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One of the best parts of travel is meeting new people unless you are traveling to a crypto conference.
As Solana Crossroads kicked off in Istanbul today, many Solana builders escaped from New York and San Francisco, drinking old coffee from around the world, talking to the same people they saw at the Solana events in New York and San Francisco. Many participants stopped by a community meeting sponsored by Step Finance on their way to Dubai for Token 2049 next week before shipping to New York City for Solana Accelerate in May.
The crypto itself may still be struggling to find a fit in the product market, but it appears that cryptographic meetings are inelastic demand.
After a year of explosive growth in Solana, participants at Crossroad were less interested in other ecosystems. Some complained that Ethereum Conference, the annual Ethereum Conference, had spoken too much about Solana and other ecosystems. At Crossroads, it felt like there were no other smart contract ecosystems.
The Solana team slammed the products on the floor of the conference expo. I had a prototype of the Solana Seeker phone. Since production wasn't possible, all I could really do was look at the promotional display on screen, but at least I can guarantee the fact that the case exists.
Internet filtering startup DoubleZero has had a talk of meetings. One Solana founder said market makers provided network connections as a way to market their services.
I caught Double Zero co-founder Austin Federa near the Media Room and asked a vague question about the state of the high-throughput blockchain.
“Imagine the sun disappearing,” he began before explaining the importance of being able to broadcast data.
The intersection is filled with many of the usual suspects, but many locals have also appeared.
“I was frankly impressed by the number of local Turkish people,” said Brandon Potts, a partner at Framework Venture. “Many of the conversations I had with locals are practical around the stubcoin.
I chatted with the Turkish Solana developer who met me about the history of the land. He told me that the coin was invented in Lydia, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Türkiye. His father is collecting coins, he added.
“You'll collect coins too. Shit,” his friend shot back.
