The Critical Decentralization Cluster (CDC) is a host of individuals and projects that come together to disrupt existing ecosystems with cypherpunk ideals. We assemble to present talks and workshops that critically discuss the future of decentralization. You can visit us during Dec 27-30 2025 in Hamburg (Germany) at the 39th Chaos Communication Congress. Read more about our plans on the 39C3 page.

The CDC usually takes shape as an area in Hall H with:

• tables and seats for ca. 120 people
• 2 info tables and meeting spots
• 2 workshop areas with public schedule
• 1 recording area

Talks and workshops submissions are now open at pretalx.riat.at.
We welcome proposals from our assemblies and any other project fitting the cluster themes’ (decentralization, privacy & anonymity and open hardware).

assemblies

• RIAT - independent research institute in Vienna
• Monero Community
• Namecoin - decentralized tamper-resistant naming system + PKI
• Swiss Cryptoeconomics
• I2P - fully encrypted peer-to-peer overlay network
• Cyberraum - hackers’ group from Hamburg
• Radicle - peer-to-peer code collaboration stack built on Git
• Social Dist0rtion Protocol - ad-hoc riddles and games
• GNU Boot - de-shittification for your BIOS and UEFI
• Department of Decentralisation - collective from Berlin
• Firo - independent blockchain privacy and decentralization tech research
• Iroh - library and protocol stacks to build next-gen P2P networks
• FOSSASIA - open-source community in Asia
• Off-Grid Messaging - independent networks over LoRa and packet-radio
• Ethereum Foundation - non-profit that supports the Ethereum ecosystem
• Sibermerdeka - hackerspace in Kuala Lumpur
• Replicant - fully free Android distribution
• Tropic Square - open-source IC designers
• Infinite Build - a peer-support group for builders
• Crypto Commons - P2P technologies for the stewardship of common goods
• BORDEL - hackerspace in Prague
• Gosling - P2P over Tor onion services
• Cat Pictures Data Distribution Hub - challenges with cute kitty pictures as rewards

We welcome other assemblies in the categories Privacy & Anonymity, Enshittification, Cryptography, Open and Verifiable Hardware and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks and tools.

contacts

• Coordination and other talk at #cdc:dod.ngo community on Matrix.
  All rooms are bridged to hackint IRC server:
  • #cdc-public:dod.ngo bridged to #critical-decentralization
  • #cdc-coordination:dod.ngo > #cdc-coordination
  • #cdc-tickets:dod.ngo > #cdc-tickets
  • #c3ogm:matrix.org > #off-grid-messaging
  • #cdc-watercooler:dod.ngo > #cdc-watercooler (off-topic discussions)
  • #39c3-asm:dod.ngo - DoD assembly
• Email: c3 at RIAT’s domain.

contributing

Volunteer work is essential to keep the cluster going.
Checkout our Org Mode todo list for an up-to-date view on what needs to be done.