand attendees to Denver.

However, this large-scale Ethereum-themed developer event has notably bucked its previous upward trend this year, showing striking signs of significant cooling. Data provided by the cryptocurrency event information platform CryptoNomads reveals this trend:

There were about 176 registered side events during the 2023 conference, which increased to 325 in 2024 and surged to 668 in 2025. Yet, entering 2026, with less than a month to go before the official conference opening, the number of confirmed ETHDenver side events is only 56, a staggering drop of approximately 85%.

When the side event frenzy experiences a "bursting bubble," and the once ubiquitous side events drastically shrink, this contrast sends a clear signal and serves as an intuitive footnote for the decline of ETHDenver and the current industry downturn.

How did ETHDenver go from unprecedented prosperity to a sharp downturn?

The Myth of Over-Commercialization

Originating from local Ethereum community gatherings in Denver, ETHDenver has always carried a strong atmosphere of "festival and revelry." As a conference specifically for developers, its mechanisms—free tickets, community-driven, and centered around a buildathon—significantly distinguish it from the heavily commercialized atmosphere of traditional conferences.

Furthermore, Denver's more central location in the United States, coupled with the lower costs of hosting events in such a non-major metropolitan area, allows attendees and participants overall to reduce their expenses. Therefore, for a long time, ETHDenver has resembled more of a compromise community meeting point rather than a high-cost showcase set in coastal megacities.

However, over the past few years, there has been increasing criticism directed at the conference's own positioning and changing atmosphere. Many have questioned whether ETHDenver is transforming from a technical event initially celebrating open-source hacker culture into an overly public relations-focused brand exhibition.

During the grand ETHDenver 2025, some attendees jokingly described their experience as accidentally stumbling into a corporate trade show. Expecting to step into a "sanctuary of decentralized innovation," they were instead surrounded by a dazzling array of corporate booths upon entering the venue, with major sponsors everywhere. Even the Polkadot booth was handing out free socks to attract attention.

The original open, inclusive, and non-ticket-revenue-dependent ethos also contributed to ETHDenver's eagerness to accept extensive commercial sponsorship infiltration. Consequently, the conference's atmosphere has subtly shifted. This turn towards a more commercialized event has led some Ethereum community developers to lament that the conference is losing its early grassroots hacker spirit, diluted by heavy commercial promotion.

The Dilution of the Ethereum Narrative

Simultaneously, ETHDenver's focus on the Ethereum theme has also been questioned.

Many attendees have noticed that the conference has increasingly invited and accommodated numerous projects and sponsors from outside the Ethereum ecosystem in recent years, with themes becoming more generalized, blurring the event's Ethereum-centric identity.

This criticism became particularly heated in 2025, forcing conference co-founder John Paller to publicly respond. He clarified with data, stating that over 95% of sponsors and 90% of the content were still related to Ethereum and EVM-compatible ecosystems.

Even so, many remained dissatisfied with the exposure given to other public chains and unrelated topics at the conference. Some commentators pointed out that, after all, ETHDenver is not an officially Ethereum Foundation-hosted event; it merely borrows the "ETH" name, making it susceptible to incorporating various unrelated projects, diluting the original Ethereum-focused positioning.

When even the main stage featured guests advocating for the idea that "Ethereum has declined" and shifting to other chains, while exhibition halls were filled with booths from other ecosystem projects, this feeling of thematic drift and loss of direction intensified the unease among seasoned community members.

More worryingly, the industry's former blossoming of diverse narratives and categories is now a thing of the past, with many sectors nearly disappearing. Affected by the broader environment, ETHDenver has also lost its former creative spark.

The term "creative exhaustion" became a common piece of feedback from many attendees.

The Rise and Fall of Crypto Policy Expectations

Behind the shift from peak to decline also lies the significant impact of the Trump administration's policies on industry sentiment. The inauguration of the "Crypto President" at the beginning of last year greatly raised industry expectations for his crypto-friendly policies. A large number of attendees flocked to ETHDenver, the industry's early-year premier event, filled with anticipation for the arrival of a "crypto spring."

However, after a round of symbolic regulatory easing, the industry's situation did not improve effectively. While various global risk assets, national stock markets, and metals soared, cryptocurrencies alone remained in the doldrums. The "Anything but crypto" narrative stung the crypto community.

On the policy front, although the stablecoin bill was enacted in July last year, broader regulatory frameworks are still under development. Currently, the progress of the cryptocurrency market structure bill is not optimistic. The Senate Banking Committee has repeatedly delayed the crypto market structure bill, pushing it to late February or even March, with its focus shifting to more urgent, livelihood-related housing legislation. This contrast between verbal policy expectations and the disappointing reality has also affected people's enthusiasm for attending the conference.

Clashing with the Lunar New Year

In addition to the reasons mentioned above, the opening day of ETHDenver 2026 is set for February 17th, which directly clashes with the 2026 Lunar New Year.

While European and American participants might treat ETHDenver as a workweek, for many Chinese and even broader Confucian culture-influenced regions and countries, this week is inherently the least suitable for business travel all year.

After all, the Spring Festival is the most culturally significant holiday. Compared to small meetups, demo nights, or ecosystem closed-door meetings that highly rely on "cross-timezone flights" and "team collective travel," the vast majority would choose to set aside a year's busyness and troubles to reunite with family and celebrate the New Year together.

However, from the official narrative perspective, ETHDenver 2026 still places "builders" at the center and attempts to create a more integrated field for activity spaces, content, and experience. For teams truly focused on delivery, this centralization might improve efficiency: there's no need to expend energy navigating city logistics and information noise.

Looking at the controversy itself, criticism does not signify death. The debates surrounding it also indicate that it is still anticipated and regarded as a symbol of industry culture.

The real issue for 2026 might not be "how many side events were lost," but rather, when the crypto bubble recedes and hot money flows away, whether we can still rely on technology and the community itself to retain those willing to weather the cycles.

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