ETHGlobal · Aug 9, 2026

In this workshop at ETHGlobal New York 2026, Leonardo Cascianelli from LI.FI introduces Composer, the project LI.FI is sponsoring for the hackathon, and walks through its interaction pattern. Composer is essentially a compiler that lets you execute complex DeFi strategies in one atomic transaction. You define a declarative flow in JSON (a simple embedded DSL), and Composer transforms it into something executable with one click on chain, pre-simulating everything so you learn your expected outputs, gas usage, and whether the transaction will fail. He motivates it with a common pain point: wanting to chain a swap, a vault deposit, and a stake or restake often ships as multiple transactions needing a coordinator to feed each output into the next. People try to solve this with multicall, but multicall does not give real data flow (you must hardcode intermediary values), so it is flaky. Composer instead defines the whole flow in one spot and passes intermediate values through automatically. Leo walks through a simple flow performing a swap and a zap (staking into a vault) using the TypeScript SDK, though any language that produces JSON works. He explains declaring inputs (like wrapped ETH as an ERC-20 resource via direct deposit from an EOA), the nodes that transform resources (swap WETH to USDC, then zap USDC to staked USDC), and optional guards that set minimum amounts. He covers the account model, where each signer (EOA, safe, or smart wallet) gets a dedicated auto-deployed user proxy that isolates approvals, with execution via delegate call to LI.FI's on-chain virtual machine. He details the simple API surface (the /compose endpoint plus manifest and zaps metadata routes, authenticated with an API key from the LI.FI portal), whose response returns the transaction to send yourself, required approvals, and dangling output resources. For the hackathon he previews new operations on a dedicated ETHGlobal deployment, including a cross-venue migration demo (moving an Aave position to Morpho in one flow) where flash loan complexity is abstracted away via materializers, supporting Aave V3, Balancer V2, Morpho, and ERC-3156 flash loan providers. He points agents to an llms.txt file and a repo of 30+ examples, invites AI, UX, and dev tooling builds, and closes with Q&A on targeting any smart contract, chain availability, and third-party contract whitelisting. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 Meet Leo and Composer 00:42 How the Declarative JSON Flow Works 00:58 Pre-Simulating Outputs, Gas, and Failures 01:08 The Multi-Transaction Pain Point 01:36 Why Multicall Falls Short 02:03 The JSON Specification and Embedded DSL 02:30 A Simple Swap and Zap Flow 02:50 Declaring Your Inputs 03:18 The Nodes That Transform Resources 03:42 Using Guards for Minimum Amounts 04:04 The User Proxy Account Model 04:27 Execution via Delegate Call 04:37 The API Surface and Endpoints 04:51 Authentication and the API Key 05:21 What the Compilation Response Returns 05:41 Exposing Dangling Resources 05:53 New Operations for the Hackathon 06:11 The Cross-Venue Migration Demo 06:49 Abstracting Flash Loans With Materializers 07:09 The Three Beats of a Migration 07:30 The Preview Deployment and Supported Protocols 07:56 Pointing Your Agents to llms.txt 08:22 The Repo of 30+ Examples 08:44 What You Can Build With Composer 09:19 Q&A: Targeting Any Smart Contract 11:01 Q&A: Partners and Chain Availability 11:39 Q&A: Third-Party Contract Whitelisting 12:00 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *ETHGlobal New York 2026* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal New York 2026, a 3-day hackathon held June 12-14 at the Metropolitan Pavilion, 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 2026 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7MZ8T-ict6YshkFDw9WJCu _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.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 · Jul 9, 2026

In this fireside chat, Matt Sheffield, CIO of SharpLink, sits down with Robbie Mitchnick, Global Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, to discuss institutional Ethereum adoption, ETFs, tokenization, and the future of finance. Matt opens by describing SharpLink's strategy of putting roughly $3 billion of Ethereum onto a public company balance sheet last year and progressively moving it onchain. Robbie explains BlackRock's deliberate approach to crypto ETFs, with IBIT for Bitcoin and ETHA for Ethereum, noting the high bar that includes asset maturity, market cap, liquidity, product market fit, and the conviction that an asset belongs in client portfolios on a long term fundamental basis. He emphasizes that Bitcoin sits in category one, Bitcoin plus ETH sits in category two, and there is a meaningful breakpoint after that. The conversation digs into why TradFi firms prefer Ethereum over newer programmable L1s, citing time tested maturity, network effects, and Ethereum's incumbency. Matt argues that Ethereum gets chosen on merit rather than economic incentives, which builds trust with the community. Robbie details BlackRock's launch of ETHB as a staking focused product alongside ETHA for liquidity sensitive investors, reaching half a billion in AUM out of the gate. They discuss why tokenized money market funds have been the breakthrough tokenization category at over 10 billion dollars (including BUIDL), since they break the historical tradeoff between full US Treasury yield and perfect liquidity when paired with stablecoins. Matt outlines SharpLink's onchain allocations including a $200 million LRT deployment, bridging to Linea, and a $125 million private fund with Galaxy. Robbie shares BlackRock's four pillar tokenization framework around asset class focus, custody, regulation, and exchange listing. They close by discussing agentic finance and the intersection of AI and digital assets as the most exciting theme for the next 5 to 10 years. 00:00 Introductions 01:21 Why BlackRock Launched IBIT and ETHA but Paused After 02:23 The High Bar for an iShares Crypto Product 02:57 Bitcoin Category One, Bitcoin and ETH Category Two 03:22 Why TradFi Prefers Mature, Battle Tested Assets 04:24 Network Effects and Ethereum's Incumbency Advantage 05:12 SharpLink's Inflection Point: Stability Over Headline Chasing 06:25 Picking Ethereum on Merit, Not Economics 07:02 Utilization Without Economic Incentive as a Signal 07:42 Why BlackRock Created ETHB Separately for Staking 08:49 Catering to Liquidity Sensitive vs Yield Focused Investors 09:32 No Switching Between ETHA and ETHB 09:53 The Impact of Crypto ETFs on Industry Access 10:14 Why Tokenized Money Market Funds Came First 11:02 Breaking the Yield vs Liquidity Tradeoff 12:00 BUIDL and the 10 Billion Dollar Tokenized MMF Category 13:06 What Needs to Happen for Ethereum to Stay the Tokenization Hub 13:50 Liquidity Begets Liquidity: Ethereum's Pole Position 14:10 RWAs Need to Become More Valuable Onchain Than Off 14:55 Tokenized Stock Loans and the GameStop Example 15:35 Only 0.1% of Global Assets Are Tokenized 15:57 SharpLink's Onchain Deployments and Regulatory Process 17:02 Building Infrastructure While Pioneering Each Deployment 17:51 BlackRock's Four Pillar Tokenization Framework 18:46 Why Money Market Funds Became the Coalescence Point 19:14 The Race Between TradFi and Crypto Exchanges 20:04 Custody Hurdles for Institutional Adoption 20:58 Regulatory Clarity vs Tokenization Specific Rules 21:23 The iShares Tokenization Opportunity 21:46 Looking Ahead: Agentic Finance That Adds Value 22:16 The AI as Guardian Angel for Onchain Transactions 23:31 Ethereum's Immutability and Agentic Payments 23:58 AI Plus Digital Assets as the Defining Intersection 24:22 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sreeram Kannan

ETHGlobal · Jul 9, 2026

In this fireside chat, Nikita Sachdev from Luna PR sits down with Sreeram Kannan, founder of Eigen Labs and former University of Washington professor, to discuss the verifiability layer needed for the AI agent economy. Nikita opens by asking the audience to raise hands on whether they'd trust an AI agent to book a flight (most hands), make a $100 transaction (more hands), or hand over their passport, bank accounts, and identities (almost none). Sreeram identifies two layers of agent verifiability: confirming the agent is running exactly the code and model claimed, and enforcing constraints on what the agent can do. He stratifies agents into single player (where a user can run them locally with their own constraints) and multiplayer (where agents adjudicate between mutually untrusting parties like a prediction market), noting that multiplayer agents need much higher trust guarantees. Eigen Compute solves this by guaranteeing the exact prompts, model, and data used in agent decisions. Sreeram shares his personal AGI moment from 2017 working on DNA sequencing with physicist Jens Gundlach, when a student beat his hand crafted mathematical benchmarks using deep neural networks, teaching him that any objectively verifiable problem can be optimized by AI. He recounts a recent story where an Eigen colleague who hadn't finished college responded to Google's quantum breakthrough by launching ECDSA.fail, an open challenge where anonymous agent operators collaborate. Within six days they not only beat Google's benchmark but went 40% better than anything existing. He warns the next 6 to 12 months will be scary for DeFi as AI cracks instant settlement protocols, suggesting protocols with intentional settlement lag will weather this better. He closes by outlining Eigen's new thesis of agentic companies: agents at the center, humans at the edge, with company credentials (websites, YouTube channels, Stripe accounts, Roblox games) owned by onchain smart contracts so that every digital company becomes investable by crypto capital. 00:00 Introduction 00:32 Sreeram's Background and Eigen Labs Overview 01:21 Audience Hand Raising: How Much Do You Trust AI Agents 02:09 Two Layers of Agent Verifiability 02:42 Single Player vs Multiplayer Agents 03:28 Prediction Markets and Multiplayer Trust 04:15 How Eigen Compute Guarantees Agent Execution 04:42 What Makes Eigen the Right Company for AI 05:31 Sreeram's 2017 AGI Moment with DNA Sequencing 06:41 Why Objectively Verifiable Problems Get Optimized by AI 07:20 How AI Led Sreeram Into Blockchain 07:52 Eigen Layer's Original AI Thesis 08:17 Climbing the Product Stack to Agentic Companies 09:23 Would EigenLayer Move This Fast Without AI 09:46 The Google Quantum Breakthrough Story 11:06 ECDSA.fail: 40% Better Than Google in Six Days 12:12 The 10x to 100x Acceleration Opportunity 13:09 Is Crypto Moving Fast Enough Against AI Attacks 13:49 Instant Settlement vs Security Tradeoff 14:31 Why the Next Six to Twelve Months Will Be Scary for DeFi 14:56 What About Other People's Jobs 15:21 The Agents as Companies Thesis 16:05 Crypto's Core Value Proposition Is Capital 16:29 Why Only Five DeFi Protocols Are Investable 16:53 Putting Digital Company Credentials Onchain 17:19 Fully Onchain Agents That Cannot Run Away 17:51 Agents at the Center, Humans at the Edge 18:24 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 · Jul 9, 2026

In this talk, Young Kim from BitMine presents the case for why Ethereum is positioned at the center of finance and agentic AI. Drawing on his background as an MIT-trained engineer turned institutional investor managing emerging markets capital for over two decades, Young frames his analysis around two questions: does the technology work, and does it make money? He argues Ethereum's answer to both is now yes, pointing to factors that could break ETH out of its four to five year price consolidation range, including the winding down of the Iran war and falling oil prices, the pending Clarity Act with 56% odds on Polymarket, a crypto friendly administration with positive implications for US dollar policy, and favorable US demographics. Young explains how the impossible trinity in international finance is forcing countries that watch their citizens flee inflation through USD stablecoins (Argentina at 74% annual inflation, Turkey at 94% deposit deflation) to either ban crypto or launch their own stablecoins, extending US dollar dominance into the digital realm. He outlines three structural drivers of ETH demand: agentic AI and robots that will need money on rails better suited than traditional ones (citing Xiaomi's dark factory producing one smartphone per second), Wall Street tokenization of 300 trillion in assets, and Ethereum as a monetary unit for compute and energy. He covers the Ethereum Foundation's evolving role, noting EF holdings dropped from 17% to 0.1% while Ethereum treasury companies including BitMine now hold around 7% collectively generating roughly 500 million in annual yield. He closes with BitMine updates: investments in Tools for Humanity behind Worldcoin, the launch of Maven as the world's largest single staking operation with 154 billion staked, the MrBeast investment positioning for Gen Z and Gen Alpha financial services, the NYSE big board uplisting, and pending inclusion in the Russell index. 00:00 Introduction and Background 00:38 Two Questions: Does the Tech Work and Does It Make Money 01:33 ETH Price Consolidation and the Coming Breakout 02:02 The Iran War Ending and Oil Price Tailwind 02:47 The Clarity Act and Global Policy Direction 04:13 Crypto Friendly Administration and USD Policy 04:46 The Impossible Trinity and Stablecoin Adoption 06:22 New Fed Chair and US Demographics 06:49 Future of Money: Mass, Energy, and Compute 07:15 Agentic AI and Robots: A Half Century in the Making 08:17 Smarter AI, Dark Factories, and Onchain Agents 09:53 Wall Street Tokenizing 300 Trillion in Assets 10:43 Ethereum as Monetary Unit and the Amazon Analogy 11:32 Ethereum Foundation's Evolving Role 12:26 Treasury Companies Holding 7% of Supply 13:00 Pre-2024 Foundation Activities 13:27 The 2026 Evolution of the Foundation 14:00 Ethereum's Scale: 11K Nodes, 15K Developers 14:41 Lessons from Telecom, Semis, and Broadcasting Consortiums 15:37 BitMine Building During the Mini Crypto Winter 16:00 Investment in Tools for Humanity and Worldcoin 16:24 Launching Maven: The World's Largest Single Staking Operation 16:50 MrBeast Investment and Gen Z Financial Services 17:15 Uplisting to NYSE and Russell Index Inclusion 18:08 4.6% Ethereum Holdings and Outperformance vs Underlying 18:47 Closing Remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 · 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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHGlobal · Jul 9, 2026

In this fireside chat, Ashley Stanhope from Hardfork Media sits down with Vivek Raman, founder of Etherealize, to discuss the institutional case for Ethereum, the Ethereum versus permissioned chain debate, and his firm's ambitious ETH price thesis. Vivek frames the current moment as the strongest blockchain bull market he's seen even amid a token bear market, arguing that the value proposition of public blockchains has never been stronger. When he launched Etherealize in 2025, Ethereum was still in proof of concept mode on Wall Street with a missing narrative, but adoption, regulation, and institutional readiness have since converged. He points to the legacy architecture of the financial system (COBOL, Excel, faxes, wires) as ripe for an upgrade, and identifies three unlocks that made institutions comfortable: Ethereum's 10 year track record with no downtime, institutional proof points like BlackRock's BUIDL and 60% of stablecoins living on Ethereum, and a favorable regulatory environment marked by the Genius Act becoming the starting line. Vivek explains Etherealize's dual mandate of educating Wall Street on why Ethereum's neutrality and decentralization matter while building the missing building blocks (bespoke tokenization reaching back offices, privacy infrastructure layered on top rather than embedded, and applications). He reframes decentralization for institutions as security, resilience, and the absence of single points of failure, noting the irony that institutions are the biggest customers of decentralization because centralized chains carry counterparty risk and lower profitability. He argues Solana never comes up in institutional conversations, and that the real debate is public permissionless versus permissioned consortium chains, where Ethereum's modularity lets institutions have their cake and eat it too through specialized L2s and app chains. He walks through his Productive Money report and its $250,000 ETH target, explaining that markets misprice blockchains by valuing them on fees like companies rather than recognizing ETH as the monetary asset securing the network, with the real repricing coming when ETH is valued alongside gold and Bitcoin. He closes noting you don't have to hold ETH to use Ethereum, and that while the Clarity Act would be welcome, Ethereum already transcends the political cycle thanks to the Genius Act being law. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 A Token Bear Market but a Blockchain Bull Market 00:29 Why Etherealize Launched in 2025 00:55 The Value Proposition Is Stronger Than Ever 01:45 What Banks Are Saying About Ethereum 01:52 Upgrading Legacy Financial Architecture 02:52 Why Regulation Gave Institutions Confidence 03:14 Three Unlocks: Track Record, Pilots, Regulation 03:51 The Genius Act as the Starting Line 04:31 Etherealize's Dual Mandate 04:54 Why a Neutral Platform Wins 05:32 Educating Wall Street on Decentralization 05:56 Building the Missing Building Blocks 06:27 Bespoke Tokenization for Back Offices 06:54 Privacy as a Layer on Top 07:13 Applications and Use Cases 07:45 Does Decentralization Resonate With Wall Street 08:10 Why Institutions Are the Biggest Customers of Decentralization 08:55 Why Not Just Use AWS 09:11 Supporting the EF's CROPS Focus 09:48 Ethereum vs Solana in Institutional Conversations 10:44 Permissionless vs Permissioned Consortium Chains 11:12 Can You Have a Hybrid Approach 11:37 Ethereum's Modularity and the Internet Analogy 12:12 Why the Layer 2 Model Is Not Dead 12:32 Institutions Choosing Layer 2s vs Their Own Chains 13:26 Abstracting Away the L1 vs L2 Distinction 13:54 One Hop to Liquidity on the Base Layer 14:13 The Productive Money Report 14:39 Why People Value Blockchains Incorrectly 15:31 Why Every Blockchain Needs a Core Asset 15:49 ETH as the Best Money in the Ecosystem 16:28 Repricing ETH Alongside Gold and Bitcoin 16:47 A Call Option on Money 17:10 Do You Have to Hold ETH to Support Ethereum 17:42 Something in It for Everyone 18:17 Clarity Act Predictions 18:38 Why Ethereum Transcends the Political Cycle 18:59 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 · Jul 9, 2026

In this talk, Demetrios Skalkotos from Blockdaemon walks through what it takes to provide institutional ETH staking infrastructure for the traditional finance and institutional space. He argues the question is no longer whether to stake (that was settled 24 months ago) but who to trust and how to find a partner to scale with. He introduces Blockdaemon as an 8-year-old infrastructure company, an OG that started with dedicated nodes and an RPC API business, then grew into staking across 70+ chains and protocols, MPC wallet technology, and DeFi infrastructure, and now represents roughly 5% of the overall ETH staking market. He frames Ethereum as having crossed a major institutional adoption threshold: structurally different from Bitcoin, it builds an economy on yield and cash flow, producing a treasury asset for appreciation, not just price exposure. He cites over $500 million in ETF adoption, around 200 publicly traded DATs (36 Ethereum-focused, about 20% of the market) holding roughly 7 million staked ETH, and total staked assets approaching 40 million (about 32% of supply), all growing steadily even outside a bull market. Demetrios lays out the five categories institutions probe: security posture, compliance, liquidity, yield and slashing protection, and 24/7/365 operational service. On operator security, he stresses the operator should never touch or access private keys, which stay in a secure enclave, with policy-based access at the KMS layer and MPC ensuring no single operator holds signing authority, mirroring TradFi's evolution from dealer discretion to programmatic policy enforcement. He covers OFAC-compliant MEV-boost relay screening applied by default (not pushed onto clients), and certifications including ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, and SOC 1 Type 1. On liquidity, he counsels clients through entry and exit queues, recommending a 10 to 20% unstake buffer and partnering with prime brokerage and lending providers as a home-equity-line-style facility for unforeseen queue spikes. On yield, Blockdaemon contractually guarantees 100% slashing and double-signing insurance (not best efforts) and shows consistent outperformance of the average blended rate amid yield and MEV compression. He emphasizes the full-stack advantage of eliminating vendor fragmentation (every vendor seam is a compliance gap and attack surface) via a single provider, SLA, and master services agreement. He closes projecting staked ETH could approach 50% of supply within three years, with institutions the primary driver, and reiterates Blockdaemon's scale: over $10 billion staked under custody, 70+ chains, and 99.9% uptime. 00:00 Introduction 00:33 Not Whether to Stake, but Who to Trust 00:43 Who Blockdaemon Is 01:24 Ethereum at an Institutional Crossroads 01:53 ETF Adoption and Publicly Traded DATs 02:25 How Much of the Supply DATs Represent 02:56 Structural Growth Beyond the Bull Market 03:20 The Opportunity in Continuous Growth 03:28 The Five Categories Institutions Probe 04:28 The Operator's Security Posture 04:51 Why the Operator Should Never Touch Keys 05:41 OFAC-Compliant Screening by Default 06:04 Certifications and Controls 06:55 Counseling Clients on Entry and Exit Queues 07:30 The 10 to 20% Unstake Buffer 07:44 Bringing In Prime Brokers and Lending 08:40 Protecting and Maximizing Production 08:50 100% Slashing and Double Signing Insurance 09:34 Consistent Performance Above Average 10:18 Why Yield Compression Raises the Stakes 10:50 The Full Stack Advantage 11:13 Why Vendor Fragmentation Is a Compliance Gap 11:39 Reducing Vendor Footprint for Institutions 12:04 The Value of a Single Provider Relationship 12:26 Where the Industry Is Heading 12:59 The ETF Flywheel in Motion 13:30 Projecting 50% of Supply Staked 13:52 ETH as a Dominant Institutional Asset 14:26 The Validator Economy and MEV Compression 14:53 Bringing It All Home 16:19 Blockdaemon's Scale and Track Record 16:50 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 · Jul 9, 2026

In this fireside chat, Joshua Lim, who runs the trading division at prime brokerage FalconX, sits down with Giovanni Vicioso, global head of cryptocurrency products at CME Group, to discuss the state of the derivatives market across both institutional and onchain venues. Giovanni notes CME is the world's leading derivatives marketplace, having entered crypto in 2016 with a reference rate, launched Bitcoin futures in December 2017, Ether futures in January 2021, and now lists futures and options on nine cryptocurrencies. They open on CME's newer volatility indices, 30-day forward-looking products referencing implied volatility from Bitcoin options (analogous to the equity VIX), which let institutions trade volatility directly rather than trading and delta hedging a series of options. Joshua explains these let firms take a view on uncertainty rather than direction, citing how summer option sellers were caught as uncertainty around Michael Saylor's MSTR holdings spiked implied vol from the 30s into the 50s. Giovanni shares striking growth data: Bitcoin futures volume decreased in 2025 for the first time after seven years of growth, while Ether futures volume tripled, now around 40% of Bitcoin futures volume (up from under 20% in 2024) with open interest around 45% of Bitcoin's, which he attributes to Ethereum's proof-of-stake upgrades, staking yield, and the Genius Act driving stablecoin settlement interest. Joshua notes more altcoin tooling (Solana, XRP, Stellar) helps token-picking and long-short funds express dispersion views in a regulated format, and that as the basis trade compressed below 5%, capital still chasing yield moved into options overwriting and onchain farming rather than leaving. On the convergence of DeFi and traditional markets, Giovanni argues it is not winner-take-all but coexistence with hybrid models, noting newer protocols like Hyperliquid remain relatively untested for large institutions who need someone to call when code breaks. He covers CME's new 24/7 trading (closing the CME gap, over $300 million traded on a recent weekend with strong retail microcontract activity), the tokenized cash collateral solution being built with Google Cloud Universal Ledger and BMO to move value on weekends, and how expanding the tradable universe depends on regulatory clarity and customer demand. 00:00 Introduction 00:40 Introducing the Panelists 00:58 Why the Ether Conference Energy Is Different 01:18 CME as the Leading Derivatives Marketplace 01:59 FalconX and the Prime Brokerage View 02:34 What Volatility Indices Are 02:58 CME's Regulated Volatility Product 03:38 How Bitcoin Volatility Futures Work 04:05 Bringing Operational Simplicity to Volatility 04:30 Trading Uncertainty, Not Direction 04:45 How the MSTR Story Spiked Implied Vol 05:21 The Cost of Holding Crypto and Staking Rates 05:55 Is CME Exploring a Staking Rate Product 06:16 Why Bitcoin Futures Volume Fell as Ether Tripled 06:51 The Genius Act and Growing Ether Interest 07:18 Ether Notional Volume Reaches 40% of Bitcoin 07:46 Why Ethereum Upgrades Drive Institutional Demand 08:13 How Altcoin Tooling Helps Token-Picking Funds 08:46 Dispersion and Long-Short Opportunities 09:14 The Basis Trade and Spot ETFs 09:35 Why Basis Compressed Below 5% 10:02 Why Volume and Open Interest Still Grew 10:27 Where Yield-Seeking Capital Is Going Now 11:02 The Convergence of DeFi and Traditional Markets 11:35 How CME Coexists With Hyperliquid 12:38 Why Institutions Need Someone to Call 13:11 Why CME Moved to 24/7 Trading 14:07 Strong Volume on the Second Weekend 14:55 Closing the CME Gap and Arbitrage Opportunities 15:16 A Mix of Retail and Institutional Participants 15:38 The Need for Weekend Collateral Movement 16:23 The Tokenized Cash Solution With Google and BMO 17:06 Why This Benefits Onchain Stablecoin Firms 17:48 Expanding the Universe of Tradable Assets 18:22 Why Regulatory Clarity Comes First 19:05 Why Customer Demand Drives New Listings 19:32 The Rise of Crypto Indices 19:56 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 · Jul 9, 2026

