This year, due to the political situation in our country, many international conferences in Serbia were canceled. That’s why we’re especially glad that ETH Belgrade was held and continued its tradition. On top of that, our impression is that Ethereum Belgrade was far better organized this year compared to its previous editions. The Sava Center is an ideal venue for conferences with growth potential (last year’s ETH Belgrade was held in the much-too-small MTS Dvorana). Whether the improved organization was due to the increased number of international participants or the perfectly chosen venue of the Sava Congress Center doesn’t really matter. What matters is that this conference truly shined, we didn’t embarrass ourselves in front of the international audience, and Serbia sent out an even more positive image to the world.

Speakers and panelists had three massive halls at their disposal (Danube, Sava, and Rise) for their talks on crypto-related topics—ranging from security, privacy, DeFi, and public interest, to crypto infrastructure, legal regulations, DAOs, and stablecoins. If I were to compare this year’s topics with last year’s, two things stand out: First thing, last year featured many talks on ZK (Zero Knowledge) and still some on NFTs, whereas this year those topics were almost entirely absent. Instead, DeFi and DAOs took center stage. As for DAOs, I have to say I don’t fully understand why (the author of this blog post doesn’t have the highest opinion about the future of DAOs). The second thing: many of us quietly expected more talks about stablecoins and the MiCA regulation, as those are the number one topics at other major blockchain conferences and currently shake up the blockchain space.

Even though the halls were never even half-full (as can be seen in the YouTube videos), that doesn’t mean there weren’t attendees—it’s just that the halls were huge. Many of us took the opportunity, during talks that didn’t directly concern us, to socialize in the lobby, catch up with old contacts, meet new people, and establish new business connections.

For a small country like Serbia, which proudly hosts around 60 companies that, in one way or another, more or less successfully, work in the blockchain space, it’s extremely important to continue traditions like ETH Belgrade. Especially since, despite its name suggesting a focus on Ethereum, it features talks (for both beginners and hardcore developers) on broader topics that go beyond Ethereum.