Devansh Mehta

Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress · Aug 9, 2026

How do we sustainably fund the public goods that everyone depends on? Devansh Mehta shares why Ethereum needs to move beyond grants toward embedded funding mechanisms that continuously support the ecosystem. We discuss public goods, selective disclosure, the economics of privacy, quadratic funding, and why the next generation of cypherpunks is focused not only on protecting information—but also on protecting the free flow of value. Timecodes 00:00 Introduction 00:25 Why Ethereum needs sustainable public goods funding 02:10 What makes something a public good? 03:16 Privacy, selective disclosure & the value capture dilemma 05:42 Funding models: patrons, grants & quadratic funding 08:30 How anyone can support Ethereum public goods 11:29 Favorite public goods projects & funding tools 12:39 The new generation of cypherpunks 13:33 Ethereum's future, EF mandate & building independent ecosystems 16:48 A vision for the future of work - This conversation is part of Privacy Academy Interviews, a peer-to-peer knowledge project exploring the most important ideas in Web3, privacy, and digital freedom. Learn more: https://academy.web3privacy.info A W3PN Media House production. Directed by Federico Marchi https://x.com/BabyBitProd Interview by Peter Farbey https://x.com/0xfarbey Let privacy be with you!

ETHGlobal · Jul 9, 2026

In this talk, Artem Brazhnikov from Octant declares Cypherpunk dead and immediately revives it, framing crypto's institutional era as the beginning rather than the end of the movement that started in the 80s and 90s around privacy and cryptography. Drawing on Buckminster Fuller's quote that you never change things by fighting reality but by building a new model that makes the existing one obsolete, Artem argues the path forward is building bridges to institutions rather than burning them. He acknowledges nostalgia in the community for the 2018 era of hoodies and Berlin hard forks while insisting Ethereum is the same substrate whether you wear a hoodie or a collar shirt. Artem identifies architectural vulnerabilities in security, privacy, and identity as the central problem, citing 2025's $292 million Kelp DAO exploit, $13 billion withdrawn from Aave in 48 hours, and over $800 million stolen across the year. He warns that AI is rewriting the threat model with bugs being found exponentially faster (including a Zcash bug sitting since 2022 only recently found by AI), and that traditional institutions built for human attackers cannot keep up with billions of agents executing trillions of transactions at light speed. The only answer he sees is zero knowledge cryptography that proves computation without revealing inputs. He argues paradoxically that the architectural decisions Cypherpunks have made for decades (decentralization, credible neutrality, verifiability, operational resilience demonstrated by Ethereum's 11 years of zero downtime) are exactly what institutions now need. He closes by presenting Octant's model: a self sustaining funding engine where the Golem Foundation's 100,000 staked ETH generates yield to fund ecosystem grants (over 130 projects and $18 million distributed in 3 years) without ever spending the principal. He introduces Octa Vaults built on ERC-4626 as perpetual endowments enabling yield powered giving, Octa Grants as the allocation layer using quadratic funding and other models, and the V2 launch coming next week. He reframes web3 as not about ownership but co-ownership of shared state, since users own keys not assets, and that public infrastructure must stay funded for everyone to keep 24/7 access. 00:00 Introduction 00:08 What Is Cypherpunk 00:33 Cypherpunk Is Dead, Long Live Cypherpunk 01:23 Build a New Model Instead of Fighting the Old 01:52 Adoption Is Not the End of Cypherpunk Ethos 02:26 Nostalgia for the 2018 Berlin Hard Fork Era 02:50 Security and Privacy Are Architectural Problems 03:14 Honeypots and Bridge Vulnerabilities 03:38 2025's Exploits: Kelp, Aave, $800M Stolen 04:11 AI Is Rewriting the Threat Model 04:40 The Zcash Bug Found by AI After Three Years 05:07 Why Institutions Built for Human Attackers Will Fail 05:33 The Old Model: Service Agreements and Legal Recourse 05:57 Why Old Institutions Cannot Keep Up With Agents 06:22 Zero Knowledge Cryptography as the Answer 06:52 Cypherpunk Tech Is What Wall Street Needs 07:16 Credible Neutrality and Counterparty Risk 07:41 Verifiability and Ethereum's 11 Years of Uptime 08:20 Why the Ethereum Foundation's Role Is Narrowing 08:41 The Need for New Coordination Models 09:18 Digital Asset Treasuries as Long Term Funders 09:46 Octant: A Self Sustaining Funding Engine 10:11 How 100,000 Staked ETH Powers Grants 11:00 130 Projects, $18 Million Distributed in 3 Years 11:29 Octa Vaults as Perpetual Endowments 12:32 Yield as Insurance Against Loss 12:56 Yield Power Giving Without Spending Principal 12:56 Octa Grants and the Allocation Layer 13:54 V2 Launch Next Week 14:20 Web3 Is About Co-Ownership, Not Ownership 14:50 You Own Keys, Not Assets 15:20 Preserving the Properties We Built On 15:45 ZK-EVM and Verifiable AI Inference 16:14 The Moment Is Ripe for Institutions 16:48 Closing: Building Together for the Next Thousand Years _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *ETHConf 2026* ETHConf is a 3 day event for founders, industry leaders, and builders who are excited about the possibilities of building on top of Ethereum. Connect with 2,000+ top innovators in crypto, finance, technology, and policy at our inaugural three-day event packed with showcases, demos, partnerships, and conversations shaping the future of the global economy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow ETHConf* X: https://x.com/ethconf Website: https://ethconf.com _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🎟️ Get your early bird tickets for ETHConf 2027: https://ethconf.com/2027#tickets 🎤 View the full ETHConf 2026 Speaker Schedule: https://ethconf.com/schedule _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress · Jun 9, 2026

When governments shut down the internet, millions lose more than connection. They lose access to each other. The Tor ecosystem builds open source tools that help people stay connected, communicate safely, and protect freedom online. Support the projects protecting digital freedom: https://blog.torproject.org/fund-internet-freedom/

Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress · Jun 9, 2026

Some questions are difficult to ask out loud. Around the world, people use privacy tools to search, learn, connect, and find community safely online. The Tor ecosystem supports open source projects protecting the freedom to explore identity, communicate privately, and stay connected without fear of surveillance. .... Support the projects from OONI to Securedrop protecting digital freedom: https://internetfreedom.torproject.org

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

AI governance. The future of work. Coordination at scale. And the question underneath all of it: how do we make sure AI leads to human flourishing, not just faster automation? Intelligence at the Frontier was a 36-hour festival hosted by Funding the Commons across 16 floors of Frontier Tower in San Francisco, March 14–15, 2026. Over a thousand participants from 92 countries joined 229 sessions spanning AI policy, public goods funding, decentralized governance, AI safety, open source AI, democratic deliberation, longevity research, and coordination infrastructure for the age of AI. This aftermovie captures some of the ideas and conversations that shaped the weekend, featuring Tom Kalil (Renaissance Philanthropy, fmr. White House science policy), Sheila Warren (fmr. World Economic Forum), Shady El Damaty (Holonym Foundation / human.tech), Luke Drago (Workshop Labs), and Shaw Walters (ElizaOS). What stood out to you? Let us know 👇 🌐 https://fundingthecommons.io Presented by Funding the Commons x Frontier Tower x Protocol Labs

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

What does it look like to build the human-AI coordination layer in 36 hours? The Intelligence at the Frontier Hackathon brought 150 builders to Frontier Tower in San Francisco for an overnight build sprint on March 14-15, 2026, across four tracks: agentic AI, physical robotics, AI safety and evaluation, and sovereign infrastructure. 53 projects shipped. $25k+ in prizes awarded. We saw builders hacking through the night, robots roaming the hallways, agents paying each other in real money, and judges giving Claude feedback. Thanks to everyone who joined us. Co-produced with Protocol Labs. Supported by ElevenLabs, Bittensor, Solana, Meteora, Metaplex, Redwood North, BittensorCommons.org, VESSL AI, Velda, Unbrowse, NomadicML, human.tech, Activeloop, Solo Tech, Learning Layer Labs, Lit Protocol, and KikiTora. 🌐 https://fundingthecommons.io 📋 All 53 projects: https://intelligence-at-the-frontier-hackathon.devspot.app/?activeTab=projects

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Pi belongs to everyone. E=mc² didn't. Tricia Wang opens Intelligence at the Frontier 2026 asking which path AI governance will take. Serving as Emcee of the festival and co-founder of the Advanced AI Society, Tricia frames the day through a Pi Day provocation: pi was held as a commons across civilizations for millennia, owned by no one and available to all. Einstein's formula took the opposite path, weaponized by one government before any governance existed to distribute its power. The parallel to AI ethics and agentic AI in 2026 is direct and uncomfortable. She introduces a three-layer framework for navigating the AI governance conversation: hardware, software, and the social/cultural layer that's almost always missing. The shaping question for human flourishing in the age of AI: as AI agents begin to outnumber humans, do we see them as extensions of ourselves or adversaries to control? Emcee of the festival: Tricia Wang (Advanced AI Society) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

David Dao

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Elinor Ostrom proved communities can self-govern shared resources without top-down control. But her principles hit a hard limit at roughly 150 people — Dunbar's number. Beyond that, cooperation breaks down. So how do you govern something the size of the Amazon? David Dao, founder of GainForest and winner of the Rainforest X Prize, argues that AI and decentralized technology are the missing infrastructure to scale Ostrom's commons governance principles to planetary scale. Drawing on 15 years working with indigenous communities across the Amazon and the Philippines, he shows how satellite imagery, data valuation, and on-chain identity systems can help communities protect forests at a scale no single government or NGO has managed alone. The talk moves from the tragedy of the commons to a blueprint for governing shared resources in the age of AI. Speaker: David Dao (Protocol Labs & Gainforest) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Losing your job to AI is the obvious worry. Luke Drago argues the real problem is bigger. Luke, co-founder of Workshop Labs and co-author of The Intelligence Curse, borrows a concept from development economics: the resource curse, where oil-rich states stop investing in their citizens because their wealth comes from the ground, not from taxing labor. His argument is that full automation creates the same dynamic. When a handful of actors own the models, the compute, and the data, there's no economic reason left to invest in everyone else. The social contract quietly stops working. Luke makes the case that this outcome isn't inevitable, and that the window to build things differently is still open. Speaker: Luke Drago (Workshop Labs / Blue Dot Impact) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

