Crypto developers gather as turmoil grips industry

PARIS — About 65 feet below ground level in Paris is a labyrinth of centuries-old tunnels known as the Catacombs, which hold the skeletal remains of around six million Parisians. Legend has it that plague victims comprised some of the bones lining the hallways.

This week, it turned into a techno cave with neon lights for top ethereum programmers to party till 4 A.M. The mantra was “leave no trace” so everything was gone by sunrise.

“It’s very illegal but also very crypto,” explained one of the roughly 100 party attendees, who declined to be identified for fear of alerting the Paris police.

She also said the trek was one of the most ridiculous things she’s ever done in her life. The expedition included crawling under a fence, wiggling down caves, tracing the path of old train tracks, wading through thigh-deep, muddy water — and a bit of bouldering.

“There was a gap in the rocks, and I didn’t think anything of it. I was just like, ‘Oh, we’re pausing here,’ and then a human popped out,” the attendee explained.

Multiple squads gathered across the 14th arrondissement of Paris late Saturday night to sneak into the underground landmark. Each team was assembled via an anonymous Telegram group and assigned its own entrance.

“You got a link and a password to a survey form, and you basically answered some questions and gave your Telegram. If you were chosen for this adventure, you got added to a Telegram group with a handful of other people you didn’t know, and the guide dropped into the thread on the day-of to tell you a meeting spot,” recounted Wong of her experience.

Another party attendee turned on their fitness tracker to map the distance and found they had traveled four and a half miles underground.

All the paths converged on a large central cave, where there was a DJ, a bar with neon lights, candles, and people dancing.

The only downside to an underground rave hosted in a mass grave?

“People start thinking, ‘Er, where am I gonna get out?'” said another party goer.

Welcome to the Ethereum Community Conference, an annual event that draws the world’s top developers and cryptographers to the City of Light. The event officially kicked off Tuesday morning, but key players in the space descended on Paris days in advance to take part in ancillary events like the Metaverse Summit and a Parisian-style salon dubbed The Future of Content in Web3. And for the parties like La Degen and Raave.

EthCC is in some ways the opposite of Bitcoin Miami, the highest profile crypto conference.

While Bitcoin Miami boasts attendance in the tens of thousands, EthCC deliberately capped tickets at 2,000 to keep it small and…