ETHSofia · Oct 6, 2026

With Vyara Savova (European Ethereum Institute, moderator), Mike McCabe (0xbow), Sofia Sukhinina (Ethereum Foundation) and Sajida Zouarhi (Optimum). In March 2026 the Ethereum Foundation published a mandate committing to censorship resistance, open source, privacy and security (CROPS). Moderated by Vyara Savova, this panel asks what that means in practice. Sofia Sukhinina explains the walk-away test and why the Foundation aims to shrink its own role, Mike McCabe describes how 0xbow screens deposits by source of funds while keeping user transactions private, and Sajida Zouarhi discusses patents, open source and Optimum's MIT-backed technology. The panel also covers verifying open-weights AI, the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and the censorship risk from block building, where roughly three quarters of blocks come from two builders. Panel at ETHSofia 2026, 24 September 2026, Sofia Tech Park, Sofia. Part of Blockchain Week Bulgaria 2026. Speakers ▸ Vyara Savova, Senior Policy Lead, European Ethereum Institute (moderator) Vyara is a web3 & human rights lawyer based in Sofia, Bulgaria. Senior Policy Expert at the European Ethereum Institute, shaping EU regulation for open, permissionless, decentralised blockchain applications. PhD candidate researching legal automation through smart contracts. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vyarasavova ▸ Mike McCabe, Product Lead, 0xbow Mike McCabe is Product Lead at 0xbow. After building blockchain enterprise applications for the energy industry for several years, he realised onchain privacy is an essential missing building block in the tech stack. Since then, Mike has been putting all his effort into making privacy normal again. X: https://x.com/0xmikemcc ▸ Sofia Sukhinina, Funding Coordination, OSPO Researcher, Ethereum Foundation Sofia is an OSPO researcher working on understanding open source funding infrastructure and ways to improve it. She explores whether dependency-graph-aware funding on Ethereum rails could reduce frictions in current financial mechanisms, making the funder-to-beneficiary path more direct. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-sukhinina X: https://x.com/sonkiski ▸ Sajida Zouarhi, Chief Product Officer, Optimum Sajida Zouarhi is Chief Product Officer at Optimum, building the universal data acceleration network for blockchains using RLNC. With 10 years in Web3, she previously led product at Blocknative and on the Ethereum client Besu at ConsenSys through the Merge. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sajidazouarhi Chapters 00:00 Introduction 00:10 What is the CROPS mandate? 01:10 The walk-away test: a Foundation that steps back 06:02 Does CROPS apply beyond Ethereum? 07:34 Censorship resistance and privacy at the protocol level 10:47 Privacy versus compliance 12:49 Open source, patents and protecting inventions 16:58 Verifying open-weights AI with Ethereum 19:11 The Cyber Resilience Act and open source 22:00 Where censorship happens today 23:44 Block builders, relays and OFAC compliance 25:46 What the panelists will not compromise on 28:05 Closing titles Blockchain Week Bulgaria: https://www.blockchainweek.bg ETHSofia: https://www.ethsofia.com Future Finance Forum: https://www.blockchainweek.bg/f3 Follow Blockchain Week Bulgaria X: https://x.com/BWBulgaria LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/blockchain-week-bulgaria Follow ETHSofia X: https://x.com/EthSofiaBG LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethsofia Telegram: https://t.me/+b-33LJUpAB5iODNk Nothing in this video is financial advice. About the organiser Blockchain Week Bulgaria, ETHSofia and the Future Finance Forum are organised by the Bithope Foundation, founded in 2014 by Vladislav Dramaliev. Inspired by Andreas Antonopoulos, it is Europe's first non-profit operating exclusively with bitcoin donations. Over more than ten years, it has supported 50+ charitable campaigns, and in January 2016 it co-founded the Sofia Crypto Meetup, now the region's longest-running monthly crypto event. https://bithope.org

Mark Tyneway

ETHGlobal · Jul 9, 2026

In this fireside chat, Optimism co-founders Mark Tyneway and Jing Wang take the stage to address rumors of Optimism's demise, defend the L2 thesis, and preview what's shipping next. They open by joking about Jing's intense treasury management discipline (Mark slept in a tent on the roof of the office for two years) confirming Optimism has years of runway. On the broader L2 sentiment, they reject the narrative that L2s are interested in forking away to become L1s, with Jing explaining that despite frustration with shipping speed inside the EF, Optimism continues to choose Ethereum L1 as its DA because of the properties it offers. They both express strong support for the controversial CROPS roadmap (censorship resistance, capture resistance, open source, privacy, security), arguing the backlash was more about communication than content. Mark and Jing share lessons from Optimism's own struggles with decentralized development during the token pump era, which made every idea feel like a good one. They remerged all companies back into one entity and have shipped more in the last six months than the previous two and a half years combined. They argue Ethereum needs quantifiable success metrics to unify the community, and float the idea of building the largest anonymity set in crypto larger than Zcash. The conversation pivots to enterprise demand for L2s, with Jing explaining their sequencer policy work as the strongest form of compliance: institutions can stake tokens for top of block access, halt trading of equity tokens at the sequencer level across all DeFi protocols simultaneously, and avoid concerns about sanctioned validators processing their transactions. They preview the long awaited reduction of withdrawal windows from 7 days to 1 day, work with privacy partners on private contracts and transfers, and confirm Optimism is hiring with new feature announcements every two weeks. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 Addressing Rumors That Optimism Is Dead 00:40 Treasury Discipline and the Tent on the Roof 01:10 L2s Forking Away to Become L1s 01:37 Why Optimism Stays on Ethereum L1 02:10 Supporting the Controversial CROPS Roadmap 02:38 What CROPS Actually Stands For 03:11 Communication Was the Problem, Not the Content 03:42 Optimism's Own Struggles with Decentralized Development 04:08 Remerging Into One Company 04:27 Gelatinous Cheeks and Growing Up in Crypto 05:01 Why Zcash Gets Love for the Same Roadmap 05:30 Ethereum Needs Quantifiable Success Metrics 06:05 ETH as Money vs Bitcoin 06:35 Building the Largest Anonymity Set in Crypto 07:00 Institutions Still Prefer Ethereum for Trustlessness 07:23 L2 Pedantry vs Real UX Impact 07:55 Sequencer Policies as the Strongest Form of Compliance 08:39 Trading Halts Across All DeFi Protocols at Once 09:39 Why L1 Will Never Match L2 Customization 10:58 Why a Single Sequencer Is a Superpower 11:31 Avoiding Sanctioned Validators on Your Network 12:03 Smart Contract Logic as Sequencer Policy 12:29 Reducing the Withdrawal Window From 7 Days to 1 12:55 From Hoodies to Suits 13:17 Closing: Optimism Is Not Dead _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Ansgar Dietrichs