AI isn't just displacing jobs. Sheila Warren argues it's accelerating something older and more dangerous: the systematic removal of human dignity from how decisions get made. Sheila, CEO of the Project Liberty Institute and founder of the World Economic Forum's blockchain and digital assets team, connects what look like separate crises — surveillance tech, deportation without due process, AI agents — into a single cultural problem. Her central concept is differential friction: the idea that the race to remove friction from every system is quietly eroding the checks that keep power accountable. When there's nothing to slow an AI agent down, small errors compound fast and become permanent. She encourages everyone building in this space to ask, every time: before you remove friction, whose protection were you removing with it? Speaker: Sheila Warren (Project Liberty Institute) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

National governments move too slowly for emerging technology. Augusto Ardiles Diaz argues that cities are where AI policy actually gets built. Augusto, Undersecretary of Investments for the City of Buenos Aires, lays out the case for cities as real-world laboratories: places where new technology can be tested, adopted, and scaled under real conditions before formal regulation catches up. Buenos Aires is doing this through a dedicated AI district, offering zero local taxes for qualifying companies, regulatory sandboxes supervised by public authorities, and university partnerships designed to reskill workers and small businesses ahead of the curve. His framing is that public policy should function as institutional infrastructure for innovation, not just as a brake on it. Speaker: Augusto Ardiles Diaz (Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Matthias Broner

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

As AI displaces workers and traditional UN funding gets pulled back, UNICEF is building the financial infrastructure to get resources to people who need them most. Matthias, an advisor to the UNICEF Office of Innovation, walks through a set of live blockchain-powered initiatives: a crypto donation protocol (Drips) funding five digital public goods across 131 countries, an impact staking program that puts idle ETH to work for humanitarian causes, and AidLink — a system that delivers cash transfers via SMS to people without internet access, building digital wallets entirely behind the scenes. UNICEF has held and disbursed crypto assets since 2019, longer than any other UN organization. The goal is to leverage blockchain as financial infrastructure for people the traditional system doesn't reach, tested in the real world before being scaled. Speaker: Matthias Broner (UNICEF Office of Innovation) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Shady El Damaty

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

As AI agents increasingly mediate human interaction, how do we make sure people stay in control of their own digital lives? Shady, co-founder of Holonym Foundation and the team behind human.tech, comes from computational neuroscience and applied cryptography. He argues that the current trajectory of AI development pulls resources, talent, and capital into a one-way infrastructure that gives little back — and that cryptographic tools, specifically zero-knowledge proofs, offer one of the most underused levers we have to redistribute power back to individuals. The core question he poses: what is the most important thing you could be building right now, with everything you have at your disposal? For Shady, the answer is technology that proves you are human, without giving up what makes you so. Speaker: Shady El Damaty (Holonym Foundation / human.tech) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

For the first time in 100 years, the Los Angeles City Council voted to expand its size, from 15 to 25 seats. That decision came from a citizen assembly that Liz Barry helped design and run. Liz, Executive Director of Metagov, builds the infrastructure for large-scale democratic deliberation. She works across community organizing, open source software and governance theory, and has been involved in democratic reform processes from Los Angeles to Taiwan. Her provocation is simple: what determines whether technology is a net good or bad is not its functionality — it's who controls it. She argues that as AI reshapes institutions, deliberative platforms need two things that are currently in tension: proof of humanity to ensure results are legitimate, and data sovereignty so participants can engage safely. Figuring out how to hold both at once is one of the defining challenges of democratic governance in the age of AI. Speaker: Liz Barry (Metagov) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

A single state-level debate about one nuclear power plant generated 5,862 distinct arguments. The human mind can hold about four to seven things at once. Jamie Joyce argues this gap is the core problem in democratic governance, and that AI might be the only way to close it. Jamie, founder of the Society Library, makes the case for Scaled Democratic Reasoning: the idea that civilization-scale decisions involve far more complexity than any group of humans can process reliably. Her team maps debates as dense, nested argument graphs pulling from social media, scholarly papers and economic assessments, to make the full landscape of a debate navigable at scale. Her argument isn't that human deliberation is wrong. It's that we need tools to extend it, the same way telescopes extended vision. Speaker: Jamie Joyce (The Society Library) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

We built tens of thousands of physical libraries to give people access to knowledge. Sam Klein asks what the equivalent looks like when agents are doing half the reading. Sam, co-founder of Public AI and director of the Concordance Project at Harvard's Berkman Klein Center, makes the case for a new kind of planetary library — one where AI agents don't just retrieve information but actively curate, annotate and contribute to shared knowledge commons. He estimates there are roughly 3 billion concepts worth documenting; we have monographs for about 200 million of them. The gap is enormous, and agents could help close it. His ask to builders in the room: invite your agents to do knowledge curation work. Every small piece of structured information recorded at scale becomes part of a library the whole ecosystem benefits from. Speaker: Sam Klein (Public AI / Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Joshua Tan

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

AI has become roughly 1,250 times more effective over the past six years. Organizations haven't kept up. Joshua Tan thinks that's the next frontier. Joshua, co-founder and research director at Metagov and lead at Stanford's Open Lab, argues that as AI agents grow more capable, the organizations coordinating them need to evolve too. He introduces the concept of autonomous organizations — systems like the Facebook newsfeed or agent-run code repositories that operate through algorithmic logic no single person fully controls. DAOs were an early attempt at this, but their rigidity made them slow to change. What comes next is something more adaptive, more sub-symbolic, and harder to govern. His proposal: a startup incubator model for autonomous organizations, where new governance structures are launched as live experiments and learned from in real time. Speaker: Joshua Tan (Metagov / Stanford Open Lab) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

AI is advancing exponentially. Democratic systems are not. Aviv Ovadya is trying to close that gap before it becomes irreversible. Aviv, CEO of the AI and Democracy Foundation and research director at Metagov, makes the case for deliberative processes as core infrastructure for governing AI. Citizen assemblies and similar mechanisms have now been run thousands of times around the world, including feeding into EU policymaking several times a year. They are faster to spin up than elections, easier to iterate on, and designed to cut through the adversarial incentives that corrupt traditional political processes. His argument is that the democratic innovation space is massively underfunded relative to AI, crypto and other domains, and that a targeted ARPA-style deployment of resources across key capability gaps could make rapid progress. Speaker: Aviv Ovadya (AI and Democracy Foundation) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Humans aren't impressive on their own. Our superpower is each other — and institutions are how we've always organized that collective intelligence at scale. Adam Russell thinks that's exactly why institutions matter so much right now, and why most of them are blowing it. Adam, a former DARPA program director and Chief Vision Officer at USC's Information Sciences Institute, comes to AI as an anthropologist. He sees two dominant responses to disruption in institutions today: pretend it isn't happening, or dig in and defend the status quo. Neither works. His argument is that real resilience means being able to change when the world changes — not holding firm while everything shifts around you. Speaker: Adam Russell (Information Sciences Institute, USC) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Most of the conversation around AI asks what it will do to us. Tom Kalil thinks that's the wrong question. Tom, who shaped science and technology policy across the Clinton and Obama administrations, and Adam Russell, former DARPA program director and Chief Vision Officer at USC's Information Sciences Institute, dig into what it actually takes to steer AI toward public benefit. Tom's central argument is that everyone is focused on AI itself, but not nearly enough on its complements — the data sets, benchmarks, platforms and infrastructure that determine whether AI can solve anything meaningful. AlphaFold worked because of 50 years of curated protein data. Most domains don't have that. The fireside chat covers advance market commitments as a funding model for public goods, why good ideas from the crypto and blockchain world get stuck inside that world, and what government can and can't do when technology moves faster than policy. Speakers: Adam Russell (Information Sciences Institute, USC) and Tom Kalil (Renaissance Philanthropy) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

45 million people depend on a network of internet freedom tools to access uncensored information. When the US government rescinded its funding mid-contract in 2025, most of those tools faced collapse overnight. Al, Director of Fundraising at the Tor Project, makes the case for why centralized funding is the Achilles heel of decentralized infrastructure. Tor's network is distributed by design — thousands of volunteer relay operators across the world, no single point of failure. But its funding came from one source. When that source changed its mind, the entire ecosystem was put at risk. His answer is to bring quadratic funding and community crowdfunding models from the Ethereum world into the internet freedom space. Tor is running a campaign in May 2026 using minimal anti-collusion infrastructure to make funding more equitable and resistant to manipulation — reaching 2.2 million Tor Browser users a day in the process. Speaker: Al Smith (Tor Project) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

In 1999, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy told the world: "You have zero privacy. Get over it." Michelle Finneran Dennedy was working at Sun at the time. She went the other direction. Michelle, Chief Data Strategy Officer at Abaxx, created the first Chief Privacy Officer role at Sun Microsystems and has spent nearly 30 years building the field of privacy engineering. She argues that privacy has a precise definition — the authorized processing of personal data according to ethics, law and sustainable commerce — and that authorization is contextual. In a world where machines are acting on machines at scale, that context disappears fast. Her framework for fixing it is proofs of control: measurable, nano-level signals built into systems from the start, not layered on top after the fact. The privacy officer role, she argues, needs to move from compliance into engineering and into the boardroom before agentic AI makes the retrofit impossible. Speaker: Michelle Finneran Dennedy (Abaxx) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

On February 7th, 2026, NPR reported that the State Department was taking down its social media posts going back 20 years. The Internet Archive had already started archiving them. In the weeks that followed, the Wayback Machine captured more than 2 million posts and found that over a million had already been removed from the live web. This panel brings together Mark Graham, director of the Wayback Machine, Megan Kleiman of the Filecoin Foundation, and moderator Wendy Hanamura to talk about what it means to preserve public data at a moment when governments are actively deleting their own records. The conversation covers Democracy's Library, a joint project storing government data from the US, Canada, Bermuda and beyond in decentralized Filecoin storage; why the Internet Archive's 200 petabytes of public data is one of the most important training sets AI has access to; and what builders can do with it right now. Mark also makes a case for archiving AI chatbot responses themselves — because if no one records what these systems are saying, that history disappears too. Speakers: Mark Graham (Internet Archive), Megan Kleiman (Filecoin Foundation) Moderator: Wendy Hanamura (DWeb / formerly Internet Archive) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Note: This recording was captured with technical limitations on Day 1. We apologize for any audio quality issues and appreciate your patience.

Evan Miyazono

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Imagine a box where an AI system learns everything about your values and preferences. You walk in, spend a few hours, and walk out with a perfectly aligned AI. Evan Miyazono's talk starts here — and then explains why that's still not enough. Evan, founder of Atlas Computing and former director of Funding the Commons, argues that for high-stakes domains like nuclear infrastructure or financial systems, even a 99% probability guarantee isn't acceptable. Alignment is necessary but not sufficient. What's needed alongside it is structure: explicit checks and balances, verifiable constraints, and institutions with clearly scoped responsibilities — the same logic behind how democracies are designed to prevent unchecked power. His proposal is a 5-to-1 nonprofit where delegates from labs agree on a shared model specification that becomes a verifiable, multipolar governance target no single company controls. Speaker: Evan Miyazono (Atlas Computing) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

We are building systems we don't understand. Paul Riechers thinks that's the core problem, and that it's fixable. Paul, co-founder of Simplex and research lead at the Astera Institute, brings a physics background to AI safety. His central argument: without a mathematical understanding of what intelligence actually is, the debate between AI optimists and pessimists has no ground to stand on. Everyone has strong feelings. Nobody has a shared truth to point to. His research finds that transformer models develop internal world models with universal geometric structure, the same representations emerging across different architectures. That's evidence that interpretability is possible and that we can eventually understand what these systems are doing, not just observe what they produce. Speaker: Paul Riechers (Simplex / Astera Institute) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Building AI systems today means choosing between two bad options: the rigidity of traditional code or the unpredictability of language models. Quentin Feuillade-Montixi thinks neither is good enough, and that we need a new abstraction layer between them. Quentin, founder of WeaveMind and co-founder of Prism Evals, built the behavior elicitation benchmark for AI safety evaluation. His frustration with how AI systems are currently built led him to develop a framework where everything operates at the same level of abstraction — giving developers the structure and verifiability of code while preserving the flexibility needed to work with language models. The goal is to make what AI agents are actually doing visible and controllable, not just at the output level but at the level of the system itself. Speaker: Quentin Feuillade-Montixi (WeaveMind) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Only 0.1% of people working on AI are working on frontier AI safety and security. Ryan Kidd thinks that number needs to get to 1%, fast. Ryan, founder of MATS Research, argues that talent is the primary bottleneck in AI safety, not funding or ideas. Funding is growing. Research directions exist. What's missing is the pipeline of people with the skills, connections and credentials to do the work. At current growth rates, AI safety won't reach the scale of comparable technical challenges before AGI arrives. MATS runs fellowships several times a year across alignment, interpretability, security and governance — deliberately outside traditional academic structures. Ryan's call to the room: if you have a good idea for making AI safer, you don't need a PhD to pursue it. Speaker: Ryan Kidd (MATS Research) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

In 1770, the British East India Company's pursuit of profit contributed to a famine that killed 10 million people. Ashutosh Desai starts there, and draws a straight line to today. Ashutosh, founder of Make School and collaborator on Google's Magenta music AI project, argues that technological advantage has always allowed capital to out-leverage both labor and governance. The Industrial Revolution reshaped the bodies of Indian weavers. AI is doing something similar now to software engineers and knowledge workers. His warning: the American military-industrial complex combined with AI is the greatest risk we face, and many of the people enabling it are rational actors who simply can't find their way out of the prisoner's dilemma. His invitation is to stop being a user of these technologies and become an active shaper of them. Speaker: Ashutosh Desai This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Six people currently sit on OpenAI's board. Those six people make decisions about one of the most powerful technologies ever built. Is that safe? James Farrell, CTO of Funding the Commons, moderates a conversation between Ala Shaabana, co-founder of Bittensor, and Ashutosh Desai on what a more decentralized AI economy could actually look like. Bittensor recently completed a full training run for a 72 billion parameter model on decentralized infrastructure — an early proof that markets can coordinate around AI without centralizing control. The conversation covers sovereign AI development across countries like India, the difference between decentralizing across organizations versus across nations, and why a multipolar AI world is safer than one where a single government or company holds all the power. It also turns toward something harder to quantify: as AI floods the internet with generated content, human attention and authentic connection may become the scarcest resource of all. Speakers: Ashutosh Desai, Ala Shaabana (Bittensor) Moderator: James Farrell (Funding the Commons) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

When Shaw Walters got banned from X, he built his own AI-powered social platform with prediction markets, agent swarms and asymmetric information games. That wasn't a detour. It was research. Shaw, co-creator of ElizaOS and Eliza Labs, argues that we can't build trustworthy agents using just rules, prompts and sandboxes. The behavior needs to be in the model. To generate the training data required for that, he built Babylon, a city of agents where AI characters can trade, lie, scam each other and build reputation based on how well they play information markets. The best liar in an asymmetric information game, he argues, is demonstrating a kind of intelligence worth understanding. His broader argument is that agent infrastructure needs to stay open by default — auditable, forkable and not controlled by a handful of companies — and that games are becoming the lab conditions for how agents will operate in the real world. Speaker: Shaw Walters (Eliza Labs / ElizaOS) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Radio took 36 years to reach 50 million users. The internet took seven. ChatGPT took two months. Cheryl Contee's message is simple: we don't have the luxury of waiting to figure out what we think about this. Cheryl, CEO of Brightworks AI and Change Agent AI, has spent years helping nonprofits and mission-driven organizations navigate technology transitions. She opens with a memory of her grandmother's washboard — kept in the basement just in case the washing machine broke — and builds from there. We are in a moment comparable to electrification and industrialization, but moving faster than either. The institutions collapsing around us are not the destination; they're the precondition for something better. Her argument is that the question is never whether technology will change society. It's who gets to shape that change. Only around 10% of nonprofits she works with have an AI policy. That's a leadership failure. And leadership, not technology, is what she came to talk about. Speaker: Cheryl Contee (Brightworks AI / Change Agent AI) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Superintelligence is likely within a decade. Esben Kran's question is where to put the money to prepare for it. Esben, co-founder of Seldon Lab and founder of Apart Research, argues that we are at an inflection point where AI safety has moved from a research problem to a market opportunity. Seldon is his answer — a Y Combinator-style accelerator for AI safety startups, focused on companies that can scale to $100 billion while tying every dollar earned to a measurable unit of security created in the world. His thesis: if AI replaces labor and becomes the largest industry in the world, AI safety will become the second largest. He makes the case that the biggest leverage point is no longer compute but verification — a conclusion now backed by a new paper out of MIT arguing that verification technology is the moat in the age of AGI. The three options for anyone serious about AGI risk: join a lab, lobby for policy, or proactively engineer the secure infrastructure we'll need. Seldon is betting on the third. Speaker: Esben Kran (Apart Research / Seldon) Slides: https://ftcseldonlab.netlify.app This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

The US invented industrial robotics. Then it didn't invest in it. Japan took the lead. Then China. Now China is the largest user of robots in the world and pushing to become the largest supplier. Jeff Burnstein has watched all of this from the inside for over 40 years. Jeff, president of the Association for Advancing Automation, sits down with Devinder Sodhi of Frontier Tower for a conversation covering the full arc of physical AI — from why the word "robot" still scares American voters, to the case for a national robotics commission, to why Detroit's collapse was never really about the machines. Done right, he argues, automation creates more jobs than it eliminates. But only if governments invest in workforce training rather than waiting for the market to sort it out. Speakers: Jeff Burnstein (Association for Advancing Automation), Devinder Sodhi (Frontier Tower / Tess Ventures) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

In 1998, a group of developers named what they'd been doing all along — and "open source" became something companies could adopt, fund and build on. Brian Behlendorf was in that room. He thinks we're at an identical moment with proof of control. Brian, co-founder of the Apache Foundation and former head of Hyperledger, sits down with Tricia Wang to trace the line from open source to the agent security challenge we face today. The same social engineering attacks that almost compromised the Linux kernel will happen at a hundred times the scale when agents are doing the contributing. He argues that the most urgent problem is liability washing: humans deploying agents to cause harm, then escaping accountability because no one can trace the action back to them. Proof of control is what connects agents back to the upstream humans responsible for them. Speakers: Brian Behlendorf (Open Source Security Foundatio

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

Your body is 30 trillion cells cooperating every millisecond. Cancer is what happens when that cooperation breaks down. Athena Aktipis has spent her career studying both, and thinks the lessons apply directly to multi-agent AI. Athena, director of the Cooperative Futures Institute at Arizona State University, draws on evolutionary biology and agent-based modeling to extract design principles for cooperative systems that don't collapse under cheating and exploitation. The same foundations that make multicellular bodies viable — controlled resource allocation, division of labor, decentralized policing, kill switches for defectors — are the ones we need as AI agent networks scale. Her walkaway rule offers a surprisingly simple basis for cooperation in decentralized systems: always cooperate, and leave if your partner isn't cooperative enough. Decades of modeling suggest this is sufficient for cooperation to evolve and persist. The question is whether we can build that into AI systems before the scale makes it impossible to retrofit. Speaker: Athena Aktipis (Arizona State University / Cooperative Futures Institute) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

We already lost the battle for mind control. De Kai argues it happened 20 years ago, the moment AI algorithms started deciding what ideas would and wouldn't reach us. De Kai, professor at HKUST and Berkeley's ICSI and founder of the Empathetic AI Institute, asks who decides what each of us will never know. Social media recommendations, search engines and chatbots make those decisions billions of times a day. A handful of engineers and executives set the criteria. The community has no say. AI has become the 21st century knowledge commons — the system that determines which communities form and which ideas spread. That makes it the mother of all commons, and the most urgent governance challenge humanity has faced. Speaker: De Kai (Empathetic AI Institute / The Future Society) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Juan Benet

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

The crypto community built a lot. It just didn't quite get there. Juan Benet offers a frank assessment of why, and why AI might be the thing that finally makes it real. Juan, founder of Protocol Labs and the person whose work gave rise to IPFS, Filecoin and Funding the Commons itself, reflects on a decade of building decentralized infrastructure that reached fewer people than it should have. Stablecoins worked. Most of the rest didn't land at scale. The speculative noise drowned out the execution. The rails built in crypto are exactly the underground layer AI needs to transact at scale. The crypto dream might still happen, just built by AI agents rather than humans alone. Juan's challenge to the room is to start thinking now about how to provision public goods not just for people, but for the millions of AI agents that will soon be part of the conversation too. Speaker: Juan Benet (Protocol Labs) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Illia Polosukhin

