Ticketing – Earlybirds Invest

By now, we hope you’ve heard the news: In just two days, on July 17, 2019, the first wave of general Devcon tickets will go online at 6:00am PT / 9:00am ET / 3:00pm CEST / 10:00pm JST.

Today, we wanted to bring everyone a few details on the ticketing process in advance of Wednesday’s launch.

As always, we’re working to ensure everyone has a fair chance to attend Devcon, so ticket purchases are limited to 2 per order, and passes cannot be bulk-reserved. Further, we’ve maintained our limit of 20 tickets per organization to help as many teams as possible join us in Osaka.

Waves have been a bit of a rush in the past, but we’ve made changes to work toward a smoother process. We’re working through scholarship, builder, speaker, sponsor, and student applications early so that only those that need to purchase general admission tickets will participate in the public waves. Further, there will be more ticketing waves to come following this week’s release.

We’re also really excited to have made the move to an open source ticketing platform this year. We’ve had to put in some work to get it ready for the volume of tickets we sell and the particularities of Devcon, but we think it has really paid off. Not only is it more in line with our values to use this libre platform along with community-developed plugins, but we’ve also been able to add some fun customizations including a BYOB (bring your own badge) option and the ability to opt-in to swag. Swag opt-in will both guarantee you’ll the get the items you’re most excited about, and allow us to cut down on waste by not overproducing.

Finally, we wanted to re-share and updated bit of relevant information from last year’s blog on how our decisions are made to help create a welcoming and transparent process.

Ticket Distribution and Revenue Allocation

First up: More than two thirds of Devcon tickets are (still) either discounted or free, and geared toward builders and students among other groups. The remaining tickets are sold through a series of “waves” at about the same rate per ticket as the previous three Devcon events (a few € cheaper this year) — this covers the cost of the conference and any profits go towards operations at the Ethereum Foundation. This in turn lets us use our financial resources to give back to the community through funding core development and providing ecosystem grants. Additionally, scholarships and sponsorships from community leaders enable us to bring participants to Osaka who would otherwise be unable to attend, and to release the majority of tickets at discounted prices.

Waves

Waves are the way for anyone to purchase a general admission ticket. We are spacing out the timing of the waves so that we can apply the lessons we learn into future waves (i.e. fixing bugs, addressing up-time issues).

Coming Soon!

Soon after the completion of this week’s wave, stay tuned for more from us about the next ticket releases, as well as the first news on speakers and the timing of the final window for talk submissions.

Finally, we’re always open to your ideas and feedback to make this process better.

To stay tuned for future Devcon updates, follow Deva the Devcon Unicorn (@EFDevcon) or keep posted to the Ethereum Foundation Blog here.

devcon team

Key Takeaways:

Launch: Fan3 is now live on Avalanche, offering blockchain-based tools for fan engagement.

Access & Rewards: Digital passes and NFC wristbands offer secure ticketing and live-event perks.

Flagship Program: Pitbull’s Bald E’s Pass provides exclusive content and merchandise access.

Proven Team: Founders have sold over 300,000 livestream tickets and managed global artists.

Tech Backbone: Avalanche ensures speed, scalability, and low transaction costs.

The End of One-Sided Ticketing

Fan3 aims to fix a ticketing system that, for many fans and artists, has simply stopped functioning as it should. Hidden fees, scalpers, and data gatekeepers have made live events harder to access and trust.

Fan3’s answer? A digital wallet pass that gives fans priority pre-sale access through integrations with platforms like Ticketmaster and AXS. But it’s more than just early access—it’s a built-in layer of authentication that helps keep bots and scalpers out of the picture.

According to Fan3 CEO Ross Taylor, the platform’s mission is clear:

“We’re building a new music ecosystem that rewards both the artists who create and the fans who believe. It’s about empowering both sides through true ownership… and getting real tickets into real fans’ hands.”

Source: Fan3

Enhancing the Real-World Concert Experience

Fan3’s innovation doesn’t stop at digital passes. At live shows, fans can use NFC-enabled wristbands to tap in, confirm attendance, and instantly unlock perks or digital rewards. It’s a small gesture—just a tap—but it deepens the experience.

One standout example of what Fan3 can do is the Bald E’s Pass, developed in collaboration with music icon Pitbull. It’s more than a collectible. With it, fans get access to exclusive content, VIP drops, and behind-the-scenes moments—all sent straight to their phones. The idea is simple: give fans something that lasts, and a reason to come back.

Designed by Insiders, Built for Fans

Fan3’s founding team includes Steve Finan, Paul Rose, and Ross Taylor—music industry veterans who pivoted during the pandemic to sell hundreds of thousands of livestream tickets directly to fans. Their real-world experience, coupled with the technological leadership of multi-award-winning CTO Richard Rauser, laid the foundation for Fan3’s onchain platform.

Their shared insight? Traditional systems were failing the very people they were supposed to serve. Fan3 aims to bridge that gap with a fan-first, artist-aligned solution that leverages blockchain to rewire relationships, rather than complicate them.

By building on Avalanche, Fan3 taps into a blockchain designed for speed, low costs, and scale. Its consensus mechanism delivers fast finality with minimal fees—crucial for handling the demands of large-scale events.

And the timing? Just right.

Fans are fed up with broken ticketing systems (think the Taylor Swift ticketing mess in 2023). Artists want more control. In that gap, Fan3 offers a new path—one rooted not in hype, but in real-world utility.