Disinvitation From Denver Crypto Conference Reveals Tensions Between Aptos, Sui Blockchains

When trying to connect the dots between who’s up and who’s down in crypto – plus who’s in and who’s out, who’s getting along and who’s feuding – sometimes it’s helpful to simply pay attention to who’s getting conference invitations. Or disinvitations.

The latest example of this conference-watching dynamic went public this week as blockchain developers convened in Colorado ahead of ETHDenver, one of the year’s biggest events on the crypto circuit.

There were invitations, and then disinvitations. The takeaway appears to be that tensions are brewing between the projects Aptos and Sui – two blockchains that emerged, in part, from Facebook’s (now Meta Platforms') defunct Diem stablecoin project.

Officials at Pontem, a crypto wallet startup backed by the Aptos blockchain, are hosting the MoveCon conference later this week in the Aptos house, on the sidelines of ETHDenver. The focus of the event is Move, a coding language that Facebook engineers developed for Diem; it's also the base language for Aptos and Sui.

Initially, the Pontem team had asserted its conference was “dedicated” to both corners of the Move ecosystem. Sui representatives were invited.

"We’re gathering the biggest projects from Aptos, Sui and the rest of the ecosystem for a three-day blockchain conference, a real celebration of everything Move," Pontem officials wrote in a Feb. 14 post about the event.

But according to people familiar with the matter – and some tweets – Pontem subsequently disinvited Sui Foundation attendees. One of the people said Aptos officials told Pontem organizers to exclude Sui speakers, although a handful of project founders working in the Sui ecosystem are already confirmed.

The disinvitation dis

A representative for Aptos said the organization had no role in Pontem’s speaker choices, or in organizing the conference. Pontem founder Alejo Pinto declined to comment.

“Sui Foundation will not be attending MoveCon on March 3-5,” Brian Hsieh, head of developer relations, said in a Telegram message shared with CoinDesk. “We have been informed by the host that we are no longer invited.”

Hsieh declined to comment when reached by CoinDesk.

He later retweeted a tweet referencing the disinvitation: