Driving Blockchain Technology: Cardano Foundation’s activities part 3

Join the Cardano Foundation's journey across CardanoRio, cNFTcon, and more to foster blockchain tech and NFT growth

The Cardano community regularly holds meetups and attends events in order to exchange knowledge, discuss projects, and build together. These opportunities not only incentivize ideas but also provide a way of understanding the community’s needs. As the Cardano Foundation looks to equip projects, builders, and individuals, we have increased our assistance to community-focused events.

From CardanoRio 2022 to Blockchain Sydney, the Foundation granted different types of support to community events. As a fundamental part of the Cardano Summit 2022, we are also sponsoring over 50 community-led events throughout the world.

This past October, Jeremy Firster, Global Director of Enterprise Partnerships, and Umar Jan, Stakeholder Marketing Manager, attended cNFTcon, Web 3 Expo (W3BX), and Rare Bloom where they met with Cardano Ambassadors and multiple community members. Hearing from coders, developers, stake pool operators (SPOs), and various creatives allowed the Foundation to gain greater insight into their experiences and challenges. At the same time, a clear enthusiasm for Cardano and its possibilities shined through.

A thriving NFT community

Artists and entrepreneurs building on Cardano gathered at cNFTcon, in Las Vegas, to mount a display of projects and works that spanned more than 120 exhibitors. The variety of NFT’s, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), games, tokens, and even paintings of NFT’s present at the showroom floor, spoke to the vitality of Cardano’s space.

Despite the adversities of the current bear market, it became quite clear most consider Cardano an especially promising project, remaining confident it will succeed. The prevailing sentiment throughout the convention also seemed to uphold the bear market as a time for people to explore, experiment, and test. Indeed, individuals and projects alike maintained a willingness to both share insights and aid each other.

For the Foundation, cNFTcon offered an opportunity to rekindle discussions while simultaneously providing a starting point for lively conversations with new projects. Animated as online debates can get, they do not generally allow for the scope of in person dialogue, nor do they guarantee the adequate representation of all interested groups. Some lack the time, or prefer not to participate on online forums. Therefore, as Firster and Jan visited the majority of exhibitors, they actively looked to hear from the community and better understand strengths as well as pain points. 

In addition, Firster delivered two presentations: one showcasing how Cardano is being used to upgrade the systems of the world, the other on Cardano for enterprise solutions. Firster expounded on the Foundation’s state-wide partnership with Georgia’s National Wine Agency, as well as on its role to ensure Georgian wine producers can leverage blockchain and utilize Cardano’s vast metadata capabilities to verify the authenticity of their wines, implement greater transparency for consumers, and increase trust.

cNFTcon afforded a glimpse into both the universe of Cardano NFTs and the road towards building a mature blockchain community. As the Foundation prepared for W3BX, we left cNFTcon already looking forward to the 2023 edition, hoping for eventful updates and to see more exhibitors, more projects, and an ever-thriving Cardano community.

Promoting debates to advance blockchain utility

The inaugural W3BX, also held in Las Vegas, brought together an array of Web3 businesses and advocates. Between panel discussions, fireside chats, and masterclasses, attendees looked to the potential of blockchain technology and its future.

In an effort to facilitate accessibility, the Cardano Foundation secured tickets for Cardano Ambassadors and further arranged for extra ones that were raffled off to the Cardano community. The Foundation also cooperated with various community projects to organize the Cardano Room. Charli3, Cornucopias, MLabs, NMKR, VyFinance, Mehen Stablecoin, Cardano Women, Optim Finance, Clarity Protocol, Summon Platform, and CryptoFairies all took part in this joint effort.

Panels at the Cardano Room considered the values of Cardano’s public blockchain infrastructure alongside the transition from Web2 data to Web3 ecosystems, particularities of growing a business on the blockchain, decentralized participation, and gaming. They further examined how women navigate the blockchain space and what types of opportunities they either encounter or perceive in the field. The latter became the highest attended talk at the Cardano Room, proving the relevance of hearing from a multitude of voices and granting them a significant stage. Debates coming from the Cardano Room also often extended into the W3BX’s hallways, with panelists and audience members continuing the conversations long after the sessions had ended.

Firster and Jan once again conferred with different Cardano community projects and individuals. Moreover, whether talking with businesses developing environmental solutions or with those optimizing NFT experiences, they clarified doubts about Cardano and explained its advantages to companies operating in various industry sectors.

Synergies for the growth of Cardano

An acute sense of comradery permeated the entire Rare Bloom event. Throughout its two days in Colorado, the Cardano community conference gathered a large crowd of mostly professional developers, entrepreneurs, educators, and innovators willing to demonstrate how blockchain can be integrated into different fields and add value to them.

To kickstart the event, the Cardano Foundation offered breakfast to all participants and attendees on day one. Firster also delivered the opening keynote, welcoming the community and setting the path forward with an address that following speakers not just echoed but cemented.

Firster recalled the Cardano roadmap, linking it to blockchain utility and inclusivity for different markets. He then described some of the Foundation’s key focuses, succinctly considering how the Foundation’s layered approach works to increase adoption. Firster equally spoke to the Cardano Foundation’s unceasing commitment to the open source maturity of both the Cardano blockchain and its ecosystem.

Rare Bloom’s well-attended keynotes and discussions highlighted multiple aspects of Cardano, looking at a variety of projects in numerous sectors and providing insights into potential growth paths. An emphasis on education testified to the community’s endeavors to help Cardano grow and to its availability for aiding others in doing so.

As before, Firster and Jan met with community members to gather direct insights and learn about the community’s projects, difficulties, and aims. They equally sat down with Cardano Ambassadors, considering next steps and strengthening ties.

Empowering the community at the Cardano Summit

When the Cardano Foundation assumed the organization of this year’s Cardano Summit, we elected to fully embrace the spirit of decentralization and governance. This meant not only celebrating those creating on Cardano, but also giving an active voice to the community and encouraging its maturity.

In addition to more than 50 community-led events around the globe, Day 2 of the Summit was established to specifically showcase and debate the community projects Building on Cardano. Not only that, the Foundation wished to incentivize decentralization and bring governance to the forefront of conceiving the Day 2 agenda. We therefore invited everyone to enter their nominations for Day 2 speakers, as well as for the inaugural Cardano Summit Awards. Meanwhile, the Foundation’s Metadata Tools team developed a voting app, available free of charge for all voters and without requiring funds in the wallet used for voting.

The Cardano Ballot wields particular Cardano advantages and comes as an instance of voting actually verified on-chain. Likewise, it ensures one’s staking does not influence the weight of the vote—an essential step to safeguard a democratic vote that counts all voices equally. It is a prelude to Voltaire’s open governance.

Moreover, the Ballot acted as an opportunity to further provide the community with relevant tools. In developing it, the Cardano Foundation created an open source wallet connector that allows both projects and developers to offer smooth connection and authentication of a Cardano wallet.

For the first time ever, the community nominated and voted for speakers, thus shaping the Summit’s agenda. In fact, the Day 2 program not only highlights the community projects building on Cardano, but was also built for the community and by the community.

The Cardano Summit Awards Ceremony, on November 20, will reveal the winners of the ten Award categories. While tickets for the Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony are now out of stock, anyone can watch the live stream through the virtual Summit Lodge. In fact, the Cardano Summit 2022 affords everyone a chance to join. 

The Cardano Foundation encourages all those interested in participating to secure their places and register to attend. As we prepare for a Summit of learning, sharing, discovering, and celebration, the Foundation looks forward to soon welcoming the Cardano community along with other blockchain enthusiasts.