ETHGlobal · Jul 9, 2026

In this talk, Ansgar Dietrichs from the Ethereum Foundation, who has been in Ethereum core research for seven years, currently leads scaling work and co-leads the Okodas governance process, shares personal reflections on Ethereum's role in what he calls the decade of adoption. He frames the first 10 years of blockchains (2014 to 2024) as the infrastructure era requiring countless zero to ones across wallets, transaction supply chains, and the entire tech stack. He argues 2024 marked the ChatGPT equivalent moment for crypto, but unlike AI's single inflection point, it was a perfect storm of the tech stack reaching maturity, the US regulatory environment shifting from open hostility to a friendly stance, and stablecoins finally hitting product market fit beyond crypto native use cases. Ansgar contrasts two possible futures for crypto. The bad outcome is a fragmented world of independent chains (general purpose, app chains, privacy chains, permissioned chains) all linked by brittle custom bridges that have repeatedly failed and require each user to reason about every chain's security model independently. Ethereum's answer is a singular foundational framework that embraces all that customization but routes everything back to a shared settlement layer, enabling trustless interoperability between any pair of chains or assets, propagated security guarantees from Ethereum L1, full customizability at each layer, a single entry point for users, and ETH as the one native asset across the onchain economy. He explains the EF's pivot toward being one node among many ecosystem stewards rather than the center of Ethereum, then defends Ethereum's values as deeply practical rather than overly ideological. He cites security through redundancy across 10+ Ethereum clients being especially crucial during the coming AI driven cyber security arms race, Ethereum's principled postquantum planning while other chains scramble, and neutrality and strategic reliability under what he calls the Amazon test: would a big tech company comfortable trust putting its business flows on Ethereum knowing it could never be rugged. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 Ansgar's Background at the Ethereum Foundation 00:52 Why ETHCom Is Emblematic of a New Time Period 01:16 The First Decade of Blockchains: 2014 to 2024 02:11 The ChatGPT Moment for Crypto 02:41 Three Forces: Tech, Regulation, and Stablecoins 03:24 Entering the Decade of Adoption 03:48 The Bad Outcome: A Fragmented Future 04:51 Why Brittle Bridges Are the Bigger Problem 05:41 Ethereum's Answer: A Singular Foundational Framework 06:18 Why a Shared Settlement Layer Wins 06:47 Trustless Interoperability Across All Chains 07:35 Aspirational Today, Priority for Adoption Era 07:57 Propagating Ethereum's Security Guarantees 08:31 Full Customizability with Ethereum as Entry Point 09:12 ETH as the Native Asset of the Onchain Economy 09:43 The EF as One Node Among Many Stewards 10:48 Embracing the Ethereum Way of Decentralization 11:52 Why Ethereum's Values Are Misunderstood 12:11 Why Principled Equals Practical 12:34 Security: 10 Clients and 100% Uptime 13:03 The Coming AI Cybersecurity Arms Race 13:52 Quantum Resistance and the Beam Chain 14:54 Neutrality and Credible Neutrality 15:23 Why Censorship Resistance Matters for Institutions 16:31 Strategic Reliability and the Amazon Test 17:58 Useful Across the Spectrum 18:29 The Four Step Plan for Ethereum 19:51 Closing: Ethereum's Best Time Is Yet to Come _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Tim Beiko

ETHGlobal · Jul 9, 2026

In this talk, Tim Beiko, who spent eight years on Ethereum core protocol R&D coordinating major network upgrades like EIP-1559 and The Merge, presents his thesis on how Ethereum can evolve from being "unreasonably sufficient" to becoming "reasonably necessary" infrastructure for the world. He explains that the question keeping him up at night for years was whether Ethereum could scale to planetary infrastructure without compromising its core properties, and with zero knowledge proofs and data availability sampling now in production, that question has been answered. The harder question now is what Ethereum should actually be used for. Tim argues that for Ethereum to truly succeed, it must provide things the world genuinely needs that cannot be obtained elsewhere, and those things must depend on Ethereum's unique properties of permissionlessness, immutability, censorship resistance, and decentralization. He contrasts two possible outcomes: The Pirate Bay as a cautionary tale of useful technology that became niche versus TSMC as the level of strategic importance to aim for. He identifies three core affordances that Ethereum uniquely provides: durable commitments across jurisdictions and time, canonical uniqueness through globally consistent state, and programmable trust as a dial rather than binary gate. He uses flash loans as a proof point of financial primitives impossible elsewhere, and suggests prediction markets becoming composable risk infrastructure as one possible frontier. He closes by announcing his focus is shifting from protocol work to finding the applications that deserve to run on Ethereum at planetary scale. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 Background and Ethereum's Special Properties 00:54 Unreasonable Sufficiency: Simple Protocols, Complex Results 01:19 The New Question: What Should Ethereum Be Used For 02:24 Why Ethereum Must Provide What the World Needs 03:28 Cautionary Tale: The Pirate Bay vs Strategic Goal: TSMC 04:34 Why Apps Must Depend on Ethereum, Not Just Run on It 05:33 Why DeFi and L2s Are Foundations, Not Final Answers 06:55 The Bar for Reasonably Necessary Territory 07:49 Three Core Affordances Ethereum Uniquely Provides 08:32 Durable Commitments Across Time and Context 09:13 Canonical Uniqueness and Double Spend Prevention 10:04 Programmable Trust as a Dial, Not a Binary Gate 10:54 Settlement Physics and Flash Loans as Proof 12:18 Prediction Markets as Composable Risk Infrastructure 13:18 AI Agents and Onchain Trust at Machine Speed 13:52 The Foundation Is Already in Place 14:31 Tim's Next Chapter: From Protocol to Applications 15:08 Closing: Becoming Reasonably Necessary _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Christine Kim

ETHGlobal · Jul 9, 2026

In this talk, Christine Kim from Protocol Watch shares the framework she has used for 8 years tracking Ethereum development and governance, including years running the ACD Toolkit and covering Ethereum's All Core Devs calls. She was one of the first people to regularly cover ACD calls, now runs an independent Ethereum development newsletter and a Bitcoin development newsletter, hosts a podcast on both, and operates a research and advisory firm helping businesses building on the two chains. She frames her insider approach around three foundational questions: how does Ethereum governance work, who are the key players, and where and when do they meet to make decisions. Christine explains that Ethereum governance is like an onion. The outer formal layer is defined by EIPs like EIP-1 (defining the EIP process) and EIP-7723 (labels for CFI, PFI, SFI, DFI status), which AI can help summarize. The harder and more important part is the informal layer, the unwritten norms driving decisions. She notes that on ACD calls each client team gets an equal vote regardless of whether they have 40% or 1% market share, and that contentious decisions require supermajorities whose thresholds shift with the level of contention. She emphasizes that governance itself evolves rapidly, pointing to the new headliner process introduced only in the Fusaka upgrade. On the "who" question, she pushes past treating stakeholders categorically (validators, developers, users, client teams) to look at who individuals actually work for and how their companies are funded. Most Ethereum client teams were seeded and funded by the Ethereum Foundation, which explains its historical leadership, and as the EF narrows focus the funding sources for client diversity are opening up. On the "where," she highlights the three ACD calls as the most important decision-making forum, noting the cadence has evolved from once every two weeks pre-merge to twice weekly today as developers push toward two upgrades a year. Christine explains she deprecated the ACD and BTC toolkits earlier this year not because the framework was wrong, but because static written posts were suboptimal and her readers mostly wanted actionable insights rather than the underlying research process. She closes by challenging the room to apply her framework to at least one protocol, arguing it reveals whether a protocol is genuinely decentralized or engaging in "decentralization theater" with multisigs and federations, and helps identify the real values (transparency, verifiability, accountability) driving each blockchain's differentiation. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 Christine's Track Record 01:12 Launching the ACD and BTC Toolkits 01:36 The Three Questions Framework 02:15 Ethereum Governance as an Onion 02:41 The Formal Layer: EIPs and Labels 04:07 The Informal Layer: Unwritten Norms 04:29 How Client Team Votes Actually Work 05:26 Supermajorities for Contentious Decisions 06:17 How Governance Itself Evolves 06:43 The Headliner Process in Fusaka 07:38 Beyond Categorical Stakeholders 08:34 Looking Deeper at Who Funds Client Teams 09:19 Why the Ethereum Foundation Seeded Client Diversity 09:47 What Happens as the EF Narrows Focus 10:40 Being in the Room Where Decisions Happen 11:34 The Three ACD Calls 11:54 How the Cadence Has Evolved Over Time 12:48 Twice Weekly Coordination Today 13:11 Breakout Calls for Long Term Roadmap 13:38 Why ACD Calls Are More Accurate Than X 14:22 The People, Places, and Process 14:46 Applying the Framework to Bitcoin 15:16 Why Christine Deprecated the Toolkits 15:39 The Medium Was Suboptimal 16:09 Readers Wanted Actionable Insights 17:34 A Call to Apply the Framework 18:14 Questioning the True Value of Protocols 19:05 Decentralization Theater 19:54 What Are the Real Ends of Decentralization 21:01 Closing and Resources _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHGlobal · May 9, 2026

