ETHChicago is a premier three-day hackathon and conference in the Chicagoland area, dedicated to fostering innovation and collaboration through decentralized technology. As a community-run event, it invites a diverse range of participants, from blockchain enthusiasts to industry professionals, to engage in creative and competitive activities, including solving real-world challenges with blockchain technology. The event focuses on learning, building, and innovating within the blockchain space, offering tailored tracks for various fields, and ensuring a safe, inclusive environment for connection and growth. ETHChicago celebrates the spirit of the Midwest, encouraging impactful collaborations and exploring future possibilities in decentralized technology for a brighter, more collaborative Chicago.

ETHChicago is led by a group of volunteers who believe in education, building public goods, and advancing web3 adoption in Chicago and broadly the midwest. Their backgrounds range from being web3 investors, developers, founders, and leaders.

In Year 1 we ran a 3 day conference and hackathon on September 15-17th 2023 at the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) where we had:

• 119 Sessions
• 140 Speakers
• 500+ attendees
• 13 hackathon projects
• $20k+ in bounties distributed
• 1200+ followers on X (join them)
• 8 articles published across Mirror & Paragraph

Stemming from our belief in creating targeted and inclusive experiences aligned with local community interests:

• The conference had 3 key user tracks: traditional business, legal & policy, and financial
• The hackathon was designed for both builders and creatives.

ETHChicago was the largest Ethereum and blockchain conference in the Midwest.

Due to the core team being from throughout the Midwest, ETHChicago’s efforts extend beyond just the city to positively impact the whole region. For instance, in Year 1 we attracted students from UW-Madison, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Michigan State University, and Notre Dame to hack. We hope to continue to expand this scope moving forward.

Since the inaugural conference, not even 2 months later:

• We have continued to convene, educate, and support the local Web3 hacker community through a second hackathon currently happening (Nov. 11-21) at a local NFT gallery (imnotArt). We hope to continue to keep hosting and supporting more events like this to strengthen the region.
• One of the projects (xSafe) that started at our hackathon became a full-fledged product that was publicly launched.

A few unique aspects about ETHChicago that would make your support go further than just supporting an annual regional conference:

• We plan to continue to host and support events throughout the year
• We engage the broader region throughout the entire Midwest
• The midwest is historically behind other regions in tech education, adoption, and advancement so support here can go further than some other regions.

Looking towards the future we plan to explore the community driven visions and bring those ideas to life. Your support will go towards supporting our efforts to drive real world impact through the power of Web3. We would love your support in continuing our mission!

Quick Links:

• Website: https://ethchicago.xyz/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/0xEthChicago
• Hackathon Projects: https://taikai.network/ethchicago/hackathons/ETHChicagoHackathon2023