The Ethereum Foundation brought together developers, researchers, and protocol builders in Amsterdam from April 18 to 25, 2022, for the inaugural edition of Devconnect, arriving at a moment when Ethereum's most consequential technical transition was only months away. The event spanned eight days and hosted more than 80 independently organized sessions across venues including the Beurs van Berlage, Tolhuistuin, and Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky. Unlike a traditional conference, Devconnect carried no top-level sponsors and gave each sub-event its own organizers, curatorial approach, and in many cases its own funding.

The format was a deliberate shift. The Foundation had announced the concept in December 2021, framing it as a move toward depth over scale. Smaller groups of relevant experts would work through specific technical problems rather than attending broad programming designed for general audiences. "Each event during Devconnect week will be independently hosted and curated by experts in different domains, as innovators look to continue to improve Ethereum," the Foundation wrote in its announcement post.

The Merge Was Five Months Away

Timing gave the gathering particular weight. The Merge, Ethereum's transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (a change that would cut the network's energy use by roughly 99.95%), was then roughly five months out. It ultimately occurred on September 15, 2022. Sessions on staking mechanics, maximal extractable value (MEV, a term for profits miners or validators can capture by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions), and Layer 2 scaling were not abstract research exercises. They fed directly into decisions being made on a live network.

On-chain data from that period reflects the stakes. Beacon Chain validators, the nodes responsible for securing a proof-of-stake Ethereum, grew 23.7% in the first quarter of 2022, reaching 341,123. That surge came even as broader market conditions deteriorated: DeFi total value locked fell 42% from Q4 2021 to Q1 2022, dropping from $154.2 billion to $89.5 billion. The combination suggested that builders were committing more deeply to the network's technical future even as prices declined.

ETHAmsterdam Brought 700 Developers Together

The flagship hackathon, ETHAmsterdam, ran from April 22 to 24 and was organized by ETHGlobal. It was the first major in-person ETHGlobal hackathon since ETH London in 2019. Attendance reached 1,100 participants from 56 countries, 700 of whom were actively building. Of those developers, 31% identified as first-time Web3 contributors. The event drew 100 ecosystem mentors, offered roughly 50 workshops and talks, and distributed more than $400,000 in prizes across 165 submitted projects.

At the opening session, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin addressed priorities for the network's user experience. According to a recap from Gravity Team, Buterin emphasized account abstraction and network fee reduction.

Account abstraction (under discussion via EIP-4337) is a technical change that would allow wallets to operate more like software programs, removing the need for users to directly manage private cryptographic keys.

Access Gaps Persist for South Asian and African Developers

The topics debated in Amsterdam carry direct consequences for users and builders far outside Europe, and that makes the access question sharper. Gas fee volatility is more punishing for users in Nigeria, Kenya, India, and Bangladesh, where transaction costs represent a larger share of the amounts being moved. Layer 2 networks, which process transactions off the main Ethereum chain to reduce costs and congestion, are not just a technical improvement for these users. They are a precondition for practical utility. More recent survey data, from 2024, put crypto wallet ownership at 84% in Nigeria and 50% in India, two of the fastest-growing developer markets in the world.

The Ethereum Foundation operates a Scholars Program that provides travel, accommodation, and event access for participants from underrepresented regions. Whether that program placed participants from South Asia or Africa at the Amsterdam edition was not publicly documented. Session recordings were made available through StreamETH and individual event sites, giving remote attendees access to the content if not the working sessions.

Electric Capital's 2022 developer report noted that India's share of global blockchain developers grew from 2% in 2017 to 6% by the end of 2022, the fastest climb among tracked nations. The infrastructure decisions made in Amsterdam, covering how Ethereum handles fees, staking mechanics, and onboarding friction, will shape the environment that this expanding developer base builds on for years ahead.

The Amsterdam gathering remains Devconnect's first edition, arriving at a moment when the network's most consequential technical transition was close enough to feel urgent.