Queridos amigos,

It’s happening. Devcon is back!

When we first announced that Devcon would take place in Bogotá, we spoke about all the city had to offer, and what we dreamed the event could become.

Later this year, we will finally meet in Bogotá. With Devconnect now wrapped up, our team is working to bring Devconnect’s older sister, Devcon, to life. We can’t wait to unite the Ethereum ecosystem in the vibrant capital of Colombia.

But enough with the teasers! Today we’re releasing details on ticketing, speaker applications, supporter information and more. Enjoy!

Ticketing

This year, as in prior years, we will feature both public ticket sales and application-based ticket sales at a discount. In addition to offering standard methods for ticket distribution, we will also be experimenting with an on-chain Raffle+Auction to sell a portion of Devcon tickets in a pre-sale.

More information on the Raffle+Auction will be released in a separate blog post in the coming days. For now, let’s dive into the ticket types, prices, and timelines.

Ticket Types

General Admission ($599 USD/DAI) – “The original ticket to Devcon.”
No ID required.

Builder *† ($299 USD/DAI) – “For those who actively volunteer their time to the growth, research and development of the ecosystem. If you’d like to apply for a Builder discount, click here.“

Student *† ($149 USD/DAI) – “For students & educators alike. If you’d like to apply for a Student discount, click here.“
Secondary/high school, College, or University

Volunteer * (Free) – “If you are interested in Volunteering at Devcon, click here.”

*ID Required at check-in to prevent resale
†Additional discount available for Builders and Students from Latin America

Timelines

Pre-sale

Raffle+Auction start & end dates: TBA

Discount Ticket Applications

• Open: June 6
• Close: June 30
• Responses sent on a rolling basis

Main Sale (in Waves)

• July 18 @ 16:00 UTC & 23:00 UTC
• July 26 @ 16:00 UTC & 23:00 UTC
• August 3 @ 16:00 UTC & 23:00 UTC
• August 11 @ 16:00 UTC & 23:00 UTC
• August 23 @ 16:00 UTC & 23:00 UTC

Speaker Applications

You can now apply to speak, give a workshop, or host a panel at Devcon VI! Applications are open until June 27 23:59:59 UTC.

Aligned values

If you are a builder, creator, or thinker who wishes to improve this world through decentralization, and using Ethereum, we’d love you to apply as a speaker at Devcon VI.

We are looking for content ranging from the deeply technological to the profoundly human. We encourage applications from all community members who are dedicated to a specific cause and who want to engage attendees with a holistic approach.

Speaking slots include (but are not limited to) talks. You can apply to host a workshop, panel, or lightning talk.

Empowerment

Ethereum is global, and with Devcon, we want to help cultivate communities in different locations around the world. We are actively looking for a diverse set of speakers to reflect the diversity of the Ethereum community. This year Devcon is bringing the Ethereum community to Colombia, and we encourage voices from the LatAm community to apply as speakers.

Application process

Applications are open until June 27 23:59:59 UTC. You should hear back on the status of your application before the end of July.

Spots are limited and the process is highly competitive, so make sure to include all important information in your application. Each application will be reviewed by at least two reviewers, and while their decision is final, if you don’t get accepted there are still lots of other ways to get involved at Devcon VI, for example by submitting a DIP.

Head to the Devcon Programming page for more information on session formats, the benefits of speaking at Devcon VI, the expectations, this year’s track themes, and how you can apply. Please reach out to support@devcon.org if you have any further questions.

Supporter Program

This year, we’re trying something new: A Supporter Program in lieu of traditional sponsorships.

How does it work?

Aligned teams will have the opportunity to contribute toward Ethereum-related public goods to grow the Ethereum ecosystem, and further technologies that help us move forward together.

As a thank you, we’ll be allocating Supporter Tickets to Devcon VI to those who give back to the community by supporting public goods that benefit Ethereum.

Who can participate?

If you’re building applications or infrastructure that benefits Ethereum and you’re interested in participating or learning more, click here to inquire for more information!*.

*as Supporter Tickets are tightly limited in availability, entities are subject to a review prior to participating in the Devcon Supporter round.

Location

It’s been a while since we first shared information about this year’s Devcon location. So let’s dig back in and summarize the best parts once more!

Bogotá

We weighed different factors and the feedback from the community to pick the ideal place for our next gathering, and we believe that Bogotá is the right place to hold Devcon VI. Why?

Bogotá is one of the most popular cities in Latin America and the streets are filled with art, culture, flavours, and history.

The venue

We couldn’t be more excited about Devcon VI’s venue: The Agora Bogotá Convention Center.

It is fully modern and equipped with WiFi, meeting spaces, and everything a conference like Devcon needs. It is also just a few minutes from Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport and from the historic Santa Fe and Candelaria neighborhoods.

One of the reasons to hold Devcon VI in Colombia is the potential community growth in Latin America. The Road to Devcon is paved with Ethereum events in LatAm and we are amazed to see the community growing!

For more information on why Bogotá and what to expect, see our City Guide

Stay tuned for more!

Get ready to secure those tickets and speaker roles. We will share more information with you over the next weeks, and the pace is about to pick up. Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities, more detail on the sections above, recommendations for your stay, getting around, and more.

Xoxo,

[PRESS RELEASE – New York, United States, May 5th, 2025]

The EVM-Compatible Blockchain continues on its mission to facilitate an affordable blockchain ecosystem with fees as low as $0.01.

Shardeum, the autoscaling Layer 1, today announces the launch of its long-anticipated Mainnet on May 5th, 2025. It follows a highly successful testnet phase that attracted over 1.4 million global participants, and over 171,000 physically run validator nodes – the highest among Layer 1 testnets.

The Mainnet launch marks the transition from an extended period of research and development to the deployment of a live Layer 1 network. This milestone is a major step forward in the network’s mission to solve the blockchain trilemma, enabling global users and developers to experience decentralization, scalability, and affordability without trade-offs.

“We’ve built Shardeum with the conviction that the future of Web3 must be open, inclusive, and truly scalable,” said Srini Parthasarathy, Chief Technology Officer. “Mainnet is not just a technical milestone; it demonstrates that the blockchain trilemma – once seen as a tradeoff – is genuinely solvable. Our community’s unprecedented validator participation is clear proof of our commitment. And we achieved this by ensuring that running a node is accessible and straightforward for anyone.”

“Shardeum is proving that scale, security, and true community ownership can co-exist on a single Layer 1,” said Adam Struck, Managing Partner at Struck Crypto. “They are building an autoscaling network, and anyone can help secure it in under a minute. Launching mainnet with a record-size grassroots validator set is exactly the kind of milestone that convinces us Shardeum will be the foundation for the next wave of Web3 applications.”

With Shardeum’s Mainnet launch comes a myriad of features as well as its Token Generation Event (TGE).

Key Features at Launch

Permissionless Validator Network:

• 171,000+ validators on testnet (L1 record)
• Mainnet genesis starts with 256 validators (2 shards)
• Spin up a node in under one minute via a single-command install – no heavy hardware or large stake required, enabling widespread community participation

Autoscaling from Day 1:

• Transaction throughput automatically scales as validator participation grows
• Gas fees remain consistently as low as $0.01, even under network congestion
• Dynamic state sharding and proprietary Proof-of-Quorum Optimistic (PoQo) allowing the network to scale near-infinitely as more nodes join
• Post-launch: Innovative validator accountability system involving automatic rotation of consistently under-performing nodes (avoiding traditional slashing)

Open Source Development: 

• Launching with 60+ open-source repositories and over 32,000 stars on GitHub, Shardeum’s codebase is open and transparent

EVM-Compatible & Developer-Ready:

• At launch, Shardeum will support popular explorer tools with seamless integrations with major EVM-supporting wallets, including MetaMask

Backed by Ecosystem Partners

At launch, Shardeum will be supported by partners including PrimeVault (secure treasury operations), Mintair (validator and operator services), and Tokensoft (airdrop and token vesting management).

Shardeum is backed by prominent investors, including Struck Crypto, Amber Group, Big Brain Holdings, Foresight Ventures, Arrington Capital, Jsquare/DFG, Amber Group, Axelar Foundation, The Spartan Group, Ghaf Capital, Jane Street, Alphemy Capital, Balaji Srinivasan, CoinGecko, and others, further reinforcing its industry credibility and market readiness.

The total circulating supply of SHM at launch will be 249 million. Token generation and listings will align closely with the Mainnet rollout.

Next Steps Following Mainnet Deployment

In the latter half of the year, Shardeum expects that developers will be able to begin testing smart-contract functionality, with stable dApp deployments expected soon after.

Global community events and meetups are planned to celebrate this launch, showcasing Shardeum’s vibrant decentralized community. Shardeum’s transparent and phased roadmap clearly communicates future network upgrades, including comprehensive smart-contract capabilities, ensuring the blockchain evolves transparently with community feedback at its core.

With Mainnet live, Shardeum moves from vision to reality, empowering developers, validators, and users to finally participate in a live, permissionless, user-friendly blockchain environment.

To learn more about Shardeum and its roadmap, users can visit https://shardeum.org/.

About Shardeum

Shardeum is an autoscaling EVM-based layer-1 blockchain. Dynamic state sharding helps keep gas fees low and TPS high as participation grows. Shardeum performs consensus at the transaction level and lowers the computational power needed for validator nodes. This consensus mechanism makes it possible for anyone to run a node while increasing decentralization.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, the total NFT sales volume across Immutable X and Immutable zkEVM increased by 55.3% quarter-over-quarter.

Messari’s latest analysis revealed that the figure rose from $51.2 million to $79.5 million.

Market Participation Plummets

Despite this growth, both the average daily sellers and buyers declined significantly, with daily sellers dropping 43.0% from approximately 1,500 to 880, and daily buyers falling 38.1% from about 1,300 to 800. This suggests a shift toward higher average transaction values amid fewer market participants.

The sales surge was primarily driven by strong demand for Guild of Guardians Heroes and Avatars NFTs, which accounted for more than 99% of the total NFT trading volume in the quarter. Most of the sales occurred on Immutable zkEVM, where Guild of Guardians NFTs are traded. Immutable zkEVM also saw a substantial 73.3% rise in average daily NFT sales volume, growing from around $484,000 in Q3 to $839,000 in Q4, boosting its share of total sales volume to over 97% across both chains.

During the same period, Immutable zkEVM saw a decline in user engagement following record highs in Q3. In fact, average daily transactions decreased by 21.1% quarter-over-quarter, from approximately 595,000 in Q3 to around 469,000 in Q4. Similarly, average daily active addresses dropped 23.8%, from about 267,000 to 204,000, and average daily new addresses fell 29.8% to roughly 32,000 by the end of the quarter.

This decline in activity mirrored broader trends in the GameFi market, which according to Messari, likely reflects a cooldown after the surge in Q3 driven by popular game releases like Guild of Guardians, Immortal Rising 2, and Illuvium.

Throughout last year, Immutable progressively expanded developer access to zkEVM. In October, the platform removed its deployer allowlist which allowed for permissionless deployment of smart contracts and applications. This move lowers entry barriers for developers, positioning Immutable zkEVM for increased developer activity in the coming months.

In Q4 2024, average daily transaction fees on Immutable zkEVM fell by 17.0% quarter-over-quarter, from approximately 574 IMX to 477 IMX. Messari attributed this decline to reduced network congestion, which was a result of lower transaction activity during the period. To improve the user experience, Immutable has implemented a policy where it covers all gas fees for Immutable Passport holders, removing the need for players to pay gas fees and thereby reducing friction in the transaction process.

By the end of 2024, the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) on Immutable decreased to $13.8 million. This decline was likely due to a quarter-over-quarter drop in the price of the IMX token, which reduced the USD value of locked assets.

However, TVL measured in IMX showed a positive trend, increasing by almost 17% quarter-over-quarter to 10.33 million IMX, which suggests that the rise could have been driven by capital inflows despite the decrease in USD value.

Immutable’s SEC Trouble

On November 1, 2024, Immutable announced that it had received a Wells notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – an enforcement action concerning its 2021 IMX token sales. Immutable expressed concerns over the notice and released a statement saying that it was issued with limited prior communication and minimal details.

The company had then highlighted that the notice was delivered shortly after its first direct interaction with the securities regulators which raised questions about the timing and transparency of the process.

Fast forward to 2025, the SEC has closed several of its crypto investigations, with no enforcement charges resulting from probes into OpenSea, Gemini, Robinhood Crypto, and Uniswap. However, investigations into Immutable, and other platforms such as Crypto.com, and Unicoin are still ongoing.