In this talk, Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale (the world's largest digital assets focused fund manager), lays out how his team thinks about investing for the tokenization vision and why Ethereum is well positioned to capture it. He notes Grayscale's history of Ethereum firsts (one of the first ETH investment products and ETFs, the first to stake tokens in its Ethereum ETF, and the first to pay out staking rewards), and pushes back on the current despair over ETH's price. He defines tokenization as extending public blockchain's peer-to-peer digital finance into capital markets: instead of a security trade routing through broker, exchange, clearing house, custodian, and transfer agent, a tokenized trade settles cash for asset in a single peer-to-peer smart contract transaction, removing intermediaries and gaining efficiencies. Zach shows tokenized assets have grown from near zero to the $20 to $30 billion range and diversified across tokenized treasuries (the largest category), public fixed income, equities, private credit and equity, commodities like gold, and real estate. Yet this is only about one basis point of global equity and bond market cap, making tokenization a 10-to-30-year mega trend still at its very beginning. He frames a spectrum of network architectures: institution-centric designs like Canton (mirroring today's financial system, lower near-term onboarding friction, near-term success), open architecture networks like Ethereum (bigger onboarding frictions and unfinished privacy and identity solutions, but general purpose, global, and more long-term upside), and hybrids like Avalanche and Ethereum L2s. He argues Ethereum has the right architecture and leads on tokenized assets, stablecoin supply and transactions, and DeFi TVL, while Canton, Solana, and BNB lead on certain niche measures. On value accrual, he presents data showing bigger blockchains mean higher token value, using hard-to-game transaction fees and TVL, with Ethereum, BNB, Solana, and Tron standing apart and evidence of a nonlinear network-effect premium for the largest networks (Ethereum dominant on assets). He closes predicting the Clarity Act will pass and accelerate tokenization, framing it as a rising tide that lifts all boats where Ethereum is the biggest boat and the anchor asset no sensible institutional portfolio built around tokenization should skip, though diversifying into smaller boats can make sense too. 00:00 Introduction 00:31 Who Grayscale Is 00:59 Grayscale's History of Ethereum Firsts 01:52 Why the Price Despair Is Surprising 02:15 How Grayscale Thinks About Tokenization 02:39 What Is Tokenization 02:59 Peer-to-Peer Finance on Public Blockchains 03:24 Applying Peer-to-Peer to Capital Markets 03:54 Removing the Chain of Intermediaries 04:24 Where Tokenization Is Today 04:46 The Diverse Set of Tokenized Assets 05:06 Tokenized Commodities and Gold 05:40 Why This Is Only One Basis Point 06:06 Why Tokenization Is a 30-Year Mega Trend 06:32 Comparing Network Architectures 06:58 Institution-Centric Networks Like Canton 07:49 Open Architecture Networks Like Ethereum 08:14 The Onboarding Frictions vs Long-Term Upside 08:32 Why Ethereum Is a Global Project 08:58 Hybrid Architectures in the Middle 09:20 Why Ethereum Has the Right Architecture 09:45 Ethereum in the Leadership Position 10:02 Where Other Networks Lead 10:52 What This Means for the Price 11:18 Why Bigger Blockchains Mean Higher Value 11:51 Two Ways to Measure Finance 12:11 Why Fees Are the Best Metric 12:54 The Four Transaction Leaders 13:15 Evidence of a Nonlinear Value Premium 13:40 Measuring by Assets and TVL 14:02 Why Ethereum Dominates on Assets 14:25 Why Bigger May Get More Valuable Faster 14:46 No Need to Despair 15:11 Why the Clarity Act Will Accelerate This 15:47 A Rising Tide That Lifts All Boats 16:11 Why Ethereum Is the Biggest Boat 16:37 The Anchor Asset for Tokenization 16:59 Why Diversifying Into Smaller Boats Helps 17:18 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 · Jul 9, 2026

In this fireside chat, Adam Wozney, senior director of global community at Circle, sits down with Sam Tabar, CEO of Bit Digital and White Fiber, to discuss the state of Ethereum, how TradFi is entering the space, and how physical infrastructure is evolving to power it all. An Oxford and Columbia law graduate and former attorney, Sam leads two publicly traded companies bridging the digital and physical worlds through Ethereum staking and AI high performance computing infrastructure. He opens by reflecting on following intuition over pure logic (a lesson from his tarot-reading mother and car-mechanic father), noting he was a poor lawyer before pivoting to finance. On Ethereum, Sam argues the money frame was always the wrong one. Bitcoin is the mother coin with first-mover advantage but is simply a store of value competing with the roughly $16 trillion gold market, while Ethereum is programmable money that competes with the entire financial system by removing middlemen and friction through smart contracts. He views ETH as a utility settlement layer and watches settlement and development activity as his key metrics, noting a favorable gap between strong fundamentals and current price. He predicts a generational shift as boomer decision-makers who resisted crypto give way to Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z who have normalized it, eventually making crypto a responsible part of family office portfolios and an inflation hedge superior to gold. He distinguishes Bit Digital as a strategic asset company rather than a digital asset treasury: rather than just shoving ETH on a shell balance sheet, Bit Digital sold all its Bitcoin to go all in on Ethereum, holds around 158,000 ETH which it stakes, owns 70% of NASDAQ-listed White Fiber (an AI data center company serving clients like Cerebras and Nscale with billion-dollar contracts), and lends against its ETH to finance White Fiber's buildout for alpha positioning. He frames AI as the third catalyst of the industrial revolution after electricity and the internet, describes the White Fiber IPO as the best day of his life, and closes predicting Wall Street has already chosen Ethereum as its programmable money horse though it is not yet priced in, plus a lightning round where he names government surveillance as his biggest AI fear. 00:00 Introduction 00:26 Setting the Stage: Finance, Networks, and Scale 00:48 Meet Sam Tabar 01:25 A Get to Know You Question 01:40 Growing Up With a Mechanic and a Tarot Reader 02:15 Logic vs Intuition in Leadership 03:03 Why Following Intuition Matters 03:31 Leaving Law to Follow Intuition 04:19 Why the Money Frame Is Wrong for Ethereum 04:57 Bitcoin as a Store of Value vs Gold 05:19 The Generational Shift in Portfolio Construction 06:08 Why Crypto Will Enter Family Offices 06:34 Ethereum as Programmable Money 06:58 Removing Middlemen and Friction 07:21 Ethereum as a Utility Settlement Layer 07:49 Conflating ETH Price and the Settlement Layer 08:10 Why Boomer Resistance Will Fade 08:48 From Bitcoin Mining to 158,000 Ethereum 09:29 Strategic Asset Company vs Digital Asset Treasury 10:08 Going All In on Ethereum 10:28 Taking Digital Tomatoes From Bitcoin Maxis 10:49 How the Strategic Asset Model Works 11:08 The ChatGPT Eureka Moment 11:50 Why AI Runs on Data Centers 12:23 Building Data Centers for Cerebras and Nscale 12:46 Why It Is Called White Fiber 13:12 How Bit Digital Owns 70% of White Fiber 13:43 Lending Against ETH to Finance Data Centers 14:05 Why This Is an Alpha Posture 14:19 What the NASDAQ Launch Day Was Like 14:49 Building Something That Outlasts You 15:04 Why He Would Not Recommend an IPO 15:32 Where Ethereum Goes Next Year 15:59 Why Wall Street Has Already Chosen Ethereum 16:23 Performing Regardless of ETH Direction 16:53 The Third Catalyst of the Industrial Revolution 17:24 The Lightning Round 17:36 Bitcoin or Ethereum 17:52 The Biggest Threat From AI 18:25 Secured or Unsecured Debt 18:32 Oxford or Columbia 19:47 Financial Data or Tarot Cards 20:00 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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.