In this talk, Adrienne Youngman, head of marketing and comms at Gnosis, presents the practical implications of the Ethereum Economic Zone (EEZ) and frames it within Gnosis's broader mission of restoring digital ownership. She traces how Web3's original promise of self-custody and permissionless systems has been eroded by L2 fragmentation, custodial super apps, and permissioned infrastructure — and argues that EEZ can "unfork" Ethereum by enabling cross-chain calls within a single transaction, unified liquidity pools, and global collateral visibility. Adrienne gives concrete UX improvements: eliminating bridging friction, enabling CowSwap to route trades across all chains as one pool, letting Aave see collateral across multiple chains, and allowing Safe configurations to reflect everywhere from a single change. She highlights new capabilities like private identity verification across chains without data leaving private domains, and institutional use cases where private blockchains interact with the Ethereum ecosystem. She closes by showcasing Gnosis's product suite — Gnosis Pay for self-custodial fintech infrastructure, their consumer app with Visa card and IBAN integration, and the Circles protocol for fair-distribution peer-to-peer money based on trust graphs and social consensus. 00:00 Introduction 00:38 Gnosis: More Than Safe 01:23 Gnosis's Building Legacy: AMMs, Prediction Markets, Cow Protocol 02:21 Gnosis Pay, Consumer App, VPN, and EEZ 02:46 GM The Man, We're Forking You 03:06 Ownership and Power: Why It Matters 04:30 Ownership Through Cultural and Class Lenses 05:17 Losing Ownership in Digital Lives 06:37 Web3's Original Promise and How We Broke It 07:43 L2 Fragmentation and Custodial Drift 08:13 EEZ in Practice: No More Bridging 08:41 Unified Liquidity Pools Across Chains 09:08 Composable Finance: Stake, Borrow, Use in One Transaction 09:32 Global Collateral and Safe Configuration Sync 10:25 New Possibilities: Private Identity Across Chains 11:25 Institutional Use Cases with Private Blockchains 11:57 CTA: Join the EEZ Alliance 12:20 Gnosis Pay: Self-Custodial Fintech Infrastructure 13:19 Circles Protocol: Fair-Distribution Peer-to-Peer Money 14:51 Closing: Bank on Gnosis _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *Pragma Cannes 2026* Pragma Cannes 2026 was held on April 2nd at the JW Marriott Hotel in Cannes, France and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma Cannes 2026 YouTube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh5OnsJ95gz7HoI1tLUj3kZr 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 Gnosis X: https://x.com/gnosischain ✅ 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

Tomasz Stanczak

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

In this insightful talk at Pragma Singapore 2024, Tomasz Stanczak, Founder of Nethermind, dives deep into how MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) is shaping the evolution and scaling of Ethereum. Tomasz explores the interplay between MEV, Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2) performance, validator behavior, client implementation, and decentralization design across the Ethereum ecosystem. Discover how MEV drives innovation in execution clients, encourages solo staking, impacts block propagation, and informs fork choice rules, PBS design, and Rollup decentralization. The talk also highlights ongoing Ethereum upgrades, including Proto-Danksharding, EIP-4844, and the role of based rollups, preconfirmations, and Commit-Boost. 00:00 Intro: MEV and Ethereum Scaling 01:00 MEV Drives L1 Performance and Client Innovation 02:52 Validators, MEV, and Client Optimization 03:52 Ethereum Roadmap and Proto-Danksharding 05:33 Nethermind’s GigaGas and EVM Speed Gains 07:19 Solo Staking with Raspberry Pi and DVT Adoption 09:01 MEV and L2 Decentralization Tradeoffs 10:41 Designing Decentralized L2 Sequencers 11:46 MEV as a Practical Incentive for Decentralization 12:22 Exploring PBS Designs for Rollups 13:00 L2 Growth, TVL, and Scaling via Rollups 13:40 L2Beat Criticism and Push for Decentralization 14:47 Based Rollups, Preconfirmations, and Commit-Boost 16:07 Commit-Boost: Open Design for Preconfirmations 16:41 MEV’s Impact on Validator Geography 17:49 Timing Games and Validator Delay Tactics 18:28 EIP-7732 and Enshrined PBS 18:59 Validator Distribution and Signal Latency 19:33 Censorship Resistance Driven by MEV 20:40 Block Builder Centralization via MEV 21:17 Multi-block MEV and Auction Analysis Wrap-up _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇸🇬 *Pragma Singapore* Pragma Singapore 2024 was a special gathering of founders and builders that took place September 19, 2024 at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. Pragma Singapore 2024 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma Singapore playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh6z0saYJnVdgXWfz-vaoEYx&si=uavhkhF5Kc8XBoLv 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 Tomasz Stanczak* X: https://x.com/tkstanczak ✅ *Follow Nethermind* X: https://x.com/NethermindEth ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sandeep Nailwal

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder of Polygon Labs, joins Kartik Talwar at Pragma Singapore 2024 to discuss the future of the AggLayer, Polygon’s bold thesis for a unified, scalable multichain future. In this engaging fireside chat, Sandeep unpacks the recent transition from MATIC to POL, challenges with exchanges, the vision behind AggLayer, and how Ethereum can evolve into the best possible settlement layer. He critiques the current Ethereum ecosystem’s focus on token price over infrastructure, explains why decentralization and censorship resistance are critical, and makes a compelling case for infinite scalability through interconnected chains. Learn how AggLayer enables seamless value movement, unified liquidity, canonical tokens, and composable apps across thousands of chains, and why it might be the Solana-like UX Ethereum has needed. 00:00 Intro: Fireside Format with Sandeep Nailwal 01:18 Polygon’s MATIC to POL Token Transition Recap 03:00 Why Exchanges Delayed the POL Migration 04:24 Lessons from the Token Migration Process 05:23 Ethereum Community FUD and Token Upgrade Challenges 06:24 Concerns with Ethereum’s Shift in Priorities 08:01 What Makes a Great Settlement Layer? 08:56 Ethereum’s Decentralization, Censorship Resistance 09:56 Other Key Metrics for Settlement Layer Quality 11:00 Precompiles and ZK for Efficient Settlement 12:08 Should L1 Do More or Enable L2s? 13:07 Cycles of Sentiment and Solana’s Rise 14:37 Long-Term Community Retention is the Real Test 15:33 AggLayer Thesis: Fixing Liquidity Fragmentation 16:11 Seamless Interoperability in Web3 17:13 Infinite Scalability via Appchains and L2s 18:43 Appchains Need Custom UX and Gas Models 19:18 AggLayer = Unified Liquidity, Shared Token Mapping 20:20 One Address Across All Chains: Solana-Like UX 21:17 AggLayer as Web3’s Endgame Architecture 21:41 How to Foster L2 Collaboration and Interoperability 22:46 Narrative & Business Model Compatibility for L2s 23:16 Final Thoughts: Collaboration Over Competition _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇸🇬 *Pragma Singapore* Pragma Singapore 2024 was a special gathering of founders and builders that took place September 19, 2024 at the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. Pragma Singapore 2024 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma Singapore playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh6z0saYJnVdgXWfz-vaoEYx&si=uavhkhF5Kc8XBoLv 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 Sandeep Nailwal* X: https://x.com/sandeepnailwal ✅ *Follow Polygon Labs* X: https://x.com/0xPolygon ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Simon Baksys

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Simon Baksys, VP of Business Development at LayerZero Labs, explores why crypto interoperability must prioritize decentralization, permissionlessness, immutability, and censorship resistance. From Bitcoin and Ethereum to LayerZero, Simon discusses the critical principles necessary for blockchain innovation to thrive. Learn about the challenges of fragmented blockchain ecosystems, why interoperability matters, and how LayerZero’s protocol is bridging 90+ chains with true decentralization and security. 00:50 LayerZero Overview & Personal Reflections 01:50 Why Principles Matter in Blockchain Innovation 02:36 Bitcoin's Revolutionary Impact & Adoption Journey 03:59 Ethereum's Decentralized Smart Contract Revolution 05:18 LayerZero: The Internet of Blockchains Explained 05:55 Vitalik's Core Principles for Decentralization 07:03 Importance of Permissionless & Censorship Resistance 07:46 Lessons from Mt. Gox, FTX & Wormhole Failures 09:19 The Reality & Challenges of Multi-chain Ecosystems 10:30 Fragmentation Issues in Today's Blockchain Landscape 11:11 Solving Crypto Fragmentation with True Interoperability 12:19 Why Crypto Needs Strong Opinions on Technology 13:22 Building Interop Standards & User Experience in Crypto 14:00 LayerZero's Customization & Decentralization Vision 14:30 The Need for Unified Blockchain Standards 15:12 Final Call: Prioritize Principles, Care, and Innovation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *Pragma San Francisco* Pragma San Francisco 2024 was a special gathering of founders and builders that took place October 16th and 17th at The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, CA. Pragma San Francisco 2024 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma San Francisco playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4LcwDpGf_itZrAu7XRNb07&si=3x3y9J3avgNTITUe 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 Simon Baksys* X: https://x.com/Bakxys ✅ *Follow LayerZero* X: https://x.com/LayerZero_Core ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Charles Guillemet

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Discover how Ledger is expanding the possibilities of self-custody, privacy, and encryption with its new Key Ring Protocol. In this talk, Charles Guillemet, CTO of Ledger, explains how the protocol empowers users to encrypt and share data securely—without sacrificing usability or sovereignty. Learn how confidentiality can finally be added to the benefits of decentralized consensus, how Ledger Live synchronizes user data while keeping it private, and why true self-custody must include control over your digital information. Explore real-world scenarios like end-to-end encrypted messaging and private photo sharing, and find out how developers can build privacy-focused apps on top of this open protocol. Topics Covered • Self-custody and the importance of permissionless blockchain technology • Why privacy and confidentiality are the missing pieces of most blockchains • How Ledger’s Key Ring Protocol introduces encryption key management • Synchronizing Ledger Live data across devices without compromising user ownership • Future potential for secure messaging, private file storage, and more • Developer call to action for building new sovereign applications 00:00 Introduction & Context 00:54 Why Blockchain Self-Custody Matters 02:12 Decentralized Consensus & Censorship Resistance 04:07 Missing Confidentiality in Most Blockchains 06:09 Importance of Privacy & Sovereign Data 08:02 Key Ring Protocol Overview 10:45 Ledger Live Sync & Encrypted Data 12:30 Real-World Use Cases: Messaging & Photos 14:52 Developer Call to Action 15:29 Conclusion & Closing Words _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🎤 *Pragma Bankgkok* Pragma Bangkok 2024 closed out a year of exceptional Pragma events held around the world, and offered the global Web3 community a chance to hear from founders and builders as they reflect on the past, and look to the future of Web3. Pragma Bangkok 2024 was held on November 14th at the Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit in Bangkok, Thailand. Watch the full YouTube Playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4JNkhnsv5F95OqxT_IjCEl&si=6Tv3CvB6vrQIIjBA ETHGlobal's Pragma series, which began in Tokyo in the spring of 2023, has been fostering a curated, global community of individuals who deeply care about web3. You can learn more about Pragma and upcoming events in the series here: https://ethglobal.com/pragma _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Charles Guillemet X: https://x.com/P3b7_ ✅ Follow Ledger X: https://x.com/ledger Website: https://shop.ledger.com ✅ 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 Jill Gunter, Co-Founder of Espresso Systems at Pragma Denver 2025 for an inspiring talk on “Who Will Fight for ETH?” Discover why Ethereum is worth defending, how its unstoppable, composable, and permissionless qualities power real-world use cases, and what crucial roles social pressure, technology, and free-market forces play in preserving decentralized values. Jill unpacks key vulnerabilities—from centralized L2 sequencers and cross-chain hacks to the challenges of economic security—and shows how an open ecosystem of researchers, hackers, “toxic alignment maxis,” and venture-backed infra projects all collaborate to keep Ethereum’s core ethos intact. If you’re committed to building unstoppable finance, bridging multi-chain gaps, and preserving blockchain sovereignty, this talk is your rallying cry to join the fight for Ethereum. 00:00 Introduction & Talk Title 01:12 Why Fight for Ethereum? Real-World Impact 02:26 Unstoppable, Composable & Permissionless Explained 03:46 The Value of Decentralization & Hard Choices 05:08 Security Threats & Recent Hacks 06:28 Social Pressure to Eliminate Vulnerabilities 07:41 Centralized Sequencers & Pre-Confirmations 09:00 Economic Security & ETH Price Concerns 10:40 Why Value Accrual to L1 Matters 12:20 Market Forces & DA Scalability 13:58 Interop & Rollup Clusters 15:13 Tech Solutions vs. Social Pressure 16:35 L2 Centralization: Builder Clusters & Ecosystem Growth 18:10 The Role of L2Beat & Transparency 19:23 Preserving Permissionlessness & Censorship Resistance 21:06 Free-Market Competition & “Communist Vitalik” 22:40 Who’s Fighting for Ethereum? Builders, VCs, & More 24:00 Closing Remarks & Call to Action _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *Pragma Denver* Pragma Denver 2025 was held on February 25th at ReelWorks in Denver, Colorado and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma Denver 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 Jill Gunter* X: https://x.com/jillrgunter ✅ Follow *Espresso Systems* X: https://x.com/EspressoSys ✅ *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, 2025

In this Pragma Taipei 2025 fireside chat, Ethereum Foundation Co-Executive Director Hsiao Wei Wang joins Kartik Talwar to discuss Ethereum's roadmap for 2025. They cover key initiatives like P2P networking improvements, application layer development, scaling solutions, and censorship resistance through inclusion lists. Wang shares insights on her new leadership role, working with Vitalik Buterin, and the importance of chain abstraction for L2 interoperability. The conversation also explores what makes Ethereum unique for developers in today's multi-chain landscape. 00:04 - Introduction and welcome to Pragma Taipei 2025 01:38 - Ethereum Foundation's 2025 priorities and new initiatives 04:02 - Co-leadership dynamics with Aya Miyaguchi 06:58 - Transition from research to leadership role 10:36 - Surprises in moving to executive position 12:18 - Ethereum L1 improvement areas for 2025 14:52 - How inclusion lists combat censorship 17:12 - Measuring Ethereum's throughput improvements 18:04 - L2 interoperability and chain abstraction 20:44 - Explaining chain abstraction technology 22:41 - Working with Vitalik Buterin 23:27 - Success metrics for Ethereum Foundation leadership 24:16 - Message for developers choosing platforms 25:45 - Why decentralization matters for crypto adoption _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇹🇼 *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 Hsiao Wei Wang X: https://x.com/hwwonx ✅ 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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Vitalik Buterin, Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Join Kartik Talwar (Co-founder of ETH Global) and Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum Founder) at the ETH Global Taipei 2025 Opening Ceremonies as they discuss the future of Ethereum, layer-1 scaling, and the importance of hackathons in the Web3 ecosystem. Kartik outlines the structure of the ETH Global hackathon, emphasizing hands-on building, mentorship, and developer growth, while Vitalik dives into Ethereum’s roadmap, including L1 scaling, account abstraction, quantum resistance, and faster finality. With over 700 attendees (42% new to Web3), $200,000+ in prizes, and global participation, this event highlights the next wave of blockchain innovation. Learn about on-chain NFC wristbands and finalist perks while exploring the future of decentralized applications. 00:00 – ETH Global Taipei 2025 Opening Ceremony 00:10 – Kartik Talwar Introduces ETH Global Hackathon 00:53 – Focus on Builders & Learning in Web3 01:56 – ETH Global’s Global Hackathon Impact 02:36 – ETH Global’s 2025 Event Roadmap 03:08 – Attendee Stats: 42% New to Web3 04:14 – Ecosystem Partners & Mentorship 05:12 – $200,000+ in Prizes & Sponsors 06:10 – Venue Logistics & Wi-Fi 7 Experiment 07:52 – Security & NFC On-Chain Wristbands 09:28 – Food, Activities & Swag Details 12:15 – Communication via Discord & On-Chain Tools 14:44 – NFC Wristbands for Ethereum Wallets 16:17 – Hacker Pack Perks & Developer Faucet 17:19 – Hackathon Rules & Submission Guidelines 20:31 – Finalist Selection & Judging Criteria 23:38 – How Judging & Prizes Work 27:11 – Finalist Demo & Video Requirements 29:08 – 1inch Sponsor Presentation 32:21 – Worldcoin Sponsor Presentation 34:47 – Vitalik Buterin on Ethereum L1 Scaling 38:06 – Role of L1 in an L2-Centric Future 42:21 – Scaling Solutions & Future Upgrades 47:05 – Cross-L1/L2 Communication Improvements 48:47 – Block-Level Access Lists & Parallel Execution 51:02 – Ethereum’s Roadmap: 10x L1 Scaling 53:48 – Account Abstraction & EIP-7702 56:01 – Consensus Layer Upgrades & Quantum Resistance 59:22 – Closing Remarks & Hackathon Prizes _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇹🇼 *ETHGlobal Taipei* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal Taipei, a 3-day hackathon held April 4-6 2025, that brought 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! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ 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/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

Abhay Upadhyay, software engineer at Akave, explores how to hack the data layer for AI using Akave and Filecoin in this ETHGlobal workshop. Learn about decentralized storage concepts, how Filecoin's incentive-based storage complements Akave's hot storage layer, and how to interact with data agentically using Akave 03's S3-compatible API. Discover practical demos of storing/retrieving files through Akave 03 and integrating local AI models with on-chain data via Model Context Protocol (MCP). Perfect for builders at ETHGlobal hackathons. 00:00 - Introduction to Akave & Filecoin for AI Data 00:43 - Why Decentralized Storage Matters for AI 01:14 - Benefits of Decentralized Storage 01:41 - IPFS vs Filecoin: Key Differences 02:56 - How Akave Complements Filecoin Storage 03:51 - Akave Hot Storage vs Filecoin Warm Storage 04:17 - Akave 03: S3-Compatible Decentralized Storage 05:37 - How Akave Secures Data with Erasure Coding 06:34 - Akave 03 Features and Benefits 07:02 - Live Demo: Akave 03 S3 CLI Setup 08:20 - Creating Buckets & Uploading Files Demo 10:16 - Downloading Files from Akave 03 11:26 - Model Context Protocol (MCP) with Local AI 12:58 - Running MCP Server with Akave Credentials 14:23 - AI Agent Interacting with On-Chain Data _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇿 *ETHGlobal Prague* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal Prague, a 3-day hackathon held May 30 - June 1 2025, 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 Prague 2025 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh5Vv-ZobDU2YMWekDFYvOqd&si=SoQ5O2TOAK8RkYf- _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *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, Jordi Baylina

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

In this fireside chat at Pragma Prague 2025, Kartik Talwar sits down with Jordi Baylina, co-founder of Polygon and technical lead of Polygon ZKVM, to explore cutting-edge zero-knowledge technology. They discuss real-time proof generation, hardware optimizations, the revolutionary potential of obfuscation technology, and critical questions around decentralization in L2 ecosystems. Baylina shares insights from building zkEVM, latency optimization strategies, and his vision for maintaining crypto's core values while pushing technological boundaries. 00:00 Introduction to Jordi Baylina and Polygon ZKVM 00:54 Focus on zkISK and real-time proof generation 01:28 Optimizing ZK technology for latency vs cost 02:02 Redesigning protocols for fast block proofs 02:38 Parallelization and execution optimization strategies 03:09 Aggregation layer improvements for speed 03:40 Hardware vs software optimization breakdown 04:09 RISK5 execution optimization breakthroughs 05:21 Achieving 1.5GHz RISK5 execution speeds 05:54 Proof aggregation time optimizations 06:59 GPU utilization lessons from Polygon 07:37 When GPU acceleration becomes cost-effective 08:09 Security learnings from zkEVM deployment 08:39 Production-ready ZK implementations 09:12 Introducing obfuscation as next-gen ZK tech 09:51 Bitcoin bridge potential without forks 10:29 Concept of program obfuscation explained 11:01 Embedded keys in obfuscated programs 11:31 Bitcoin-Ethereum bridge example 12:05 Current state of obfuscation research 12:39 Interdisciplinary approaches to obfuscation 13:44 Potential for trustless private blockchains 14:16 Running L2s on Bitcoin via obfuscation 14:51 Decentralization challenges in real-time proving 15:27 Market pressures vs decentralization values 16:08 Centralized sequencers in current rollups 16:48 Importance of censorship resistance 17:24 Missing values in L2 decentralization 18:00 Need for decentralized sequencers 18:33 Universal access requirements 19:05 User demand driving decentralization 19:37 Business priorities vs security tradeoffs 20:17 Advice for new L2 founders 20:52 Web3 vs Web2 architecture decisions 21:22 Measuring decentralization levels 22:23 Application-specific decentralization needs 22:54 Ethereum's base layer decentralization 23:50 Stack decentralization inheritance _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇿 *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: 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 Jordi Baylina X: https://x.com/jbaylina ✅ Follow Polygon zkEVM X: https://x.com/polygonzkevm ✅ 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

Daniel Leavitt, a Devril engineer at Mysten Labs, introduces Walrus, a decentralized storage network built to address the shortcomings of current blockchain and Web3 solutions, such as centralized frontend hosting and NFT metadata storage. Walrus leverages a novel encoding algorithm for cost-effective, scalable, and reliable data storage with a low replication factor, outperforming traditional decentralized networks. It uses the Sui blockchain for coordination, enabling programmable, composable storage solutions and tokenized storage capacity. Walrus is chain-agnostic, with public-by-default data, and supports integrations via TypeScript SDKs, HTTP APIs, and S3-compatible APIs. The workshop highlights developer tooling, cross-chain support, and app-building opportunities, including Walrus Sites for decentralized frontend hosting. Daniel discusses hackathon tracks, resources, and answers questions about cost, data sovereignty, and use cases, emphasizing Walrus’s strengths in censorship resistance and data ownership. 00:00 Introduction 00:31 About Daniel & Mysten Labs 00:58 Why Walrus Was Built 02:37 Mysten Labs’ Mission & Sui Blockchain 03:03 Walrus Architecture & Encoding Algorithm 05:01 Programmability & Sui Integration 06:14 Walrus Token & Decentralization 06:42 Data Privacy & Seal Product 07:36 Walrus Sites: Decentralized Frontends 08:47 Hackathon Track Overview & Prizes 09:11 Developer Tooling Track 10:31 Cross-Chain & ENS Support 10:53 Best App with Walrus Track 12:21 Developer Resources & SDKs 13:37 Chain-Agnostic Integration Methods 14:28 Partner & Community SDKs 15:07 Awesome Walrus & Community Tools 15:34 Live Demo: Uploading Data 16:25 Tips for Hackathon Participants 17:31 Support & Q&A 18:05 Q&A: Cost, Use Cases, Data Sovereignty 20:20 Walrus Sites Deployment & Portals 21:58 Favorite Use Cases & Future Opportunities 22:46 Storage Duration, Renewals, and Deletion 24:10 File Size Limits & Testnet Info 24:48 Closing Remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *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 Walrus* X: https://x.com/WalrusProtocol ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Swarm · Jun 20, 2024

In this presentation we explore the underlying technical design choices which enable Swarm's unstoppable and censorship-resistant characteristics. We will take a deep dive into the technical features powering Swarm, such as its chunk-based storage model, which distributes file segments across a network to prevent data loss and censorship. We'll also discuss the Swarm's approach to storage incentives, and content addressing. Additionally, we will learn how optional features like encryption and erasure coding further enhance privacy and data persistence. In this video, Noah, a member of the DevRel team with a focus on documentation and educational articles, explains the features that make Swarm an unstoppable platform. He breaks down complex concepts into plain language for a broad audience. The presentation covers three main characteristics of Swarm: data persistence, data availability, and censorship resistance. Noah delves into Swarm's chunk-based storage model, where files are split into chunks and distributed across the network to ensure redundancy and resistance to network changes. He also discusses the anonymity of upload and download requests for privacy. The incentives model is explored, detailing how storage nodes are rewarded for honesty through a game-like mechanism that penalizes censorship and ensures data integrity. Payment and addressing models are explained, highlighting how anyone can contribute to keeping data online through postage batches and how content addressing ensures consistent references for files. Lastly, Noah touches on optional features like encryption for privacy and erasure coding for data protection against loss or large-scale network failures. The video concludes with a demo using VJS, demonstrating how to create postage batches, upload data, and download it with encryption and erasure coding enabled. Noah encourages viewers to try out these features themselves.

ZuBerlin · Jun 13, 2024

Clip The video presents an in-depth discussion about the structure and future architecture of Ethereum, focusing on the roles and divisions between various actors involved in the network's consensus mechanism. It explores the categorization of builders, who create blocks and choose their contents, and attesters, who vote on blocks to ensure they are accepted and finalized. The speaker examines historical consensus models and how they've evolved due to concerns around Miner Extractable Value (MEV) issues. The talk delves into different separation models like Proposer Builder Separation (PBS) and Attester Proposer Separation (APS), explaining their implications for protocol openness, censorship resistance, and economies of scale. It also addresses the benefits of integrating certain roles to strengthen network guarantees against centralization risks. Moreover, the speaker discusses potential risks of overloading stakers with additional functionalities that could incentivize them to fork the chain or lead to centralization through outsourcing yield gathering. The concept of consensus proposers is also examined, emphasizing the importance of their decentralization. Finally, the video touches on pre-confirmations as a higher-level feature that doesn't benefit from in-protocol censorship resistance but is desired for its low latency. The speaker expresses hope for a balance where users can enjoy fast transaction confirmations while protecting critical aspects of Ethereum

Illia Polosukhin, Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2023

Join Illia Polosukhin, co-founder of NEAR Protocol and co-author of "Attention Is All You Need," in this insightful fireside chat with Kartik Talwar at Pragma Waterloo. Illia walks us through his journey from machine learning at Google to pioneering decentralized infrastructure for the open web. He discusses the technical and philosophical foundations of NEAR, including how it was designed to solve core blockchain usability, scalability, and developer experience challenges. Learn how NEAR’s sharding architecture, account abstraction, and Blockchain Operating System (BOS) are shaping a multi-chain future that is more accessible and developer-friendly. The conversation also explores the intersections of AI and blockchain, cryptographic authenticity, censorship resistance, and the importance of preserving user agency in the age of large-scale language models. Whether you're a developer, founder, or curious builder, this talk offers a compelling vision for a decentralized internet that is inclusive, scalable, and built to last. 00:00 Intro and welcome to Illia Polosukhin 00:38 Illia’s background in AI and Google Research 01:50 Inventing Transformers and “Attention Is All You Need” 04:10 Launching NEAR AI and challenges with global payments 06:31 Early blockchain usability challenges 08:12 Origins of NEAR Protocol 09:21 Designing for simplicity, security, and scalability 10:21 The limits of single-threaded blockchains 13:07 Tackling performance: VM, consensus, and storage 15:11 Building sharding and parallel execution 16:55 From Layer 1 to a Blockchain Operating System 18:04 What BOS enables for developers and users 21:02 Cross-chain discovery, onboarding, and frontends 23:00 Overview of a fully open-source, multi-chain future 25:02 How BOS works with Ethereum and other chains 27:06 Data storage, frontend history, and integrity 30:58 Thoughts on Layer 2s and scalability trade-offs 34:30 Blockchain and AI: data, compute, and models 37:07 Authenticity and cryptographic signatures in AI 41:16 Community governance and decentralized identity 42:49 What decentralization means to Illia 44:29 Closing remarks and BOS adoption _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇦 *Pragma Waterloo* The now third edition of Pragma kicked off with a curated series of high-quality talks that sparked thought and discussion among attendees as they were storming into the Auditorium of the CIGI Building. Pragma Waterloo 2023 was an opportunity discuss the future of web3 and reflect on the past. Watch the full Pragma Waterloo 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7i8oFx5vCB9qTdadQqAjF0&si=NS2W71SteTbEs4T8 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 Illia Polosukhin* X: https://x.com/ilblackdragon ✅ *Follow NEAR* X: https://x.com/NEARProtocol ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _