Unchained V2: A Conference for Polkadot Cross-Chain Expansion & Collaboration
TL;DR
Composable’s Unchained v2 will be a conference supporting collaboration and exploration in seamless chain-agnostic experiences. To do so, we will bring together the greatest minds in DeFi - from the Cosmos, Ethereum, Solana, and of course DotSama - for presentations, workshops, discussion panels, brainstorming sessions, and hackathons. We hope for this conference to result in a number of cross-chain collaborations, inspiration for new projects and solutions, and ongoing open conversations between different ecosystems.
Motivation & Ecosystem Benefits
We believe that this conference will serve the DotSama ecosystem by connecting Polkadot projects and participants with other networks. Thus, this will promote collaborations and partnerships amongst Polkadot teams and teams in other major ecosystems (Cosmos, Ethereum, and Solana). These inter-ecosystem collaborations can be made possible by Composable’s various cross-chain infrastructures.
Composable believes it is a great time to host Unchained v2, as in the few years since the first Unchained event, it has become increasingly clear that the future of DeFi is cross-chain. While cross-chain interoperability is not a new idea, we now have many of the tools and technologies to make it a reality, in addition to community-wide buy-in to this concept. With a crypto bull run apparently underway, now is the time for various ecosystems to unite in our efforts to bring DeFi to maximum utility and thus mass adoption.
Conference Overview
In its v2, Unchained will continue to work to unite different blockchain ecosystems and their projects and users, while incorporating the newest innovations in the space such as intent-centricity. At Unchained v2, we hope to bring together teams and thought leaders in Polkadot/Kusama, Cosmos, Ethereum Solana, and others as we discuss topics that are relevant to all, such as shared security, L1/L2s versus the parachain model, and more - with a particular focus on interoperability and how we can all collaborate to bring DeFi to mainstream use.
We plan to host this event around the time of the ETHBerlin Conference, which is May 24 to 26, 2024 in Berlin, Germany. This conference is hosted by the Department of Decentralization, who describe themselves as “a collective of people from various crypto, decentralization and peer-to-peer communities in and around Berlin”. This group organized the first EthBerlin in 2018 and has organized a dozen events and conferences since then, with significant popularity; the 3rd and most recent ETHBerlin in 2022 drew 1,000 attendees.
We chose to schedule around this conference not only because of the large crowd that it draws, but also because of the diversity of its participants. Ethereum is the original home and still the largest hub of DeFi, and thus many users and participants in other ecosystems also have interest and participation in Ethereum.
About Us
Composable is an organization dedicated to furthering the cross-chain decentralized finance space. We specifically aim to do this by powering the future of chain-agnostic intention execution. Having started out in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems, we have expanded our interoperable ecosystem (via the Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol) to also connect Cosmos, Ethereum (in testnet), and Solana (in development), with more connections planned in the future.
Grant Support
Composable hopes to host Unchained v2 through grant support from the Decentralized Futures program of the Web3 Foundation. The Web3 Foundation could be a co-host of this event with Composable, with Composable carrying out all duties related to logistics, planning, etc.
Feedback
We aim to submit this grant application in one week from publication from this forum post, incorporating community feedback into our plan. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on how to design and implement Unchained v2 in a manner that best supports the Polkadot ecosystem and its cross-chain expansion.
