Greetings from Colorado's capital, where more than 20,000 Ethereum enthusiasts have descended to celebrate ETHDenver, a multi-day extravaganza dedicated to demos, workshops, and a whole lot of hoopla related to their favorite blockchain. As usual, many of this year's attendees turned up wearing rainbows or outlandish animal costumes—a colorful pageant that felt especially striking given that this year's ETHDenver is taking place at the city's fabled stockyard and rodeo grounds, which is adorned by images of cowboys, Budweiser, and other icons typically associated with red America.
I remarked on the hippie-like vibe—which included a "zen zone" and an arena full of sleepings bags for 500 Ethereum scholarship attendees to stay overnight—to a 50-something crypto industry professional, who was himself dressed in a vibrant shirt and hipster glasses. He nodded and observed, "Bitcoin is for Republicans, Ethereum is for Democrats." It's hard to disagree. While the hardcore Bitcoin crowd is fixated with hodling and suspicion of the government, the Ethereum set is more given over to radical experimentation and eccentricity.
