Ethereum cryptocurrency developers convened 65 feet underground in the Paris catacombs for an illegal techno rave during the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) this week, anonymous attendees told CNBC.
Attendees were randomly assigned teams and meeting spots the day of the festivities and given directions via the encrypted messaging app Signal on how to coalesce on a central cave, according to CNBC. Upon making their way to the central chamber attendees were met with a DJ, neon lights, candles and a dance floor.
“It’s very illegal but also very crypto,” one of the 100 or so attendees told CNBC.
The journey to the central cave was no cakewalk either; anonymous attendees reported traveling 4.5 miles through thigh-deep water, following out-of-use train tracks and climbing over boulders during portions of the trek, according to CNBC. (RELATED: Twitter Scores Win In First Hearing Against Musk)
The conference is Europe’s largest Ethereum community event, and comes just a week after developers announced the timeline of the highly anticipated “merge” upgrade to be completed by September, according to CNBC.
The #Ethereum Developers announced the merge will happen mid to late September! 🚀💥
— Crypto Rover (@rovercrc) July 15, 2022
The upgrade has been pushed back a number of times in recent years, but will make Ethereum drastically more efficient, Fortune reported.
The last few months have not been kind to cryptocurrencies; Bitcoin is down to around $23,000 from all-time highs near $68,000 in November 2021 and Ether—the preeminent cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain—is at around $1,600, also down from highs of about $4,800 in November 2021. Since the announcement of the merge, however, Ether has surged by 33%.
Ethereum France, the organizer of the EthCC conference, did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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