HCPP24 is over! And those of us who attended witnessed the end of an era: after years, Paralelní Polís disappears and is now called Second Culture. And what is this about? A coworking space, where Prague's crypto-enthusiasts, activists and cypherpunks will continue to meet. Due to internal restructuring, the name change will be made, but its spirit and essence will remain the same, as announced by its founders.
So we hope to continue having hacker congresses in this beautiful location!
The closing conferences, the highlight
Strategically the most controversial and emotional topics were left for the end, and indeed, we enjoyed them.
All day long there was talk of freedom, privacy and Zkproof.
I still wonder: Why doesn't Zcash have more prominence in this kind of events? Maybe as a sponsor, with a battery of speakers, a booth, with something! Undoubtedly, the Zcash Foundation should find a way to finance and support this. It is necessary! And it is also absurd that being Zcash the leading and pioneer project in the implementation of a protocol that will be the standard in the coming years, it does not appear with greater prominence here.
People here do know about Zcash! We corroborated this when we gave them the stickers and started networking and talking. And interesting developments and implementations can come out of this.
Going back to the themes of the day, everything this day revolved around privacy and the tools that give us freedom.
The conference on Assange's DAO showed us how the funds for his release could be obtained in a more private and secure way for all involved, at least using Zcash, and not through ETH, easily traceable by bad actors.
And the technological tools of freedom, was the topic of the closing panel, during which the power of ZK proof, Linux, decentralized tools and resisting censorship and government surveillance were discussed.
Closing and farewell
At the end of all the conferences, there were some well-deserved and very emotional words from all the speakers invited during these 3 days. Messages that ratify that we are in the right place, boosting the future economy.
Paralelní Polis is now called Second Culture, but will continue to host activists, cypherpunks and anyone interested in learning about this wonderful world.
My conclusions about this spectacular event? There are several:
- Zcash needs to increase its participation in this kind of events.
- Communities are very powerful! And they can make projects grow.
- Networking is a tool for constant learning and growth.
- If not organizing, at least participating, in this kind of events is very constructive for gaining visibility, alliances, developers, collaborators, etc.
Aura and I leave Prague with the sadness of saying goodbye to the good people we met, but with the satisfaction of fulfilled duty. We can and should do more from Zcash.
Next year we will see each other again. We already declared ourselves fans of these hackers and cypherpunks meetings, and of course, it will be a pleasure for us not only to cover other editions of the event, but to be part of the speakers.
We were told that this is our home and that we will always be welcome, so yes, we will be back!
We would also like to congratulate all the staff behind the organization and logistics of the event, who worked in sync like an astronomical clock.
For now, we are going to Barcelona again, to cover a new event... Stay tuned to my social networks!
Here I share some of the photos of this day....
