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Case Studies

Case Study: How the Devconnect App Used Para to Onboard Thousands in Buenos Aires

Case Study: How the Devconnect App Used Para to Onboard Thousands in Buenos Aires

Overview

Devconnect 2025 brought more than 14,000 builders, founders, and researchers to Buenos Aires. For an event that spans six days and an audience ranging from first-time crypto users to veteran developers, the Ethereum Foundation needed a wallet-as-a-service onboarding experience that worked for everyone.

The vision was an all-in-one Devconnect app that would serve as their ticket, event navigator, and gateway to onchain activities (like application quests and crypto payments) for everyone on-site.

The EF Devconnect team partnered with Para to power the app’s non-custodial wallet layer. Attendees could create a wallet instantly using nothing more than an email, then explore onchain features across the event.

Result: More than ~10,000 wallets created directly inside the Devconnect app, with high reliability even during periods of WiFi constraints.

The Challenge: Onboarding Thousands to Ethereum, Seamlessly

1. Onboarding at scale with a mixed audience

Devconnect attracts both crypto-natives and complete newcomers. The EF needed a flow that didn’t require browser extensions, seed phrases, or wallet pre-installation, but also worked in a progressive web app (PWA) with custom UI.

2. Variable connectivity

The event spanned multiple buildings. Connectivity was inconsistent at times, and some locations experienced periods of WiFi outages.

3. Self-custody and exportability

Despite prioritizing accessibility, the EF could not compromise on user ownership. Attendees needed to have full control over their keys and the ability to export to any external wallet after the event.

4. Multi-app compatibility

Wallets created for Devconnect shouldn’t be locked into a single app. They needed to be portable across the broader Ethereum ecosystem to be used in other places after the fact.

The Solution: Para’s Embedded Wallets in the Devconnect App

To meet this challenge, the Ethereum Foundation’s Devconnect team partnered with Para to integrate universal embedded wallets directly into the Devconnect app. Upon downloading the app, users simply logged in with their email (the same one used to purchase their ticket) and instantly, a secure, non-custodial crypto wallet was created for them in the background.

Frictionless onboarding for first-time and crypto-native users

  • The onboarding felt as familiar as signing into any standard app, while quietly equipping each user with a fully functional Ethereum wallet.
  • Attendees unfamiliar with crypto completed onboarding in seconds. Seasoned users appreciated the ability to use the wallet elsewhere (such as in the ENS subdomain app) or export keys and continue using the wallet beyond the event.

Invisible, Self-Custodial Setup

  • Para’s wallet SDK uses Distributed MPC (multi-party computation) to generate each user’s private key in sharded form, never sharing the whole key. This means each wallet is non-custodial by design. Users own their keys (with options to export them or migrate the wallet) even though setup feels as simple as an email login. 

Proven Scale & Composability 

  • Para’s infrastructure had already powered millions of wallets, giving the Ethereum Foundation’s Devconnect team confidence in its ability to handle high volume. 
  • The Devconnect tech team could integrate Para with a single SDK and then customize the wallet UI to blend into the app’s look and feel. Cross-chain compatibility meant the wallet wasn’t limited to just one L2 or use case. This composability ensured the Devconnect wallet could interact with many apps and services introduced during the event. 

High-reliability flows, even without stable internet

  • Para’s Distributed MPC and user-friendly design meant wallets could still be generated and users could log in with periods of WiFi disruption, a critical requirement for an event of this scale.

Together, these factors made the Devconnect app a powerful yet simple way to experience Real World Ethereum. 

From the attendee perspective, onboarding was virtually instant and foolproof: enter your email, verify, and you’re in with a new wallet. In the background, Para’s tech quietly handled the heavy lifting of key management and blockchain interactions.

“Para onboarding was flawless!” —Lucas Verra, Founder of POAP Studio

How the Devconnect App Worked

1. Email-based onboarding

Attendees downloaded the app and created a wallet in seconds. Para generated a non-custodial wallet in the background, tied to their email login.

2. In-app onchain interaction

Wallets were used for on-site crypto payments for food vendors, quests in the venue, and identity verification. 

Via their embedded non-custodial wallet participants were able to:

  • Send and receive USDC on Base
  • Claim $2 credit from Peanut, and/or onramp funds
  • Pay on-site merchants using their onchain funds via a SimpleFi integration
  • Redeem a free worldfair.eth ENS subname  

3. Portability and key export post-event

After Devconnect, participants could use their wallet in other apps or export their wallet to any external client. The EF Devconnect team emphasized long-term usability rather than a one-time event wallet.

Reliable onboarding at a large scale

During the Devconnect Worlds Fair, thousands of users successfully created and accessed wallets:

  • More than ~10,000 wallets created
  • 661 send transaction sponsored in the app 
  • Consistent wallet creation even during peak network strain

Para powers the onboarding and UX layer with fully white-labeled, non-custodial wallets that work with email, passkey, or social login. Learn more about integrating Para into your app.

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