Avalanche Summit LATAM 2024: A milestone event in Buenos Aires for web3 innovation

By Karotlover

The Avalanche Summit LATAM 2024, held from October 16th to 18th at the Ciudad Cultural Konex in Buenos Aires, marked a major milestone for the global Web3 community. For the first time in Latin America, this event brought together over 100 global blockchain experts, investors, and developers, showcasing the region’s growing influence in the tech industry. This summit was a hub of innovation, discussion, and collaboration, highlighting the rapid adoption of blockchain technology in Argentina.

 

Key Highlights of Avalanche Summit LATAM 2024

 

The summit kicked off with the much-anticipated launch of Avax9000, the most significant update in Avalanche’s history. Presented by Emin Gün Sirer, CEO of Ava Labs, the update aims to revolutionize the blockchain ecosystem by propelling Avalanche into the third generation of blockchain technology. With Avalanche9000, the platform enables multiple interconnected blockchains (subnets) to operate swiftly and efficiently, breaking down economic barriers for businesses to launch projects quickly.

Gün Sirer emphasized the importance of community and innovation in growing the ecosystem: 

“Avax9000 means freedom—freedom to build what you want, to interconnect applications, and to determine your financial future. It’s about creating a chain with your own rules, without restrictions.”

This message resonated with a packed audience at the Konex, who responded with enthusiastic applause.



A Dedicated Gaming Experience on the Avalanche Network

 

Avalanche Summit LATAM 2024 also featured a special area for the gaming community, a rapidly expanding segment within the blockchain ecosystem. The space, equipped with high-end gaming computers, allowed attendees to test various games built on the Avalanche network. This immersive experience provided gamers firsthand insight into Avalanche’s capability to support cutting-edge, decentralized gaming.

A highlight of the gaming section was the presence of Gunzilla Games’s CEO,Theodore Agranat, the developer behind the Web3 game Off The Grid. This game, which leverages Avalanche’s infrastructure, aims to become a key player in the Latin American gaming community. The CEO discussed his vision for the future of Web3 gaming and the importance of engaging the LATAM market.

To solidify its presence and position in Latin America, Gunzilla Games has partnered with Vexio, a digital marketing agency specializing in the gaming sector. The CEO highlighted that Vexio is the perfect partner to connect with the LATAM gaming audience, helping build a strong community that will drive the growth of Avalanche’s gaming ecosystem.

 

Notable Speakers and Insights

 

Several industry leaders shared their expertise throughout the event. John Wu, President of Ava Labs, took the stage to draw a parallel between the growth of tech companies over the past 30 years and the evolution of blockchain technology. Wu reflected on how the rise of the internet since 1994 reshaped the world, and he positioned blockchain as the future equivalent of what the World Wide Web was to the past.

Wu asked a thought-provoking question:

“Which companies will lead 30 years from now? They will be the ones that are part of the blockchain ecosystem.”

His presentation highlighted how Avalanche is opening the door to the next phase of blockchain technology. By enabling developers to build scalable and decentralized applications, Avalanche creates an environment where entrepreneurs can launch their own chains with full autonomy, unlinked to the success of other chains—a stark contrast to traditional monolithic blockchain systems.

Other distinguished speakers included Stani Kulechov, founder of AAVE, who shared his insights on decentralized finance (DeFi), and Juan Pablo Friedemberg from Lemon Cash, who discussed Argentina’s regulatory framework for cryptocurrency. Their contributions underscored the breadth of knowledge and innovation presented at the summit.

 

Argentina’s Role as a Blockchain Hub

 

The choice of Buenos Aires as the summit’s location was no accident. Leandro Davo, Ecosystem Lead of Avalanche en Español, emphasized Argentina’s pivotal role as a hub for blockchain development. Argentina has seen significant growth in blockchain adoption, with its tech startups raising over $150 million in 2024 alone. Davo noted:

“The level of user adoption in Argentina is far above the global average. The quality and quantity of developers here is exceptional, making Argentina an important hub for blockchain.”

Davo further explained how Avax9000’s lower economic barriers for launching personalized blockchains could create numerous opportunities for Argentina’s burgeoning tech scene. By reducing the costs associated with deploying custom blockchain solutions, Avax9000 is positioned to fuel the expansion of Argentina’s knowledge economy, driving job creation and economic growth.

 

Avax9000: Transforming the Future of Blockchain

 

Avax9000 was the highlight of the summit, with Emin Gün Sirer diving into the details of the update. Designed to enhance scalability and interoperability, this update paves the way for the next generation of decentralized applications (dApps). The platform offers tools that allow developers to create independent, flexible, and fully decentralized subnets within the Avalanche ecosystem.

The update also introduces a substantial stimulus package—a $40 million fund—to support developers in building dApps that can benefit the community. Gün Sirer emphasized that the update is about:

“Eliminating economic and logistical barriers that often hinder development on blockchain platforms, enabling innovators to bring their products to market more quickly and securely.”

 

The Avalanche Summit Hackathon

 

 

The event also hosted a highly competitive hackathon from October 18th to 20th, offering a $50,000 prize pool for participants developing innovative solutions in the Web3 space. The hackathon aimed to stimulate creativity and advance technological progress within the Avalanche ecosystem, encouraging developers to push the limits of blockchain application.

 

Reflections on the Future of Blockchain

 

John Wu’s presentation stood out for its historical perspective, comparing the challenges of building Web1 and Web2 infrastructures with the current opportunities in Web3. He highlighted how in the past, tech entrepreneurs needed substantial capital and large teams to create successful companies. However, Avalanche’s platform now allows for a more streamlined approach where developers can leverage existing tools and knowledge from the community to build faster and more efficiently.

Wu expressed that the same way the internet browser opened the door to the digital age, Avalanche is opening the door to the blockchain era. This aligns with the ethos of the summit, which showcased how the platform is simplifying the path for developers and entrepreneurs to create impactful Web3 projects.

 

A Glimpse into Argentina’s Blockchain Future

 

The summit underscored Argentina’s growing influence in the blockchain space. With a strong developer community and high levels of user adoption, the country is poised to become a leading force in blockchain innovation. The Avalanche Summit LATAM 2024 not only highlighted Avalanche’s technological advancements but also shone a spotlight on the broader blockchain movement in Latin America.

 

As the summit concluded, it left a lasting impression on attendees, reaffirming Argentina’s status as a key player in the Web3 ecosystem and setting the stage for further developments and collaborations in the region. The event succeeded in its mission: to bring together the brightest minds in blockchain, foster innovation, and showcase the potential of Avalanche and the broader crypto community.