Chinese crypto asset NEO has announced its second annual DevCon. The event will occur in Seattle in February of 2019. At press time, it has not been confirmed which companies will be attending, though NEO founder Da Hongfei states that several “tech-savvy” representatives from companies like Microsoft have been invited to speak. He says Seattle was chosen for its tech-oriented ecosystem and its large presence of blockchain developers.
The first DevCon for NEO occurred in San Francisco in 2018. Roughly 700 developers were in attendance, many of which flew in from Europe, suggesting that NEO is rising through the ranks as a serious crypto competitor.
What the Crypto Event Will Cover
When describing DevCon, Hongfei explains:
“This was just a project developed by Chinese developers, so we were really pleased to see people get involved from all over the world. As usual, diversity always rewards, and we had many interesting discussions and many novel ideas that were brought up.”
According to Hongfei, there are three kinds of developers whose attention DevCon 2019 will seek to gain. The first are lower level core blockchain developers. The second are those working on decentralized applications (dApps) like games that are built atop blockchain technology. Lastly, DevCon will work to attract developers that Hongfei says are trying to “pioneer blockchain transformation” and that have begun their own blockchain businesses.
Interestingly, it seems like one of DevCon 2019’s primary focuses will be future regulation. Hongfei states:
“Besides tech-oriented developers, we have also invited people from the government [Washington from their ICT section], plus people familiar with a regulatory framework for DLT to exist in. Technology subjects will be most of the focus, but we also have compliance, regulation and government adoption topics as well.”
Among the non-governmental or regulatory subjects set to be covered by DevCon are zero-knowledge proof protocols, cross-chain protocols, quantum-safe cryptography and distributed storage. Hongfei says that there are many serious “pain points” hidden within blockchain that need to be fixed before the technology can travel any further.
At press time, the crypto industry is trapped in rather bearish conditions. Though entities like bitcoin have seemingly gained value over the past few days, most major assets are not positioned well on the financial ladder.
The Price Isn’t a Good Indicator of a Coin
Hongfei isn’t bothered by this. He says that one can’t focus too much on prices. Rather, the true indicators of the market’s health involve people’s emotions and sentiments regarding the space, which he claims are still positive:
“I do not check the price very often, maybe every few weeks, unless there are big movements in the market. At NEO, we are more focused on the technology itself, as well as the ecosystem. I think the market always reflects people’s emotions, so I don’t think [price] is a good index for the future health of the industry.”
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