Have we seen everything now? My impressions from CAC2023A

The blockchain and crypto asset industry is rapidly evolving, with new technologies and innovations emerging on a regular basis. To stay up to date on the latest trends and developments and to keep in touch with each other, industry professionals, enthusiasts, and founders attend conferences and events like the Crypto Assets Conference 2023A. In this article, I will share my impressions and experiences from the event. Have I seen the bulls come back?

Author: Katharina Zeuch

What did people at CAC have in mind?

The crypto assets ecosystem is currently characterized by both, the excitement to build and uncertainty as per the developments of the last months. The saying “Bear markets are builder markets” has led to the new hashtag #build during the still ongoing crypto bear market. Having that in mind, I was not surprised to see new topics and products being showcased at the CAC23A. Whilst DeFi and NFTs have been hype topics in 2021 and 2022, the ecosystem seems to explore business cases in the metaverse and ReFi (regenerative finance) space in 2023. We have seen the downfall of Terra Luna, Celsius, and FTX on the crypto side and the struggles of Nuri, Silvergate, and SVB on the traditional banking side. To me it seemed that this year’s sentiment could be summarized like this: “We are still here. What else should happen? It can’t get worse.” And with this sentiment, the ecosystem continues building and networking and builds sustainable, long-lasting relationships and business cases. 

New Ideas and New Faces 

A part of this building mindset at the Crypto Assets Conference is to open the stage to young startups. Six startups got the chance to pitch their business to the attendees and showcase the latest ideas and innovations in the industry. It’s been amazing to see my fellow BFG Superstars startups MeCash, basenode.io, and Particula pitching. 

Besides, I was happy to meet Web3 Talents again, who have been participating in one of the Talents programs (DLT Talents, DeFi Talents, NFT Talents, Bitcoin Talents) by the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center. Seeing them getting involved in the ecosystem after participating in one of the programs, encouraged me even more to be a mentor again in the next cohort of DLT Talents.

BLOCKTALES podcast goes real life

Conferences are a great opportunity to meet people in real life and network. As such, Sarah Gottwald and I were excited to have the opportunity to meet not only virtually for a podcast episode. Following the #BUIDL mindset, we wanted to do more. Thus, we organized a BLOCKTALES side event! 
As our podcast is focused on the people in Web3, we wanted to make it about the people and opened the stage for everyone to share their blocktales in 45 seconds. And because we can all learn from each other, we combined that with a round table discussion. We covered the topics of :

• “Navigating the world of web3 startups and venture capital” with Alexandra Overgaag
• “Bitcoin Lightning - Will it be the backbone of adoption?” with Oliver Schantin
• “How to get started with personal branding in web3” with me, Katharina Zeuch

We entered into lively discussions and valuable new insights. 
One of my personal highlights was the recording of my first “Live from conferences” podcast episode. My guest was Sarah Palurovic and we talked about the question of how one can combine a belief in Bitcoin with a belief in CBDCs (central bank digital currencies). You can watch the answer here: 

Conclusion

In conclusion, attending CAC2023A was an incredible experience that provided a comprehensive view of the current state of the blockchain and crypto asset ecosystem. From keynote presentations to startup pitches, the event was packed with informative and engaging content. I am looking forward to watching some of the recorded discussions I missed, later. It was inspiring to see the passion and dedication of the individuals driving Web3 forward. Hopefully, we will be able to record another Live episode of our podcast at the CAC23B and host more BLOCKTALES events in the future. Answering our introductory question: I haven’t seen the bulls yet, but at CAC23A I had the feeling that everyone is expecting them around the corner.

About Katharina Zeuch 

Katharina Zeuch, a blockchain enthusiast and marketing expert, is the founder of Luna Vision, a web3 marketing agency. With a background in blockchain research and years of experience in the startup field, she is dedicated to fostering adoption through a broad-scale approach. As a podcast host of BLOCKTALES - Unchained Stories and a mentor at the DLT Talents program, Katharina shares her knowledge and passion for blockchain technology. Her expertise lies in the realms of blockchain technology, Bitcoin, digital assets, online marketing and personal branding. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @web3.and.me on Instagram and TikTok to join her in exploring the exciting world of web3!

About Luna Vision

Luna Vision is a blockchain marketing agency with its roots in the blockchain ecosystem. We offer data-focused marketing to blockchain startups. With a deep understanding of blockchain technology, we can best promote your products created and running within the blockchain ecosystem and “translate” to your customers - may they be already included in the ecosystem or still be new here.