ETHGlobal · May 9, 2026

In this talk, Misha Putiatin, co-founder of Symbiotic, lays out the four critical problems that must be solved to bring trillions of dollars of traditional finance on-chain in a composable, DeFi-native way rather than as simple database receipts. He argues that after 18 years of building infrastructure, blockchains are no longer bandwidth-bound, but the industry lacks the financial primitives needed for institutional adoption: private credit, smart contract risk coverage, standardized reporting, and RWA liquidity. Misha details Symbiotic's role as a collateral market platform addressing each problem: partnering with Cap Protocol for private credit and financial guarantees (already at $220M+ in delegations), working with Nexus Mutual on second-loss coverage for DeFi and RWA protocols, helping Hive build on-chain reporting with real-time liquidation triggers and automated audits, and building an instant liquidity solution that pools redemption flow across all tokenized platforms to solve the chicken-and-egg problem of illiquid RWAs with 90-100 day redemption windows. He emphasizes that the "native way" — composable, liquidatable, self-custodied assets with DeFi rails — is the only path that truly leverages what crypto has built, with instant liquidity and Nexus coverage both launching early Q2. 00:00 Introduction 00:10 18 Years of Building Infrastructure 02:26 Traditional Finance Is Finally Interested 03:43 Why Institutions Matter: They Have the Money 04:44 Two Options: Database Receipts vs DeFi-Native Composability 06:30 Symbiotic's Four-Problem Framework 06:59 Problem 1: Private Credit and Financial Guarantees 08:48 Problem 2: Smart Contract Risk Coverage with Nexus Mutual 10:42 Capital Efficiency and the Insurance Gap 12:12 Problem 3: Standardized On-Chain Reporting with Hive 13:22 Actionable Reporting: Liquidation Triggers and Automated Audits 14:03 Problem 4: RWA Liquidity — The Biggest Blocker 15:37 Current Solutions: Half-Yield Buffers and Platform Funds 17:00 Symbiotic's Approach: Pooled Cross-Platform Liquidity 18:01 Launch Timeline: Instant Liquidity and Nexus in Q2 18:41 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *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 Misha Putiatin X: https://x.com/Psalom ✅ Follow Symbiotic X: https://x.com/Symbioticfi ✅ 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

E.G. Galano

ETHGlobal · May 9, 2026

In this talk, E.G. Galano, co-founder of Infura, draws parallels between the evolution of blockchain infrastructure and today's AI infrastructure to share lessons on product differentiation in the agentic era. He traces Infura's journey from being the first Ethereum RPC gateway in 2016, through scaling challenges during CryptoKitties and DeFi Summer, to eventually losing market share as infrastructure commoditized — and how they responded by moving up the stack into multi-chain support, NFT APIs, and higher-margin indexing services. E.G. argues that AI inference is following the same pattern: starting as base-layer access, adding abstractions, then requiring coordination and outcomes layers. He shares his personal "E-Stack" project — a multi-agent system mirroring Infura's org chart with agents for protocol upgrades, SRE, support, product management, and even a crypto Twitter lurker for incident detection. He then presents Infura's marketplace vision where anyone can permissionlessly serve RPC traffic with staked SLAs and verifiable reputation scores, and explains how this model extends to AI skill and API marketplaces — solving the problem of data-driven, verifiable tool selection for agents that currently rely on Reddit sentiment rather than actual performance metrics. 00:00 Introduction 00:10 Inference Is the New Infrastructure 01:37 Parallels Between Ethereum and AI Infrastructure Cycles 03:09 Abstractions: From RPC to Specialized AI Models 03:53 Scaling Challenges and Battle-Testing 04:40 What Is Infura and Its Core Value Proposition 05:58 CryptoKitties, ICOs, and DeFi Summer Scaling 07:19 Self-Hosting vs Managed Services: The Recurring Debate 08:18 Declining Market Share Despite Growing Users 09:52 Differentiating When Infrastructure Commoditizes 10:25 Going Multi-Chain as Costs Decreased 11:27 AI's Next Layer: Outcomes and Agent Coordination 12:49 The E-Stack: A Multi-Agent Infura Org Chart 15:05 Building Moats: Network Effects Over Code 16:41 Infura's Marketplace: Permissionless RPC Providers 17:29 Agent Discovery, Payments, and Reputation 18:28 Verifiable Performance Scoring for Marketplaces 19:12 Extending to AI Skill and API Marketplaces 20:02 Data-Driven Decisions for Vibe-Coded Production Apps 21:04 Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *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 E.G. Galano X: https://x.com/egalano ✅ Follow Infura X: https://x.com/infura_io ✅ 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

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

ETHGlobal · Nov 9, 2025

Tushar Ojha, founder of True Network, discusses the concept of onchain reputation as a new primitive for Web3 social contracts, arguing that reputation is superior to capital for scalable, trustless coordination. He critiques current blockchain systems that rely on capital staking, highlighting their scalability and centralization issues. Ojha proposes using reputation—earned, non-transferable, and costly to fake—as a portable, plural asset for coordination, governance, and accountability. He references historical uses of reputation in governance (Akbar, Ashoka) and explains how blockchain enables immutable, transparent, and verifiable reputation systems. True Network enables protocols to issue attestations, build reputation models, and leverage reputation as an asset in social contracts, enabling use cases like onchain tournaments, improved governance, and Sybil resistance. He encourages the Web3 community to build on this narrative, sharing examples from ETH India and announcing the Ramen Network testnet. Ojha concludes that the time for onchain reputation has arrived. 00:00 Introduction 00:42 The Value of Reputation in Web3 01:15 What Problem Does Web3 Solve? 02:22 Perspectives on Blockchain: Credible Commitments & Trust 03:23 Coordination Without Trust 04:28 Capital-Based Alignment: Limitations 05:22 The Cost of Capital in Blockchain Security 06:03 Reputation as a New Primitive 07:05 Implementing Reputation: Challenges & History 08:40 Historical Reputation Systems: Akbar & Ashoka 09:07 Why Blockchain Reputation Systems Can Succeed 09:26 Credible Neutrality & Onchain Reputation 09:55 True Network: Architecture & Attestations 10:49 Identity, Credentials, and Reputation Models 11:41 Social Contracts: Programming Reputation 12:42 Formal Definition of Social Contracts 13:41 Use Cases: Games, Governance, and Accountability 15:04 Efficiency and Inclusivity of Reputation-Based Systems 15:51 ETH India: Building the Reputation Narrative 16:14 Example Projects: Fanbase & Placeholder 17:13 Community, Testnet, and Future Vision 17:46 Mission and Closing Remarks 18:08 Conclusion & Call to Action _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *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 Tushar Ojha X: https://x.com/techtusharojha ✅ Follow True Network X: https://x.com/TrueNetworkIO ✅ 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 · Nov 9, 2025

Kevin Padilla, CTO of EVBN and founder of Matalabs, introduces the fundamentals of EVVM (Enhanced Virtual Virtual Machine)—a customizable, permission-based virtual blockchain that operates on top of an existing host chain like Ethereum or Arbitrum. This workshop walks beginners through how EVVM leverages smart contracts to create virtual blockchains with unique states and functions, while inheriting the host chain’s security and connections. Kevin demonstrates the GitHub structure for EVBN projects, including key repos such as testnet contracts, name service, and staking, and explains how to use pre-deployed contracts on Sepolia testnet. He then dives into practical transactions, covering payment functions, nonce mechanisms (synchronous vs. asynchronous), and the use of executors to securely authorize and execute transactions. The session concludes with examples of transaction validation, nonce protection, and how EVVM ensures replay safety and role-restricted execution. 00:11 Introduction — What is EVVM and its purpose 00:44 How EVVM builds virtual blockchains on host chains 01:09 Exploring EVBN GitHub repositories 01:37 Key repos: testnet contracts, name service, staking 02:11 Overview of core contract functions (pay, payMultiple, dispersePay) 02:59 Staking mechanisms and estimators 03:47 Quick start: deploying your own EVVM instance 04:36 Tools and utilities on evbn.info (faucet, staking, name service) 05:04 Using pre-deployed EVVM on Sepolia testnet 05:48 Transaction flow overview and execution via front end 06:18 Executing a payment transaction example 06:52 Understanding nonces: synchronous vs. asynchronous 07:28 Async nonce advantages and transaction signing 08:52 Replay protection and failed async nonce example 09:51 Introducing executors for transaction authorization 10:32 Creating and signing executor-based transactions 11:07 Successful execution with correct executor 11:39 Failed transaction when executor mismatch 12:16 Validation process: sender vs. executor verification 12:38 Recap of execution workflow and permission validation _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 💻 ETHOnline 2025 This workshop is specifically for ETHOnline 2025, a 21-day hackathon held October 10 - 31, 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! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow EVVM X: https://x.com/RollAMate ✅ 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 · Nov 9, 2025

Felipe Cevallos from Flow Foundation presents two key upgrades in the Flow Forte network update—Scheduled Transactions and Flow Actions. Scheduled Transactions function like onchain cron jobs, allowing automated, recurring, or time-specific transactions without external servers or third-party tools. Felipe demonstrates this through a simple counter contract that auto-increments on a timer, showing how it can enable subscription payments, staking rewards, or portfolio rebalancing entirely onchain. These transactions are extremely cost-efficient, decentralized, and reliable, eliminating offchain dependency for scheduling tasks. He then introduces Flow Actions, a framework of five DeFi primitives—source, sink, swap, flasher, and price oracle—that allow complex DeFi operations within a single Cadence transaction. Felipe’s live demo automates a restaking flow, harvesting rewards, swapping assets, and restaking LP tokens in one atomic step. By combining Scheduled Transactions with Flow Actions, developers can create automated DeFi systems that continuously reinvest or rebalance portfolios with precise access control and optimized efficiency. The Forte upgrade also introduces native fixed math (bit128) for accurate financial calculations and improved DeFi reliability. 00:02 Intro – Flow Forte upgrade overview 00:29 What are Scheduled Transactions (onchain cron jobs) 02:24 Counter contract demo 03:14 Recurring txns & subscription use cases 04:36 Interval-based scheduling example 05:57 Use in DeFi automation & rebalancing 06:15 Intro to Flow Actions 06:52 Five DeFi primitives: source, sink, swap, flasher, price oracle 07:31 Restaking flow demo (increment + LP pools) 09:07 Cadence transaction phases (prepare, execute, post) 12:47 Run restake transaction – atomic DeFi workflow 14:52 Combining scheduled txns + flow actions for autocompounding 15:37 Fixed math bit128 & closing remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *ETHGlobal New Delhi* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal New Delhi, a 3-day hackathon held September 19-21 at the India International Convention & Expo Centre, 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 Delhi 2025 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7zCFW3hBqatZ18rQaYeEJL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Flow Foundation* 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

Austin Griffith

ETHGlobal · Nov 9, 2025

Austin Griffith continues his Ethereum building series by showing how to deploy a decentralized exchange (DEX) using Scaffold-ETH and the Speedrun Ethereum curriculum. He begins by revisiting the simple counter app from the previous session, deploying it to Arbitrum, and explaining why developers should move beyond testnets to use inexpensive Layer 2s for real deployments. After configuring Scaffold-ETH to point to Arbitrum, he connects a wallet, interacts with the live contract, and emphasizes publishing both the smart contract and frontend to IPFS. Austin then introduces the concept of scaling from simple apps to real-world use cases by following Speedrun Ethereum challenges—covering NFTs, staking systems, token vendors, games, and eventually, DEXs. He walks through the logic behind building decentralized systems where users don’t have to trust intermediaries. Starting with staking and token sales, he explains how incentives and state machines create autonomous coordination among users. The talk culminates with the DEX concept, describing how liquidity pools and constant-product equations (x*y=k) enable trustless token swaps. Liquidity providers earn small fees while users trade freely, and developers act as the “hardware builders” creating these hyperstructures that can’t be censored or shut down. He closes by connecting DEXs to broader DeFi concepts like overcollateralized lending and stablecoins, showing how these building blocks power the next level of onchain finance. 00:00 – Recap: deploying the first app 00:37 – Reviewing the local counter app 00:59 – Deploying to Arbitrum 02:19 – Why to skip testnets and use L2s 02:58 – Switching Scaffold-ETH to live networks 03:28 – Interacting with deployed contracts 03:52 – Introduction to Speedrun Ethereum challenges 04:39 – Building multiple projects for experience 05:23 – Real-world onchain use cases 06:09 – Canonical records and attestations 07:01 – NFTs as credentials and token gating 07:52 – Staking app for coordination and trustless DAOs 08:56 – The state machine pattern in smart contracts 11:10 – Incentives and automation in DeFi design 12:19 – Handling failure and refunds securely 13:46 – Token vendor and ICO mechanics 14:38 – Onchain games, randomness, and commit-reveal 17:14 – The DEX as a hyperstructure 18:47 – From order books to automated market makers 19:32 – Liquidity reserves and the constant-product formula 20:22 – Incentives for liquidity providers 21:17 – How DEXs enable trustless swapping 21:55 – Developers as hardware builders 22:22 – Build Guild onboarding and developer growth 23:04 – Scaling through mainnet and L2 deployments 24:08 – Intro to overcollateralized lending and DeFi concepts 31:32 – Closing remarks and next sessions preview _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *ETHGlobal New Delhi* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal New Delhi, a 3-day hackathon held September 19-21 at the India International Convention & Expo Centre, 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 Delhi 2025 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7zCFW3hBqatZ18rQaYeEJL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow BuidlGuidl* X: https://x.com/buidlguidl ✅ *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

Kevin Jones

ETHGlobal · Nov 9, 2025

Kevin Jones walks through the Speedrun Ethereum stablecoin challenge, focusing on building an over-collateralized, onchain stablecoin system. He contrasts models: fiat-backed (USDC/USDT), under-collateralized/algorithmic (risky), and the target design: over-collateralized with robust peg mechanisms. The reference implementation includes five parts: a simplified DEX for swaps, a stub oracle for prices, the stablecoin token with restricted mint/burn, an engine contract that manages collateral, minting, and liquidations, and a staking contract plus a rate controller for borrow and savings rates. Using Scaffold-ETH with burner wallets, he deposits ETH as collateral, mints the stablecoin, and demonstrates how collateralization ratios, liquidation thresholds, and incentives keep the system solvent. Kevin then runs a simulation with trading bots to show peg dynamics. When borrow demand overwhelms supply, the stablecoin price drifts below one; raising the borrow rate discourages new borrowing, nudging price back to peg. If price drifts above one, enabling a savings rate incentivizes holders to stake, increasing supply available to sell and pulling price down. He reviews the core code: access-controlled mint/burn in the token, the engine’s health checks and liquidate flow (anyone can repay and collect a reward), and the role of the oracle and DEX. The session closes by encouraging builders to complete the challenge to deeply internalize risk management, incentives, and onchain monetary policy. 00:00 – Intro and why stablecoins matter 01:18 – The Speedrun Ethereum challenge overview 02:28 – Types of stablecoins and tradeoffs 03:42 – Required components: oracle, DEX, token, engine, staking 04:54 – Token design: restricted mint and burn 06:35 – Spinning up the demo with Scaffold-ETH 09:04 – Adding ETH collateral and minting the stablecoin 10:23 – Collateral ratio, liquidation threshold, and rewards 11:54 – Setting up rates and understanding parameters 13:25 – Bot simulation: price falls below peg 14:26 – Raising the borrow rate to restore peg 16:34 – When price goes above peg: savings rate incentives 17:32 – Staking the stablecoin and yield mechanics 18:47 – Pushing toward unsafe health and liquidation discussion 21:11 – Contract tour: oracle, rate controller, token 22:36 – Engine internals: checks, health, and liquidate user 23:20 – Takeaways and next steps _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇮🇳 *ETHGlobal New Delhi* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal New Delhi, a 3-day hackathon held September 19-21 at the India International Convention & Expo Centre, 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 Delhi 2025 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh7zCFW3hBqatZ18rQaYeEJL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow BuidlGuidl* X: https://x.com/buidlguidl ✅ *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

Will Shannon

ETHSofia · Oct 9, 2025

Explore the impact of Decentralized Validator Technologies (DVT) on liquid staking and the role it’s playing in expanding the Lido Node Operator set. This talk will discuss how the Simple DVT and Community Staking Modules have made running validators via the Lido protocol accessible to hundreds of solo and community stakers, while at the same time enhancing the security and diversity of the Ethereum staking ecosystem. Will Shannon has been contributing to the Lido DAO for two years, now as the Head of Strategic Initiatives in the Node Operator Mechanisms (NOM) workstream. His current focus is on coordinating the Simple DVT Module and integrating Distributed Validator Technology via testnets and mainnet onboarding. Previously, he worked in Institutional TMT Equity Sales and studied Finance and Accounting. Connect with Will: https://twitter.com/KimonSh Chapters: 0:00 Introduction to DVT and Lido’s Role in Liquid Staking 1:03 Lido's Evolution Over the Last Year 2:26 Transparency and Governance 5:27 Adoption of Simple DVT Module 9:04 Impact of DVT on Lido 13:47 Permissionless Staking and Future Modules 16:23 Broader Decentralization Goals 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/ #Lido #WillShannon #DVT #LiquidStakingProtocols #LSTs

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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Pedro Gomes

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Pedro Gomes, co-founder of WalletConnect and Director at the newly launched WalletConnect Foundation, joins Pragma Singapore 2024 to share major updates shaping the future of wallets, Web3 connectivity, and decentralized infrastructure. In this exclusive fireside chat, Pedro unveils the launch of the WalletConnect Network and $WALLET token, along with the formation of Reon—a rebranded company focused on SDK innovation. Discover how WalletConnect evolved from a single SDK to a global protocol powering billions of connections between wallets and dApps. Learn about their new governance model, roadmap to full decentralization, node operator incentives, token distribution on Optimism, and the future of wallet UX across ecosystems like Ethereum, Solana, Cosmos, and Polkadot. 00:00 Intro to Pedro Gomes and WalletConnect 00:41 WalletConnect Foundation Launch Announcement 02:01 Why Decentralize WalletConnect Now 03:09 The 2023 Protocol Upgrade That Made It Possible 04:19 Introducing Reon: The New Wallet SDK Brand 05:59 SDK Ecosystem Growth and Node Operator Roles 07:05 Foundation’s Role in Setting Wallet Standards 08:05 Signing, Smart Sessions, and UX Optimization 09:39 Wallet SDK Collaboration vs. Competition 10:44 Neutral Standards and Foundation Governance 11:47 Lessons from Building and Rebuilding WalletConnect 13:25 How the WalletConnect Network Will Be Decentralized 15:00 Why Wallets Need Sustainable Business Models 16:04 Why the Token Is on Ethereum + Distributed on Optimism 17:49 How Node Operators Will Join the Network 18:56 Governance Strategy and Phased DAO Control 20:34 Final Goals: Staking, Transferability, App Fees 22:12 Closing Thoughts and What to Expect in 2025 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇸🇬 *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 Pedro Gomes* X: https://x.com/pedrouid ✅ *Follow WalletConnect* X: https://x.com/WalletConnect ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Orest Tarasiuk

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Uncover how T1 Protocol aims to unify fragmented Ethereum rollups through real-time proofs. Orest Tarasiuk explains how Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) and tiered security layers can deliver on the original rollup promise – scaling beyond gas costs while preserving cross-chain composability. Learn how T1’s AVS-based sequencer design, cryptoeconomic staking, and optional ZK verifications enable near-instant transaction finality across multiple L2s. If you’re seeking a solution that goes beyond bridging liquidity to bridging secure state among EVM-based chains, this talk outlines T1’s vision for the “United Chains of Ethereum.” 00:00 Introduction & Trusted Execution Environment Basics 01:32 Identifying the Rollup Fragmentation Problem 03:20 Real-Time Proving & Why Zero-Knowledge Alone Is Not Enough 05:42 Combining TEEs & Cryptoeconomic Security for L2 07:59 Execution Flow & The Two AVS Roles (Sequencer + Worker) 10:48 Tiered Security with Optional ZK for Large Transfers 13:26 Cross-Chain Partnerships & “United Chains of Ethereum” 15:20 Live Devnet Demo: Sub-Block Finality on T1 19:10 How T1’s Canonical Bridge Verifies State Instantly 21:27 Future Plans, Builders’ Invitation & Roadmap 23:45 Conclusion & End of Talk _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *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 Orest Tarasiuk* X: https://x.com/OrestTa ✅ *Follow t1 Protocol* X: https://x.com/t1protocol ✅ *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

Explore sustainable yield strategies in DeFi with Andrew Redden from Last Network. This insightful talk covers how yield originates, the challenge of maintaining sustainable returns, and innovative financial models designed to stabilize holistic yield. Learn about liquid staking tokens, risk-adjusted investments, governance challenges in DAOs, and Last Network's vision to redistribute yield fairly, incentivize genuine participation, and build resilient, modular blockchain ecosystems. 00:00 Intro: The Search for Sustainable Yield Explained 00:47 Understanding Yield: Market Fit and Financialization 01:18 Historical Origins and Financial Meaning of Yield 01:45 Yield as Market Pricing Inefficiency (Athena Example) 02:42 The Massive Scale of the Crypto Yield Market 03:11 Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) and Yield Compression 03:43 Defining True Sustainable Yield in DeFi 04:11 Sustainable Yield Through Productive and Utility Assets 04:44 Lessons from Lehman Brothers: Risk and Diversification 05:18 Holistic Yield: Exposure to All Financial Activity 05:52 Stability and Safety with Stablecoins 06:20 Last Network's Complementary Approach to Yield 06:51 Cash Flow Reinvestment Strategy in Crypto Protocols 07:49 Aligning Incentives: Problems with Inflationary Tokenomics 08:15 Last Network's Mission: Built to Last Philosophy 08:42 Fair Compensation for DAO Governance Participants 09:34 Addressing Whale Dominance and Governance Challenges 10:02 Rewarding Liquidity Providers Fairly 10:31 Exportable Yield: Facilitating Cross-Chain Yield Access 11:28 Incentivizing Stablecoin Proliferation Across Networks 11:57 Vote Escrow Governance Model and Bribe Market Innovation 12:26 The Core Engine: Real-Time Cross-Chain Yield Accounting 13:26 Sovereign Rollups: Modular Blockchain and EVM Flexibility 14:22 Modular Blockchain Tech: From Optimistic to ZK Rollups 14:51 Optimistic Governance Model to Enhance DAO Efficiency 15:48 Governance Mechanisms to Prevent Obstruction and Stalemates 16:43 Last Network: Supporting Builders and Developers 17:10 Mistakes Protocols Make: Launching Tokens Too Early or Late 17:36 Yield Farming Risks and Protocol Sustainability 18:02 Resurrection Model: Learning from Failed Crypto Protocols 18:28 Conclusion: Stabilizing Holistic Yield with Last Network _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *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 LAST* X: https://x.com/lastdotnet ✅ *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

Orest Tarasuik, co-founder of t1, presents a groundbreaking solution for real-time proving and cross-rollup composability at Pragma Prague 2025. Learn how t1 combines trusted execution environments (TEEs), zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), and cryptoeconomic security to enable instant state verification between Ethereum L2s like Arbitrum, Optimism, and Scroll. Discover how this approach solves fragmentation, reduces finality times from days to seconds, and unlocks new possibilities for intents-based systems (EIP-7683) and seamless DeFi interoperability. A must-watch for developers building the future of multi-chain Ethereum. 00:00 Introduction to real-time proving challenge 00:48 Defining real-time proving under 12 seconds 01:28 The problem of rollup fragmentation 02:07 Audience poll on trusted execution environments 02:55 t1's hybrid TEE + ZKP + cryptoeconomic approach 03:38 Lessons from Scroll about scalability tradeoffs 04:24 Technical definition of real-time proving 05:08 Creating programmable interoperability 05:55 Comparing finality times across L2 solutions 06:38 Ethereum block time as speed limit 07:25 Demo of instant cross-rollup transactions 08:00 Market reality favoring UX over perfect security 08:40 Why multi-chain is inevitable but bridges are broken 09:26 The failed promise of shared sequencers 10:09 Betting on asynchronous composability 10:56 ZK proving speed developments 11:42 TEE security limits and attack thresholds 12:26 Fault attribution via deterministic states 13:15 Restaking for cryptoeconomic security 14:02 Handling large TVL with bespoke ZKP safety 15:34 Supporting non-EVM chains with Solidity UX 16:23 Live DevNet demo of instant transactions 17:42 TEEs rebranded from villain to hero 18:26 Killer use case: Intents (EIP-7683) 19:13 How t1 cuts intent settlement from 60m to 1m 20:25 Why faster proving means better rates 21:45 Closing and how to build on t1 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇨🇿 *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 t1 Protocol X: https://x.com/t1protocol ✅ 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

