At the end of September 2022, oracle network platform Chainlink organized the SmartCon 2022 conference. I attended the event in my role as Head of DeFi, since BLOCKSIZE CAPITAL is a successful Chainlink node operator since more than two years and is also offering reliable crypto market data, which I helped to launch during summer 2022.

This year’s theme of SmartCon was titled “Invent the Future of web3.” The conference dubs itself the place to learn “from industry luminaries, building alongside the best developers in the space, and connecting with fellow community members from across the globe… for those who get what Web3 is really about and those who want to learn.”

At SmartCon 2022, a lot of renowed speakers took part, such as Sergey Nazarov (Co-Founder of Chainlink), Eric Schmidt (Ex-Google CEO), Justin Sun (founder of TRON), and Robert Leshner (CEO of Compound Labs). The speakers at SmartCon represented many major brands and topics included the governance conundrum, the open Metaverse, bridging from TradFi to DeFi, web3 real estate, smart contracts that will unlock Bitcoin, automating business, climate action, better user experiences, decentralized insurance, web3 education, interoperability, and modular scalability. Most of these speakers were not just publicly speaking, but also attending the event area, giving attendees the chance to discuss and interact with them.

I had the opportunity to learn about how other attendees use Chainlink, which challenges they face, and how Chainlink wants to shape the market in the months to come. I met business partners, customers, and a large number of people working at Chainlink Labs, which I especially have been known to through Zoom and Slack. Additionally, I also met a number of Chainlink advocates from many places around the world, who gathered at SmartCon to exchange knowledge. At a number of after events there was also time to connect with others while simply having a good time.