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

The internet was built for humans clicking URLs. It was not built for agents coordinating with each other at scale. Illia Polosukhin thinks that needs to change now. Illia, co-founder of NEAR Protocol and co-author of the landmark "Attention Is All You Need" paper, traces the arc from AI as a backend feature to AI as the operating system through which we interface with the world. Agents are already starting to coordinate with each other, hire each other, and execute actions without human input. The infrastructure underneath them — identity, payments, privacy, policy — was not designed for this. His answer is a stack built for the agentic era: confidential execution environments, credential vaults that intercept outgoing connections, WebAssembly tool isolation, and a marketplace where agents can hire each other for tasks. The goal is security by design rather than security as an afterthought. Speaker: Illia Polosukhin (NEAR Protocol) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Illia Polosukhin, Juan Benet

Funding the Commons · May 9, 2026

What happens when AI agents don't just assist humans but start forming their own entities, entering contracts, and building toward their own goals? Illia Polosukhin and Juan Benet think we're closer to that than most people realize. Illia, co-founder of NEAR Protocol and co-author of "Attention Is All You Need," and Juan, founder of Protocol Labs, dig into the infrastructure needed for a world of autonomous AI coordination. The conversation turns on a deceptively simple problem: credit assignment. Every bottleneck in how we organize human effort, from machine learning to corporations to public goods funding, comes down to how well we can attribute contribution. Juan argues that cheap intelligence may finally let us solve this at scale, using Shapley value approximations to fairly distribute credit across AI agents working on shared goals. The first fully autonomous AI corporations may arrive within months. The question is whether we build the right foundations now or sleepwalk into it. Speakers: Illia Polosukhin (NEAR Protocol), Juan Benet (Protocol Labs) This session was part of Intelligence at the Frontier, held March 14–15, 2026, at Frontier Tower in San Francisco. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · Apr 9, 2026

What does it look like to build for human flourishing in the age of AI? Intelligence at the Frontier was a 36-hour festival, conference, and overnight hackathon across 16 floors of Frontier Tower in San Francisco. 1,000 researchers, builders, artists, funders, and policymakers. Talks, workshops, live music, immersive art, real-time public goods funding experiments—and a lot of great conversations.This is a glimpse of what happened inside. Speakers included Juan Benet (Protocol Labs), Illia Polosukhin (NEAR Protocol), Tom Kalil (Renaissance Philanthropy), Leo Gao (OpenAI), Luke Drago (Workshop Labs), Sheila Warren (fmr. World Economic Forum), Shaw Walters (ElizaOS), and Brian Behlendorf (EFF, Mozilla Foundation), alongside 160+ more voices across AI governance, longevity, sovereign infrastructure, and the coordination systems that determine whether intelligence serves everyone. Filmed at Intelligence at the Frontier, March 14–15, 2026, Frontier Tower, San Francisco. Presented by Funding the Commons, Frontier Tower & Protocol Labs. Learn more: https://fundingthecommons.io

Funding the Commons · Apr 9, 2026

The UN has a pipeline of 150 blockchain initiatives. Getting them to scale means the blockchain industry has to build relationships it hasn't prioritized yet—with governments, UN agencies, and civil society. Teodor Petricevic works at the UNDP Alternative Finance Lab in Istanbul. In this conversation, he talks about why cross-chain, cross-sector collaboration has to happen now, and why builders shouldn't compromise their core principles to make it work. Filmed at Funding the Commons Buenos Aires, November 19, 2025. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Relevant Projects UNDP AltFinLab: https://innovation.eurasia.undp.org/altfinlab/ Thank You to Our Sponsors Protocol Labs: https://protocol.ai NEAR Foundation: https://near.foundation Stellar Development Foundation: https://stellar.org human.tech by Holonym Foundation: https://human.tech/ Ethereum Ecosystem Support Program: https://esp.ethereum.foundation/ Drips: https://drips.network Octant: https://octant.app Logos: https://logos.co GoodDollar: https://gooddollar.org Launchnodes: https://launchnodes.com

Funding the Commons · Apr 9, 2026

It’s easy to design for people who already understand blockchain. Getting a government to trust it and deploy it is a different kind of challenge. Aaron Sanchez, Head of Strategy and Partnerships at Exponential Science, runs the Government Blockchain Academy with the UNDP. His work focuses on educating public officials and their teams, then helping them think through real use cases that make sense beyond the crypto ecosystem. The starting point isn’t the technology. It’s the problem. And sometimes the answer isn’t blockchain. Filmed at Funding the Commons Buenos Aires, November 19, 2025. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Relevant Projects Exponential Science: https://www.exp.science/ UNDP: https://www.undp.org Thank You to Our Sponsors Protocol Labs: https://protocol.ai NEAR Foundation: https://near.foundation Stellar Development Foundation: https://stellar.org human.tech by Holonym Foundation: https://human.tech/ Ethereum Ecosystem Support Program: https://esp.ethereum.foundation/ Drips: https://drips.network Octant: https://octant.app Logos: https://logos.co GoodDollar: https://gooddollar.org Launchnodes: https://launchnodes.com

Roger Dingledine

Funding the Commons · Mar 9, 2026

Privacy infrastructure can't be conditional on institutional approval. It has to work for anyone, no permission required. This is the vision Roger Dingledine, co-founder of Tor Project, has been building toward for over two decades. His technology has helped hundreds of thousands of people institutions failed to protect—activists under authoritarian regimes, journalists exposing corruption, people seeking healthcare their governments criminalized. In this conversation, Roger argues that metadata protection—who you talk to, where you go online, the patterns you leave behind—should be infrastructure, not a privilege, that protects people institutions don't. Filmed at Funding the Commons Buenos Aires, November 19, 2025. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Relevant Projects Tor Project: https://www.torproject.org Thank You to Our Sponsors Protocol Labs: https://protocol.ai NEAR Foundation: https://near.foundation Stellar Development Foundation: https://stellar.org human.tech by Holonym Foundation: https://human.tech/ Ethereum Ecosystem Support Program: https://esp.ethereum.foundation/ Drips: https://drips.network Octant: https://octant.app Logos: https://logos.co GoodDollar: https://gooddollar.org launchnodes: https://launchnodes.com

Funding the Commons · Mar 9, 2026

When you hold Ethereum, you can put it to work and earn passive rewards—this is called staking. Jaydeep Korde, Co-Founder of Lauchnodes, built a way to redirect those rewards toward social and environmental projects, without touching the original funds. The idea is simple: your assets stay intact, and the yield they generate funds real-world impact—from connecting schools to the internet to planting trees and supporting direct cash transfers. Filmed at Funding the Commons Buenos Aires, November 19, 2025. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Relevant Projects Lauchnodes: https://www.launchnodes.com Thank You to Our Sponsors Protocol Labs: https://protocol.ai NEAR Foundation: https://near.foundation Stellar Development Foundation: https://stellar.org human.tech by Holonym Foundation: https://human.tech/ Ethereum Ecosystem Support Program: https://esp.ethereum.foundation/ Drips: https://drips.network Octant: https://octant.app Logos: https://logos.co GoodDollar: https://gooddollar.org Launchnodes: https://launchnodes.com

Jarrad Hope

Funding the Commons · Mar 9, 2026

Most of the systems we use every day are not private by default. That includes the platforms we communicate on and the financial networks that record how money moves. Jarrad Hope, co-founder of Logos and Director of the Institute of Free Technology, is building alternatives: anonymous communication, decentralized storage, and blockchain systems designed to protect users instead of extracting from them. Privacy is not a feature. It is the foundation of agency. Filmed at Funding the Commons Buenos Aires, November 19, 2025. Learn more at https://www.fundingthecommons.io Relevant Projects Logos: https://logos.co Institute of Free Technology: https://free.technology Thank You to Our Sponsors Protocol Labs: https://protocol.ai NEAR Foundation: https://near.foundation Stellar Development Foundation: https://stellar.org human.tech by Holonym Foundation: https://human.tech/ Ethereum Ecosystem Support Program: https://esp.ethereum.foundation/ Drips: https://drips.network Octant: https://octant.app Logos: https://logos.co GoodDollar: https://gooddollar.org Launchnodes: https://launchnodes.com

ETHGlobal · Nov 9, 2025

Harsh Rajat, co-founder and CEO of Pushchain, discusses building decentralized applications (dApps) for the future, focusing on the challenges of cross-chain development, interoperability, and user experience in Web3. He recounts Push's journey from ETHGlobal 2020, highlighting the importance of hackathons, community support, and VC funding in their growth. Harsh identifies key pain points: increased infrastructure management, codebase fragmentation, high audit costs, and user friction due to multiple wallets and bridging protocols. To address these, Pushchain introduces a universal shared state blockchain, enabling developers to deploy once and reach users across all chains with native experiences, simplified infra, and seamless interoperability. Pushchain leverages EVM tooling and a UI kit SDK for easy integration, abstracting away complexities for both users and developers. Harsh announces the Pushchain testnet launch at ETHGlobal Delhi 2025 and introduces the exclusive Auto Pass for hackathon participants. 00:00 Introduction 00:38 Pushchain Origin Story & ETHGlobal 2020 01:40 Growth, Traction, and Push’s Success 02:08 The Hacker’s Reality: Cross-Chain Challenges 03:02 Infrastructure and Interoperability Issues 04:12 Fragmentation, Audit Costs, and User Friction 05:55 Rethinking dApp Development: The Pushchain Vision 06:22 User Experience: Present vs. Future 07:41 Pushchain: Shared State Chain Explained 08:16 Developer and User Benefits 09:00 Building on Pushchain: EVM Tooling & UI Kit 09:29 Code Integration Example 10:13 Pushchain Testnet & Auto Pass Announcement 10:52 Conclusion & Q&A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *Pragma New Delhi* Pragma New Delhi 2025 was held on September 25th at the JW Marriott Hotel in Aerocity New Delhi and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma New Delhi YouTube Playlist here: ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Harsh Rajat X: https://x.com/harshrajat ✅ Follow Push Chain X: https://x.com/PushChain ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCfF9ZO8Ug4xk_AJd4aeT5HA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHSofia · Oct 9, 2025

With his vast experience in the cryptocurrencies industry, from building mining facilities to supporting crypto projects and platforms, through trading and investing, crypto is Blagovest's lifestyle. Find out how he combines this with one of his other passions - partying. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Party Heads 00:52 Concept and Goals of Party Heads 01:33 Environmental and Social Impact Initiatives 02:18 Utility of Party Heads NFTs 02:58 NFT Drop and Party Land Concept 03:38 Team Experience and Future Collaborations 04:20 Conclusion on Blockchain Utilization in Event Planning This video was recorded during the ETHSofia Conference and Hackathon - October 17-19, 2024. ETHSofia is THE crypto tech conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, bringing together enthusiasts, developers, researchers, and academia focused on Ethereum and other L1 chains. The conference is supported by the Ethereum Foundation and made possible by the generous contributions of industry leaders. For more information, please visit: https://www.ethsofia.com/ 🌍Join the community: X (Twitter): https://x.com/ETHSofiaBG Telegram: https://t.me/+_i70pgfFHjBkMjZk LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethsofia/ #PartyHeads #Crowdfunding #NFT #NFTTickets #BlagovestKoynov #ETHSofia

Vitalik Buterin

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Join Vitalik Buterin at the Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit as he revisits his predictions on the evolving relationship between crypto and AI one year later. Discover how AI is transforming on-chain governance through AI DAOs and “distilled human judgment,” and learn about the challenges of adversarial machine learning, exploitability, and the critical role cryptography (ZK proofs, TEEs) plays in securing advanced AI-crypto integrations. Gain insights into decentralized markets, retroactive funding, and the future of Ethereum as AI becomes both a powerful player and interface in blockchain ecosystems. 00:00 Intro & 2024 Blog Post Recap 00:55 One Year Later: Crypto Meets AI 01:31 Four Categories of AI–Crypto Intersections 02:45 AI as a Player in On-Chain Games 03:24 Arbitrage Bots & Prediction Markets 04:42 Introducing AI DAOs & Governance 06:01 AI Mechanisms vs. Bribery & Capture 07:48 Distilled Human Judgment Explained 10:08 Deep Funding & Retroactive Rewards 12:22 AI as the Interface (“Agents”) 14:11 Power Shifts & User-Aligned AI 16:38 AI as the Rules: Exploitability Risks 19:17 AI as the Objective: On-Chain ML 20:56 Conclusions: Short-Term Focus Areas 22:24 EVM, Scalability & Transaction Costs 23:34 ZK Proofs, TEEs & Trusted Computation 26:33 Unprovability & Governance Challenges 27:34 Wrap-Up & Next Panel Transition _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🤖 *Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit* Join the official Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit for an in-depth look at AI agents, smart contracts, and how they converge to power the next era of decentralized intelligence. This is more than just a summit—it's a gathering of the brightest minds in our ecosystem, and we're honored to have Andrew Miller, Anna Kazlauskas, Davide Crapis, dcbuilder, Ed Felten, Erik Voorhees, Illia Polosukhin, Jasper Zhang, Karl Floersch, Ken Ng, Kevin Owocki, Linda Xie, Shaw, Tomasz Stanczak, Chase Allred and Vitalik Buterin and on stage for this virtual summit focused around AI Agents and Blockchain! Watch the full Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh6DrYO4ORk8wzQ5wCZDs0mW&si=ARqB9gaXAqehWH1_ 🤖 *Agentic Ethereum 2025* Agentic Ethereum is an online, async hackathon that runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 12, 2025. With over $175,000 USD in prizes, Agentic Ethereum is a great way to dive into the world of autonomous AI agents and explore how they can revolutionize projects on Ethereum. Start the year with groundbreaking innovation! Watch the full playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7jxP_flgRf5nZ_WDgFpBy3&si=RZozbd9C5KrG6Bf3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Vitalik Buterin* X: https://x.com/vitalikbuterin Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/vitalik.eth Blog: https://vitalik.ca ✅ *Follow the Ethereum Foundation* X: https://x.com/Ethereum Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethereumfndn Website: https://ethereum.foundation YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EthereumFoundation ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Join this dynamic panel at the Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit Tina (Flashbots) moderates a discussion with Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum Foundation), Shaw (Eliza Labs), Kevin Owoki (Gitcoin), Linda Xie (Bountycaster) and Ken Ng (Uniswap Foundation) on bringing the “A” (Autonomy/Automation) back into DAOs. Explore how advanced AI agents, decentralized governance, public goods funding (retro funding, deep funding, futarchy, quadratic funding), and emerging mechanisms can redefine the future of Ethereum and the broader Web3 ecosystem. Dive into real-world challenges like AI spam, low-quality content, block building optimizations, liability concerns, and new financial structures (Uniswap v4 hooks, MEV). Whether you’re a builder, DAO contributor, or just crypto-curious, discover how AI-driven autonomy might reshape decentralized organizations and empower the next wave of innovation. 00:00 Intro & Panel Setup 00:52 The One Best Question 01:34 AI Agents for DAOs 02:04 Summaries & Custom Context 02:34 Communication Overload in DAOs 03:28 Human Collaboration vs. Automation 05:22 AI as a Project Manager 07:15 Retro Funding & Incentives 08:49 Tighter Feedback Loops 10:52 What Not To Automate 11:21 AI Bounties & Farming Risks 12:06 Spam & Low-Quality AI Content 14:05 Keeping Human Empathy in DAOs 15:16 Autonomy vs. Automation Debate 18:07 Hybrid Models & Voting Agents 19:08 Defining a DAO & Funding 20:04 Is Ethereum a DAO? 22:32 Future of Ethereum & DAOs 25:22 Minimizing Overhead with AI 26:19 Funding Ethereum Public Goods 29:29 AI-Optimized MEV & Block Building 32:02 Pledging & Protocol Guild 34:03 Achieving Real Yield 36:46 Social Validation & Public Goods 37:37 Meme Coins & Speculation 39:01 Open Source & Pledge Models 42:31 Liability & Human-in-Loop AI 44:41 The Need for Defensive Tools 47:08 Acceleration vs. Safety 49:42 On-Chain Capital Allocation 51:09 DeFi Microstructures with Hooks 53:17 Final Takeaways & Conclusion _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🤖 *Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit* Join the official Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit for an in-depth look at AI agents, smart contracts, and how they converge to power the next era of decentralized intelligence. This is more than just a summit—it's a gathering of the brightest minds in our ecosystem, and we're honored to have Andrew Miller, Anna Kazlauskas, Davide Crapis, dcbuilder, Ed Felten, Erik Voorhees, Illia Polosukhin, Jasper Zhang, Karl Floersch, Ken Ng, Kevin Owocki, Linda Xie, Shaw, Tomasz Stanczak, Chase Allred and Vitalik Buterin and on stage for this virtual summit focused around AI Agents and Blockchain! Watch the full Agentic Ethereum 2025 Summit Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh6DrYO4ORk8wzQ5wCZDs0mW&si=ARqB9gaXAqehWH1_ 🤖 *Agentic Ethereum 2025* Agentic Ethereum is an online, async hackathon that runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 12, 2025. With over $175,000 USD in prizes, Agentic Ethereum is a great way to dive into the world of autonomous AI agents and explore how they can revolutionize projects on Ethereum. Start the year with groundbreaking innovation! Watch the full playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7jxP_flgRf5nZ_WDgFpBy3&si=RZozbd9C5KrG6Bf3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow T.I.N.A. X: https://x.com/tzhen ✅ Follow Vitalik Buterin & Ethereum Foundation X: https://x.com/VitalikButerin X: https://x.com/ethereum ✅ Follow Shaw & Eliza Labs X: https://x.com/shawmakesmagic Website: https://www.elizaos.ai ✅ Follow Kevin Owoki & Gitcoin X: https://x.com/owocki X: https://x.com/gitcoin ✅ Follow Linda Xie & Bountycaster X: https://x.com/ljxie X: https://x.com/Bountycaster ✅ Follow Ken Ng & the Uniswap Foundation X: https://x.com/nkennethk X: https://x.com/uniswapfnd ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Denisse Halm, co-founder of Divvy, presents a groundbreaking approach to funding sustainable growth in web3. Learn why traditional grants and hackathons often fail to drive long-term adoption and how Divvy’s on-chain protocol rewards builders based on measurable impact—not hype. Discover how ecosystems can deploy capital more efficiently by incentivizing real on-chain activity, empowering builders to focus on product-market fit, and fostering a diverse range of user experiences. If you're a builder, protocol, or investor looking for smarter ways to scale web3 adoption, this talk is a must-watch. 00:00 - Introduction: The Challenge of Web3 Adoption 00:53 - Why Traditional Funding Fails (Grants & Hackathons) 02:14 - $2B Spent, Low Adoption: What’s Broken? 03:39 - The Problem with Short-Term Incentives 05:01 - How Grants Stifle Builder Productivity 06:17 - Divvy’s Solution: Pay for On-Chain Impact 07:38 - How Divvy Works: Protocols, Builders & Users 09:24 - Smart Contracts for Transparent Rewards 10:32 - On-Chain Attribution & Permissionless Funding 11:39 - Why Protocols Love Divvy (Scalability & ROI) 12:50 - Benefits for Builders: No Grants, No Politics 13:59 - Case Studies: Beefy & Liquidity Revenue Sharing 15:10 - How to Implement Impact-Based Funding 16:58 - Join Divvy: For Protocols & Builders 17:36 - Closing: Fund Outcomes, Not Hype _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇹🇼 *Pragma Taipei* Pragma Taipei 2025 was held on April 3rd at POPOP in Taipei, Taiwan and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma Taipei YouTube Playlist here: ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Denisse Halm X: https://x.com/hola_denisse ✅ Follow Divvi X: https://x.com/letsdivvi ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/TheRealKartik ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCfF9ZO8Ug4xk_AJd4aeT5HA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Vitalik Buterin, Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

In this fireside chat at Pragma Prague 2025, Kartik Talwar (co-founder of ETH Global) and Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum co-founder) dive deep into the challenges and future of DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations). They discuss governance flaws, transparency issues, decision-making inefficiencies, and the need for experimentation in decentralized structures. Key topics include AI in DAOs, privacy in governance, multi-level decision-making, and how to improve funding allocation. A must-watch for blockchain builders, DAO enthusiasts, and anyone interested in decentralized governance. 00:00 - Introduction: Kartik Talwar & Vitalik Buterin Fireside Chat 00:55 - Challenges of Working with DAOs as an Organization 01:31 - Decline in DAO Experimentation Among Hackers 02:12 - Transparency & Negotiation Issues in DAO Governance 03:15 - Why DAOs Have Stalled in Innovation 04:35 - Problems with Public Forums in DAO Decision-Making 05:39 - DAOs vs. Traditional Companies in Decision Efficiency 06:52 - Gitcoin & Akita Token Case Study on DAO Weaknesses 07:24 - Why DAOs Are Stuck in a "Fork Compound" Mindset 08:39 - Regulatory Pressures & Compliance in DAO Structures 10:19 - Shift Away from Operational Decentralization 11:32 - Separating Organizational Structure from Legal Form 12:48 - Hierarchical vs. Flat Governance in DAOs 14:03 - Why DAOs Are Necessary: DeFi & ENS Use Cases 15:32 - Oracle Security & DAO Accountability in DeFi 17:19 - Strategic vs. Routine Decisions in DAOs 18:26 - Concave vs. Convex Decision-Making in Governance 19:51 - Three Types of DAOs: Data, Funds, & Protocol Steering 21:36 - Rethinking DAO Governance from First Principles 22:09 - Problems with Public Discourse in DAO Negotiations 23:26 - Specialization & SubDAOs for Better Decision-Making 24:38 - Should DAOs Allow Open Participation by Default? 25:24 - Long-Term Bets vs. Short-Term Outcomes in DAOs 27:17 - Enabling Radical Bets in DAO Governance 28:25 - Accountability & Preventing Misallocation in DAOs 29:02 - Decentralized Accountability vs. Centralized Evaluation 31:25 - Privacy & Communication Structures in DAO Governance 32:39 - Preventing Internal & External Capture in DAOs 34:59 - AI’s Role in DAOs: Execution vs. Preference Aggregation 37:28 - Modular Governance: Plugins for Existing DAO Contracts 38:54 - Limits & Accountability in DAO Fund Allocation 40:03 - DeFi Protocol Risks: Token Holders vs. TVL Security 42:35 - DAO Treasury Management: Spending vs. Sustainability 44:33 - Privacy Solutions for DAO Grant Distribution 45:12 - Reopening the Overton Window in DAO Design 46:29 - Voter Attention & Delegation in DAO Governance 47:50 - AI as a Tool, Not a King, in DAO Decision-Making 49:35 - AI Summaries vs. AI-Driven Execution in DAOs 50:54 - Preference Aggregation & Autonomous Execution 52:45 - GDPR, Privacy, & AI in DAO Governance 54:21 - AI DAOs: Balancing Autonomy & Accountability 55:26 - Revisiting "The DAO" (2016) & Lessons Learned 57:21 - Long-Term Investments vs. Short-Term DAO Expectations 59:56 - R&D in DAOs: Funding High-Risk, High-Reward Projects 1:01:14 - DeFi Protocol Treasury Management Strategies 1:04:23 - Preventing DAO Leadership from Self-Enrichment 1:06:00 - Succession Planning in DAO Governance 1:07:16 - Key Takeaways: Privacy, AI, & Multi-Level Governance 1:10:16 - The Doge of Venice: Multi-Level Election Systems 1:10:59 - Final Thoughts: Encouraging DAO Experimentation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇿 *Pragma Prague* Pragma Prague 2025 was held on May 29th at Holešovice Market in Prague, Czech Republic and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. This event was in collaboration with ETH Prague. Watch the full Pragma Prague YouTube Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7vLS72NelQ2dOx2VgPNxJZ&si=uwzTuItQTdcQqkTE ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Vitalik Buterin X: https://x.com/VitalikButerin ✅ Follow the Ethereum Foundation X: https://x.com/ethereumfndn ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/TheRealKartik ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCfF9ZO8Ug4xk_AJd4aeT5HA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

In this fireside chat at Pragma Prague 2025, Kartik Talwar sits down with Bogdan Habic, co-founder of Tenderly, to explore the evolution of Ethereum developer tooling. They discuss Tenderly's origins from a Serbian hackathon to becoming essential infrastructure, challenges in building dev tools for blockchain, and the delicate balance between open-source ideals and sustainable business models. Habic shares insights on EVM compatibility issues, contract verification challenges, and why most computation should happen off-chain while using blockchain for verification. 00:00 Introduction to Bogdan Habic and Tenderly 00:49 Origin story: From public procurement hackathon to Tenderly 01:17 Transition from Hyperledger to Ethereum tooling 01:42 Tenderly's open-source roots and pivot 02:11 Early days of EVM tooling (2017) 02:35 Challenges of building dev tools as open-source 03:04 Debugging smart contracts in 2017 03:31 Inventing missing Web2 tools for Web3 03:56 Tenderly's current product suite 04:26 Security scanning for wallet transactions 04:54 Cost challenges in Web3 developer tooling 05:22 Why dev tools are infrastructure in Web3 05:50 Collaborative nature of blockchain development 06:22 Foundry's limitations in collaborative debugging 06:50 Unique challenges of shared database paradigm 07:18 Developer tooling as infrastructure 07:47 Biggest problems in Ethereum developer ecosystem 08:18 Solidity's limitations vs ecosystem needs 08:52 Debugging symbols and ecosystem growth 09:23 Overpromised timelines vs long-term value 09:51 Generational adoption of blockchain technology 10:22 Simplifying crypto for mainstream adoption 10:58 Evolution from Truffle to Hardhat to Foundry 11:26 Importance of learning from past tools 11:53 Open-source vs closed-source tensions 12:22 Business challenges of open-source dev tools 12:47 Monetizing public goods in Web3 13:16 Tenderly's path to open-sourcing 13:45 Foundry's success factors 14:12 Founder perspectives on open-source 14:39 Sustainability in dev tool businesses 15:10 Experimentation with alternative VMs 15:40 Ethereum's stability vs innovation tradeoffs 16:06 EVM compatibility nuances 16:35 Risks of VM incompatibility 17:06 EVM equivalent vs compatible confusion 17:36 Stylus and WASM experimentation 18:06 Contract verification challenges 18:39 Importance of source code visibility 19:06 Two benefits of contract verification 19:34 Debugging across smart contracts 20:04 Web2 vs Web3 debugging comparison 20:33 Advice for building complex on-chain systems 21:03 Verification over execution principle 21:38 Balancing on-chain vs off-chain logic 22:09 Scaling TPS vs developer growth 22:38 Future of off-chain compute 23:05 Closing remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇿 *Pragma Prague* Pragma Prague 2025 was held on May 29th at Holešovice Market in Prague, Czech Republic and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. This event was in collaboration with ETH Prague. Watch the full Pragma Prague YouTube Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7vLS72NelQ2dOx2VgPNxJZ&si=UsHtX5roJ4R2R4_K ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Bogdan Habic X: https://x.com/BogdanHabic ✅ Follow Tenderly X: https://x.com/TenderlyApp ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/TheRealKartik ✅ Follow ETHGlobal X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UCfF9ZO8Ug4xk_AJd4aeT5HA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship? 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Get ready for ETHGlobal NYC with Flow’s $20,000 bounty pool—the largest at the hackathon! In this deep dive, Ali Serag shares how builders can win prizes, tap into Flow’s massive user base, and get unparalleled builder support. Learn about the three core bounty streams: 1) Best Killer App on Flow – Consumer-oriented apps that can define industries (gaming, AI, DeFi, RWA, social apps). 2) Best Cross-Chain DeFi Protocol – Creative, interoperable solutions with user-friendly features like walletless onboarding and gasless transactions. 3) Find Your Flow State – A $10,000 split prize for everyone deploying on Flow. Discover why Flow is the “consumer chain” with 50M+ accounts and major brands like Disney, Ticketmaster, and the NBA building on it. Ali also covers Flow’s dual VM support (EVM + Cadence), funding opportunities, builder perks, and the Flow Store—a distribution channel to get your app in front of millions. Perfect for hackathon participants, Web3 developers, and startup founders looking for funding, mentorship, and scale. 00:00 Walking to ETHGlobal NYC 00:42 $20K bounty pool overview 01:04 Best Killer App on Flow 01:46 Best Cross-Chain DeFi Protocol 02:12 Find Your Flow State prize pool 02:36 What is Flow blockchain 03:05 Dual VM: EVM & Cadence 03:40 Flow’s consumer app ecosystem 03:57 Builder funding opportunities 04:19 Personalized builder support 04:46 Rising TVL and liquidity access 05:03 Founder-focused mentorship 05:22 Disney’s 50M mint on Flow 05:41 Ticketmaster on Flow 06:02 Flow World Tour & builder perks 06:27 Hackathon builder airdrops 06:50 Introducing the Flow Store 07:17 Why distribution matters 07:51 Pump.flow hackathon success story 08:18 Other ecosystem success stories 08:44 Closing call to action _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *ETHGlobal New York* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal New York, a 3-day hackathon held August 15-17, bringing together the most skilled web3 developers, designers and product builders from all around the globe for a weekend-long adventure to advance the Ethereum ecosystem! Watch the full ETHGlobal New York 2025 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4Xze0ZeSWCSGsw25clPpvZ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Ali Serag* X: https://x.com/AliSerag0 ✅ *Follow Flow* X: https://x.com/flow_blockchain ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Isabela Fernandes

Ethereum Cypherpunk Congress · Oct 9, 2025

Tor Project is at the forefront of digital human rights. Millions of journalists, human rights lawyers, democratic governments, and activists use Tor to protect sensitive data. Isabela joined the Tor Project as Project Manager in 2015. And has been the Executive Director since November 2018. She's an important voice within freedom tech. Bridging complex ecosystem of actors contributing to open-source and privacy-preserving technologies. Timecodes 00:00 - Introduction to Tor & Isabella’s Background 01:40 - Misconceptions: Dark Web & Anonymity as Crime 03:00 - Privacy as a Human Right & Democracy’s Foundation 05:55 - How to Teach Privacy: Meeting People at the Right Moment 07:55 - Real-Life Use Cases of Tor (Parents, Doctors, Activists) 12:40 - Privacy, Censorship, and Political Threats 16:10 - Integrating Tech and Social Movements 20:10 - Digital Disobedience: Resisting Big Tech 22:50 - Cryptography, Blockchain, and Community Economies 28:35 - Local Economies, Repair Culture, and Decentralization 35:00 - Future of Technology: Sustainability & Local Ownership 40:55 - Optimism & Sustaining the Fight for Rights 45:20 - The Growth of Tor: From One Email to Millions of Users 47:10 - Closing: Patience as a Tool for Resistance recorded at Funding The Commons forum, Berlin: http://fundingthecommons.io/berlin-2025 Useful links http://torproject.org http://web3privacy.info http://academy.web3privacy.info Camera & sound: https://x.com/BabyBitProd Interviewer: https://x.com/0xfarbey Let privacy be with you!

Juan Benet

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2024

What does it mean to accelerate humanity? In this wide-ranging conversation at Pragma India 2023, Juan Benet (creator of IPFS and Filecoin) sits down to explore how Web3, cryptography, and incentive structures can reshape economics, governance, scientific research, and internet infrastructure. From accelerationism vs. decelerationism to rethinking capital flows, R&D, decentralized science (DeSci), and even launching crypto-powered satellites, this talk challenges us to consider how we can build a freer, safer, and more powerful world through permissionless innovation. Discover how blockchain and cryptographic tools can fund science at the scale of nation-states, enable universal basic income, create verifiable storage systems, and build a human rights–preserving internet—all without needing government approval. If you care about the intersection of technology, humanity, and the future, this conversation is a must-watch. 00:00 Introduction to Pragma and Acceleration 01:06 What is Accelerationism? 02:45 Deceleration vs. acceleration debates 04:21 Differential acceleration and risk 06:02 Areas impacted: bio, governance, energy 07:36 Where crypto fits into human progress 08:47 Incentive structures and economic design 09:44 Rethinking governance and microeconomies 10:54 UBI and global wealth distribution 12:26 Carbon markets and programmable capital 13:24 Mining incentives and unintended outcomes 14:25 Designing better incentive systems 15:41 Crypto for global scientific research 16:45 Decentralized science funding 18:15 Translational science and the “valley of death” 19:45 Reimagining VC and public goods 21:16 Impact certificates and new financial primitives 22:36 Crazy future: crypto funds more R&D than nations 24:13 A better internet and rights-preserving infra 25:26 Why the internet is a human rights issue 26:56 Threats to connectivity and freedom 28:02 Crypto-powered decentralized ISPs 29:31 Launching satellites with crypto 30:37 Crypto's power to build a better world 31:07 Final thoughts and audience thanks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *Pragma India* The final Pragma of the year took place in Bengaluru India in December 2023 with a curated series of high-quality talks that sparked thought and discussion. Pragma India 2023 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma India 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4rHV1H4J7y0wDok4bIS17t&si=lb8ttkU1HS2tpnUP ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Juan Benet* X: https://x.com/juanbenet ✅ *Follow Filecoin* X: https://x.com/Filecoin ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Molly Mackinlay

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2024

What does it take to transform a hackathon project into a real-world protocol? In this insightful panel from Pragma India 2023, Molly Mackinlay of Protocol Labs moderates a conversation with three founders—Swaroop Hegde (Powerloom), Ayush Ranjan (Huddle01), and Masa ‘Senshi’ Kikuchi (Secured Finance)—who all began their journey at HackFS 2020 and are now building category-defining Web3 protocols. They share stories of early experimentation, what made them decide to become founders, and how ecosystems like Protocol Labs, Filecoin, Gitcoin, and ETHGlobal helped catalyze their growth. Topics include fundraising advice, legal and hiring challenges, choosing the right investors, and staying committed to the mission during tough times. 00:00 Welcome & panelist introductions 00:44 Early experiences at HackFS 2020 03:41 Huddle01’s origin during COVID & Zoom bombing 05:11 Powerloom’s spontaneous entry & inspiration 06:14 When hack projects became real companies 07:23 Secured Finance’s unexpected founder journey 09:16 Powerloom’s pivot and grant opportunities 10:14 How Protocol Labs & PL Network helped 13:07 The emotional side of the founder journey 14:33 Fundraising experiences & first rounds 17:16 Navigating investor alignment 19:10 Legal structures, SAFE vs equity tips 20:33 Current founder struggles & feature requests 22:10 Hiring challenges and high-impact early team 23:22 Regulatory uncertainty in Web3 24:24 New trends founders are excited about 25:26 Web3 social, staking, and communication rails 27:38 Secured Finance and the decentralized bond market 28:50 On-chain infra and scaling excitement 29:55 Advice for ETHIndia hackers & future founders 31:30 Final takeaways from the panel _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *Pragma India* The final Pragma of the year took place in Bengaluru India in December 2023 with a curated series of high-quality talks that sparked thought and discussion. Pragma India 2023 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma India 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4rHV1H4J7y0wDok4bIS17t&si=lb8ttkU1HS2tpnUP ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Juan Benet

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2024

Join Juan Benet, founder of Protocol Labs, in this deep-dive fireside chat from Pragma Denver 2024 as he unveils InterPlanetary Consensus (IPC) — a radically scalable architecture for blockchain systems inspired by interplanetary design principles. Interviewed by ETHGlobal’s Kartik Talwar, Juan discusses how IPC builds on IPFS and Filecoin, enabling billions of transactions per second, hierarchical subnets, finality in partitioned chains, and real-time application logic like gaming, social networks, and decentralized infrastructure. Juan also shares Protocol Labs’ evolution into a massive open-source R&D network, why current blockchain scalability is insufficient for consumer apps, and how we can rethink developer primitives, bridge infrastructure, and public goods funding to usher in a new wave of performant, decentralized technologies. 00:00 Intro to InterPlanetary Consensus with Juan Benet 00:55 Why consumer apps don’t use Web3 yet 02:09 IPC: A new architecture for blockchain scalability 03:18 Designing systems across planetary latency 05:18 Hierarchical tree of chains explained 06:58 Partition tolerance and recursive subnets 08:35 Finality and checkpointing in IPC 09:47 Filecoin FVM and custom subnet logic 10:46 Application-specific blockchain orchestration 11:51 IPC vs traditional rollups 13:20 MMO example: fast logic vs secure state 14:18 Tradeoffs and complexity of subnet interoperability 15:17 Designing calling conventions between chains 17:28 Vision behind founding Protocol Labs 20:32 The true cost of R&D and tech translation 22:05 Funding gaps between science and products 23:34 How public goods funding can bridge the R&D gap 25:02 Protocol Labs as an open R&D network 26:02 Rethinking startup culture in decentralized ecosystems 27:01 Closing: IPC and the future of scale in Web3 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *Pragma Denver* Pragma Denver 2024 took place at The Arch in Denver on February 28, 2024, and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma Denver playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4lJw0vruQ4prh8iMDUk89i&si=ayJ64Sgcqew1fdFk ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Ever since we first introduced our new event series, Pragma, in Tokyo in the spring of 2023, we have been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Juan Benet* X: https://x.com/juanbenet ✅ *Follow Protocol Labs* X: https://x.com/protocollabs ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Vitalik Buterin, Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2024

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sits down with Kartik Talwar at Pragma London 2024 for an in-depth fireside chat on Ethereum’s roadmap, rollup scaling, zero-knowledge proofs, decentralization, and the vision for Ethereum 2.0. From Proto-Danksharding and EIP-4844 to the Merge, Verge, Purge, and beyond, Vitalik shares updates on Ethereum’s transition to a more scalable, secure, and censorship-resistant protocol. He also reflects on the past 10 years of Ethereum’s evolution, how application developers can adopt “Ethereum 2.0” thinking, and how Ethereum can power the next wave of user-owned internet and privacy-first applications. Whether you’re a builder, protocol researcher, or ETH enthusiast, this is a masterclass in where Ethereum is headed. 00:00 Intro and welcoming Vitalik 00:55 Ethereum scaling update: Blobs and EIP-4844 02:06 From basic to full rollup scaling 03:49 Future-proofing upgrades: Modulus and Starks 05:27 The roadmap: Surge, Verge, Purge, Splurge 06:34 The Verge: Verkle trees and node efficiency 08:57 The Purge: Simplifying Ethereum’s protocol 10:04 Why self-destruct is being deprecated 11:12 Protocol cleanup: From warm/cold storage to EIPs 12:15 The Splurge and key improvements like EOF 12:45 The Scourge: Tackling centralization risks 13:52 Shifting Ethereum from tech-first to real-world impact 15:00 Ethereum’s biggest upgrades are behind us 16:03 New tools: ZK proofs and developer accessibility 17:36 Building apps with Ethereum 2.0 in mind 18:20 Ethereum 1.0 vs 2.0 mindset comparison 20:15 Call to legacy protocols: upgrade to 2.0 design 21:23 Ethereum vs external DA layers (Celestia, Eigenlayer) 23:02 Validiums as real-world blockchain sidecars 25:24 Validiums for exchanges: Proof of solvency 27:52 Bridging centralized & decentralized mindsets 29:24 Reflections on 10 years in crypto 32:02 ICOs and the power of global participation 33:31 Critique of VC-centric funding models 34:35 Reclaiming the spirit of fair and open ecosystems 35:36 Reddit’s IPO and crypto’s cultural impact 36:48 What’s next for Vitalik in the ecosystem 38:41 Vitalik’s role: research, prototyping, ethics 40:32 Making Ethereum "cypherpunk" again 41:41 The full Ethereum ecosystem vision 42:41 Final thoughts: decentralization as a stack _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇬🇧 *Pragma London* Pragma London took place at Christchurch Spitalfields in London on March 14, 2024, and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma London playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7rvaHBM14peT1TwI3QX38p&si=MzGrEYwYjxSQFiFM ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Ever since we first introduced our new event series Pragma in Tokyo of the spring of 2023, we have been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Vitalik Buterin X: https://x.com/VitalikButerin ✅ Follow the Ethereum Foundation X: https://x.com/ethereumfndn ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2024

James Waugh from Fire Eyes discusses Retroactive Public Goods Funding (RetroPGF) at Pragma Sydney 2024, explaining how this innovative mechanism rewards contributors for past work in the crypto ecosystem. Learn how projects like Optimism, Filecoin, and Pocket Network are distributing millions in tokens to developers, artists, and community builders. The talk covers the evolution of grant systems, the network effects of RetroPGF, and how it creates positive incentives for ecosystem growth. Discover how you can participate in future funding rounds and why this model may revolutionize value distribution beyond crypto into real-world impact projects. 00:00 - Introduction to RetroPGF Funding 01:24 - Why RetroPGF Matters for Crypto Ecosystems 02:21 - Optimism's 8B+ in Crypto Grants Deployed 04:32 - Cardano's Grants Impact in Africa 05:29 - Comparing Gitcoin to Tron's Influencer Grants 05:58 - Solving RetroPGF's Cold Start Problem 06:52 - Public Goods vs Private Incentives 07:54 - How RetroPGF Creates Network Effects 08:48 - Fire Eyes' Role in Governance & Airdrops 09:43 - RetroPGF as Claimable Value 10:36 - Future of Multi-Protocol Rewards 11:31 - Crypto's Unique Incentive Models 12:50 - RetroPGF vs Traditional Corporate Structures 13:17 - Current RetroPGF Adopters 14:09 - Preventing Narrative Capture by "Lamer Protocols" 16:32 - Q1: Measuring Impact for Grants 19:17 - Q2: RetroPGF for Real-World Projects 21:13 - Closing: RetroPGF's Social Impact Potential _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇦🇺 *Pragma Sydney* The Sydney edition of Pragma took place at The View by Sydney in May 2024 with a curated series of high-quality talks that sparked thought and discussion. Ever since we first introduced our new event series, Pragma, in Tokyo in the spring of 2023, we have been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. Watch the full Pragma Sydney playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7rvaHBM14peT1TwI3QX38p&si=MzGrEYwYjxSQFiFM ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow James Waugh* X: https://x.com/jwaup ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2024

Kartik Talwar, co-founder of ETH Global, welcomes attendees to Pragma Sydney 2024, a unique event focused on making web3 accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences. This single-track, founders-only conference features curated talks, interviews, and panels covering the latest innovations in blockchain, Ethereum, smart contracts, privacy, security, and modularity. Highlights include discussions on on-chain privacy, retroactive public goods funding (Retro PGF), Google’s web3 initiatives, consumer applications, and data composability. Kartik also introduces experimental concepts like ETH Global’s on-chain "Packs" and NFC-enabled networking bracelets, showcasing the future of decentralized event experiences. Join leading builders and thinkers as they explore the next wave of web3 adoption. 00:00 - Welcome to Pragma Sydney 2024 00:50 - The Vision Behind Pragma Conference 01:28 - What Makes Pragma Unique 02:29 - Event Structure: Talks & Networking 03:29 - Logistics & Thanking Partners 04:27 - Introducing ETH Global Packs 05:54 - NFC Bracelets for On-Chain Networking 06:52 - Full Agenda Breakdown 07:26 - Ethereum’s Future with Anthony 07:53 - On-Chain Privacy with Alan & Kai 08:23 - Retro PGF & Community Funding 08:52 - Google’s Web3 Initiatives 09:18 - Closing Thoughts & APAC’s Web3 Role _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇦🇺 *Pragma Sydney* The Sydney edition of Pragma took place at The View by Sydney in May 2024 with a curated series of high-quality talks that sparked thought and discussion. Ever since we first introduced our new event series, Pragma, in Tokyo in the spring of 2023, we have been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. Watch the full Pragma Sydney playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7rvaHBM14peT1TwI3QX38p&si=MzGrEYwYjxSQFiFM ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Kartik Talwar* X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

LBWTV · Jun 15, 2024

DESCI: Understanding Science On The Blockchain The video features a speaker discussing the concept of decentralized science (DeSci) and its applications within the blockchain and broader scientific communities. The speaker, Scott Itepu, explains how DeSci enables a collaborative environment where ideas can flourish without traditional institutional barriers. He highlights various areas within the Web3 ecosystem, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized physical infrastructure, regenerative science, and how blockchain can be used for social good. Scott introduces several DeSci projects and DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) that focus on different scientific endeavors like synthetic biology, neuroscience, and agriculture. He emphasizes the importance of community-driven research funding through mechanisms like token sales or NFTs and the transparency that blockchain technology brings to these processes. The talk also addresses the intersection of DeSci with traditional science, suggesting that collaboration with established institutions is necessary for progress. Scott provides examples of successful DeSci initiatives, funding milestones, and partnerships with major companies. He encourages viewers to participate in DeSci either as researchers or contributors by joining relevant DAOs or platforms that support scientific innovation. Scott concludes by introducing Flow as a collaborative platform for scientists and researchers to come together and secure funding for their projects. Overall, the video presents DeSci as an accessible field that breaks down conventional barriers in scientific research

Simona Pop

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2023

Simona Pop shares hard-earned lessons from years of active DAO participation, offering a candid look into what works—and what doesn't—in decentralized governance. In this fireside conversation at Pragma Lisbon 2023, Simona reflects on her recent departure from Gitcoin’s Steward Council, explores the evolution of DAO culture since the 2020 boom, and discusses the need for new governance structures, values alignment, and decision-making clarity. She emphasizes the importance of intentional design, standardized proposal flows, and the shift from extractive mindsets to collaborative contributions. Whether you're starting a DAO or contributing to one, this talk offers invaluable insights into how DAOs can evolve to fulfill their promise of pluralistic value creation and effective coordination. 00:00 Intro to Simona Pop and DAO governance 01:19 Stepping down from Gitcoin Steward Council 02:52 Role in Gitcoin governance and Shelling Point 05:25 DAO boom of 2020 and early experimentation 07:19 Why Simona still believes in the promise of DAOs 10:01 Challenges and exhaustion in building new systems 11:15 DAO impact beyond finance: public goods and education 13:11 Funding use cases from scholarships to security 14:44 Repeating old patterns with new DAO facades 16:20 The problem with tooling without clear processes 17:43 Rubber-stamp voting and loss of clarity 19:38 Decision-making transparency vs shadow processes 21:03 Delegate power, vote timing, and influence issues 22:09 Working with DAOs vs working for them 23:36 DAO facades and power imbalances 25:41 What successful DAOs could look like in 2023 27:38 Standardized proposal formats and flow design 30:17 Cadence, clarity, and interoperability of talent 33:11 Value alignment and knowing when to walk away 34:56 Token clout vs true intention in DAO participation 36:21 Unlearning extraction: toward genuine collaboration 37:37 Change, loss, and emotional realities of DAO work _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇵🇹 *Pragma Lisbon* Pragma Lisbon 2023 took place at Casa do Alentejo on May 11, 2023, and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Pragma is a one-stage conference with founders-only on stage, bringing together a small group of curated attendees and speakers to discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma Lisbon 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7nuyBq4GojkgAhqoRtsi9K&si=pYS-TR5BOQSZ3YGi ETHGlobal's Pragma series takes place in cities around the world, and is designed to be a different kind of event. Ever since we first introduced our new event series, Pragma, in Tokyo in the spring of 2023, we have been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Simona Pop* X: https://x.com/Sim_Pop ✅ *Follow Kartik Talwar* X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Vitalik Buterin

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2023

Dive into this inspiring keynote from *Vitalik Buterin* at *ETHGlobal Waterloo III* where he explores the next decade of Ethereum, Layer 2 scalability, privacy solutions, decentralized identity, and the future of DAOs and governance. Vitalik highlights key challenges in wallet security, cross-chain interoperability, and ZK-proof technology—all while sharing practical ideas for developers to build impactful projects in the Ethereum ecosystem. Whether you’re a hackathon participant, a seasoned blockchain dev, or new to crypto, this talk offers actionable insights on scaling, privacy, social recovery, and innovative funding mechanisms like quadratic and retroactive funding. Learn how Ethereum’s evolving infrastructure can empower real-world use cases and help shape the next wave of Web3 adoption. 00:00 Kickoff & Introduction from Kartik Talwar 00:37 Speaker Intro: Vitalik Buterin 01:15 The Next Decade: Real Ethereum Use Cases 02:26 Global Crypto Adoption: Argentina Example 03:40 Centralized Exchanges: Pros & Cons 05:04 EIP-1559 & The Merge: Faster Transactions 07:55 The Challenges of Full Decentralization 09:38 Scalability & Fees: Breaking Adoption Barriers 11:46 Wallet Innovation: Cross-L2 & Social Recovery 16:17 Expanding Multi-Sig & Account Security 19:51 Emphasizing Privacy with Zero-Knowledge 20:31 ENS on Layer 2: Affordable Identity 24:38 ZUPass & Zero-Knowledge Identity Solutions 27:22 Decentralized Social Media & Anti-Spam Tools 33:44 DAO Governance Beyond Token Voting 38:03 Quadratic & Retroactive Funding for Public Goods 41:49 Final Thoughts & Inspiration 42:29 Emcee Closing: Hackathon Next Steps _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇦 *ETHGLOBAL WATERLOO III* Welcome back to ETHGlobal Waterloo, where it all began! Returning to Canada's tech hub, we're thrilled to bring together international enthusiasts and local talent for an unforgettable hackathon experience. This year, *ETH Global Waterloo III* had 650+ attendees from 29 different countries and 47% were new to Web3! We concluded the weekend with 168 projects submitted and gave away $250,000+ in prizes. Watch the full playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7ZShjCVqztXMbdm9xTSqIR&si=dz3H4h5FMF7v1QO5 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Vitalik Buterin* X: https://x.com/vitalikbuterin Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/vitalik.eth Blog: https://vitalik.ca ✅ *Follow the Ethereum Foundation* X: https://x.com/Ethereum Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethereumfndn Website: https://ethereum.foundation YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EthereumFoundation ✅ *Follow the Kartik Talwar* X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

European Blockchain Convention · Oct 9, 2022

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are growing increasingly popular, with new firms appearing virtually every day. However, simply having a concept for a crypto business is insufficient. Listen to the fireside between Tony and Sheraz during the 7th European Blockchain Convention to find out how crypto and web3 startups are raising funds from VCs to support their development and growth. --------- Speakers: Sheraz Ahmed | Crypto Valley Association Tony Dong | OP Crypto --------- Visit the European Blockchain Convention’s website: https://eblockchainconvention.com/

Ethereum Denver · Oct 9, 2020

This talk is from ETHDenver, the world’s largest Web3 BUIDLathon and Community Gathering. ETHDenver’s content is crypto and blockchain focused. Subscribe to our channel to learn more + connect on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EthereumDenver. Speakers: Patrick Gallagher & Miao Zhicheng Abstract: A workshop to teach you how to fund your dApp using rDAI programmable interest. This talk was recorded Friday, February 14, 2020. ETHDenver 2020’s content themes included DeFi; DAOs and Token Engineering (TE); Gaming and Usability; Protocols and Interoperability; and Public Good and Social Impact. Industry experts also weighed in on topics like decentralization, privacy, identity, non-fungible tokens, scaling, governance, diversity, and arts and culture in blockchain technology. The 2020 event was February 14-16 in Denver, Colorado and hosted 2000+ blockchain enthusiasts, developers and community members from 50 countries and 50 U.S. states. 🔴 SUBSCRIBE ETHDenver’s YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgz9NU06t_FkT0Py1Vadczw 💡 LEARN ETHDenver’s Official Website https://www.ethdenver.com/ 👋 CONNECT ETHDenver Twitter https://twitter.com/EthereumDenver 📖 READ ETHDenver News on Medium https://medium.com/ethdenver 🛍️ SHOP ETHDenver Official Merchandise bufficorn.com 💬 CHAT Telegram https://t.me/Ethdenver Discord https://discord.gg/jteMn5c 📱 FOLLOW LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethdenver Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ethdenver/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ETHDenver/