Discover how to build on Mantle Network, the Ethereum L2 focused on banking and financial applications, in this ETHGlobal Cannes 2025 workshop with John Nguyen. Learn about Mantle's ecosystem, including METH Protocol (liquid staking), Function BTC (Bitcoin yield), and Mantle X (AI integration). Explore hackathon tracks for DeFi/payments and killer apps, with resources for deploying on Mantle testnet/mainnet. Includes guides for Foundry/Hardhat, faucet access, and post-hackathon opportunities like Cookathon and Lightning Grants. 00:00 - Introduction to Mantle: Banking-Focused Blockchain 00:55 - Mantle Ecosystem Overview (Network, METH, Function BTC) 02:13 - Mantle UR (Web3 NeoBank) & Mantle X (AI Initiatives) 02:54 - Hackathon Tracks: DeFi/Payments vs. Killer Apps 03:30 - Qualifications: Ecosystem Alignment & On-Chain Deployment 04:38 - Killer App Track: UX Innovation & Experimentation 05:13 - Resources: Developer Docs, Contracts, Faucet 05:52 - Deployment Guides (Remix, Hardhat, Foundry, Thirdweb) 06:29 - Contract Verification Methods 07:05 - Tooling: APIs, SDKs, Account Abstraction 07:42 - Testnet Faucet & Getting Started 08:25 - Post-Hackathon: Cookathon (Monthly $10K Bounties) 09:02 - Lightning Grants Program (Fast-Track Funding) 10:09 - Accelerators (TON, HackQuest, Odisaya) 11:35 - Closing Remarks & AI Agents Workshop Teaser _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *ETHGlobal Cannes* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal Cannes, a 3-day hackathon held July 4-6, 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 Cannes 2025 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh5N2DCwhcEshNW9C8knZ1T-&si=dKBKDV46e5wLx0Q5 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Mantle* X: https://x.com/Mantle_Official ✅ *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

Philip Krause from BuildGuild introduces "Speedrun Ethereum," a gamified set of Ethereum development challenges designed to onboard developers into blockchain, smart contracts, and DeFi concepts. The challenges progress from beginner tasks like creating NFTs and staking apps to advanced topics such as building decentralized exchanges (DEX), overcollateralized lending protocols, prediction markets, and smart contract security. Krause explains the mechanics of overcollateralized lending (e.g., Aave), focusing on collateral, borrowing, liquidation, interest rates, price oracles, and flash loans. He highlights the importance of maintaining healthy collateral ratios and the risks of oracle manipulation and collateral volatility. The session then covers prediction markets (e.g., Polymarket), discussing binary outcomes, liquidity provision, automated market makers, and the critical role of oracles in resolving real-world events. Krause emphasizes the educational value of Speedrun Ethereum for learning core Web3, DeFi, and smart contract principles, encouraging participation to deepen understanding of blockchain development. 00:00 Introduction 00:44 Overview of Speedrun Ethereum Challenges 01:33 Challenge Examples: NFTs, Staking, Token Swaps, DEX 02:22 Advanced Challenges: Lending, Prediction Markets, Security 03:13 Overcollateralized Lending Explained 06:17 Lending, Borrowing, and Liquidation Mechanics 10:12 Key Components of Lending Protocols 13:05 Flash Loans and On-chain Innovations 14:31 Risks in Lending Protocols 15:29 Why Learn Overcollateralized Lending 16:27 Introduction to Prediction Markets 17:41 Binary Prediction Markets and Resolution 20:07 Building Blocks of Prediction Markets 23:44 Challenges and Human Factors in Prediction Markets 24:59 AI Agents and Future of Forecasting 25:24 Closing Thoughts and Q&A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *ETHGlobal Cannes* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal Cannes, a 3-day hackathon held July 4-6, 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 Cannes 2025 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh5N2DCwhcEshNW9C8knZ1T-&si=Lc-WOyfkAVP2--R4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *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

Alex Pashinski, an engineer at Fluence, introduces Fluence Cloudless Compute—a decentralized, Web3-focused cloud platform designed to address issues like vendor lock-in, high costs, censorship, and lack of transparency found in traditional cloud providers (e.g., AWS). Fluence offers affordable, location-flexible virtual servers with no vendor lock-in, supporting custom hardware and images. The platform currently supports CPU-based VMs, with containers, GPUs, and managed services on the roadmap. Alex demonstrates deploying VMs via the web UI and API, highlighting features like custom images, multi-location support, and API automation. He discusses hackathon bounties for best AI use, reusable images, and multi-chain staking optimizations. Audience Q&A covers abuse handling, dynamic deployment, migration, and credit allocation. Fluence provides $20 credits for hackathon participants, with support available via Discord and at their booth. 00:00 Introduction 00:32 Problems with Traditional Cloud Providers 01:30 Key Features of Fluence Cloudless Compute 02:22 Hackathon Bounties and Use Cases 04:08 Live Demo: Deploying on Fluence via Web UI 06:05 Using the Fluence API for Deployment 07:26 Multiple VM Deployment and Hackathon Credits 08:34 Support and Q&A Introduction 09:12 Abuse Handling and Security 10:20 Dynamic Deployment and Migration Roadmap 12:04 Credits and Resource Allocation 13:00 Closing Remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *ETHGlobal Cannes* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal Cannes, a 3-day hackathon held July 4-6, 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 Cannes 2025 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh5N2DCwhcEshNW9C8knZ1T-&si=Lc-WOyfkAVP2--R4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Fluence X: https://x.com/fluence_project ✅ *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 fireside chat, Lisa Cuesta Bunin, COO of Aztec Labs, discusses her transition from investor to operator, joining Aztec to address key blockchain challenges: scalability and privacy. She shares insights on scaling a crypto startup, building a world-class technical team, and bridging gaps as the first non-technical hire. Lisa details Aztec’s evolution from a research-heavy, cryptography-focused startup to a leading developer of a decentralized, privacy-centric Layer 2 (L2) on Ethereum. She explains the importance of decentralization, the shift from centralized products like ZK Money to a fully programmable L2, and Aztec’s approach to privacy—enabling client-side proofs and developer control over public/private data. Lisa highlights Noir, Aztec’s universal zk programming language, and previews upcoming milestones: the adversarial testnet, ZK Passport for proof of humanity, and the Ignition launch, which will deploy governance, staking, and sequencer contracts on Ethereum L1, followed by the Alpha execution environment. The conversation emphasizes leadership, adaptability, decentralization, privacy, and ecosystem growth in web3. 00:00 Introduction 00:30 Lisa’s Background: Investing to Operating 01:45 Entering Crypto: Early Observations 03:07 Joining Aztec: First Non-Technical Hire 04:54 Scaling Aztec: Early Challenges & Growth 07:32 Building Company Processes & Unique Problems 09:12 Aztec’s Evolution: Research to Product 11:41 Balancing Research & Engineering 13:38 Decentralization at Aztec 16:11 Aztec’s Approach to Privacy 18:19 Developer Experience & Noir Language 19:20 What’s Next: Testnet, ZK Passport, Ignition Launch 20:10 Closing Remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *Pragma New York* Pragma New York 2025 was held on August 14th at Vesper Events in Brooklyn, New York and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma New York YouTube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh5TRLdUXjnhUVfdbBtu6z2j 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 Lisa Cuesta Bunin X: https://x.com/lisacuesta ✅ Follow Aztec X: https://x.com/aztecnetwork ✅ 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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Danny Zuckerman

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

Danny Zuckerman, COO of Recall, discusses the intersection of AI, crypto, and Web3, emphasizing the early stage of AI adoption and the challenges of trust, transparency, and evaluation. He critiques current AI benchmarks, highlighting issues like test set leakage and real-world underperformance. Recall aims to solve this by creating a decentralized, onchain AI reputation and discovery layer, where community-driven challenges and competitions evaluate AI agents’ real-world performance and alignment. Crypto is used to provide economic incentives and verifiable, tamper-proof records, enabling trust through staking and reputation. Recall’s products, such as live trading competitions and Recall Predict, leverage community participation to generate ungameable benchmarks and fine-grained rankings across domains. The goal is to prevent AI power concentration, foster open, transparent, and aligned AI, and create an infinite, evolving ecosystem governed by the community, not opaque black boxes. 00:00 Introduction 00:33 AI Adoption Cycle & Web3 Context 02:15 Early Stage of AI & Historical Parallels 03:36 The Infinite Game of AI 04:01 Trust, Fatigue, and Benchmark Limitations 06:02 Real-World Performance vs. Benchmarks 07:23 Need for New Evaluation Methods 08:11 Recall: AI Reputation & Discovery Layer 09:53 Live Trading Competitions & Community Engagement 11:01 Recall Predict & Community Evals 13:02 Expanding to Multiple Domains & Onchain Records 13:36 Crypto’s Role: Economic Skin in the Game 15:40 Economic Markets for AI Trust 16:10 Leaderboards, Search, and Multi-Agent Systems 17:22 Open, Transparent AI vs. Black Box Concentration 18:19 Call to Action & Community Involvement 18:58 Conclusion _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *Pragma New York* Pragma New York 2025 was held on August 14th at Vesper Events in Brooklyn, New York and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma New York YouTube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh5TRLdUXjnhUVfdbBtu6z2j 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 Recall X: https://x.com/recallnet ✅ 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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _