According to Blockworks, the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Brussels this week highlighted a growing sentiment among attendees that the focus on crypto infrastructure has overshadowed the development of consumer applications. Despite Ethereum's role in popularizing smart contracts and NFTs, many felt that consumer apps were underrepresented at the event. The social lead of the Milk Road newsletter noted a consensus that the industry needs more usable apps rather than additional infrastructure. Emmanuel Awosika, director of 2077 Collective, expressed excitement that people are finally acknowledging the necessity of consumer apps. A.J. Warner from Offchain Labs observed a significant focus on interoperability and cross-chain solutions over novel user applications at the conference. While compelling consumer apps are still lacking, the desire for them is evident, as shown by the Arbitrum DAO's plan to invest $215 million in crypto gaming projects.

Electric Capital general partner Maria Shen released a market map categorizing over 1,500 crypto projects, with more than one-third labeled as apps. However, some argue that the industry should first master its original use case of payments before moving on to more complex applications. Mustafa Al-Bassam, CEO of Celestia Labs, emphasized this point. Despite the current gap, there are crypto apps with real users, such as Telegram games on the TON blockchain and Solana blinks that allow users to play Pokemon onchain within their X feed.

In related news, Story Protocol announced the launch of the world's first intellectual property blockchain, allowing creators to upload and monetize their intellectual property. Co-founder S.Y. Lee emphasized that the protocol aims to provide a clear use case, unlike many other defi chains and apps. Additionally, Farcaster's daily active users reached an all-time high, and blockchain analytics firm Elliptic linked