Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Aug 9, 2026

In this welcome and opening ceremony, Kartik Talwar, co-founder of ETHGlobal, opens ETHGlobal New York 2026, stressing that this is not a conference but a hackathon whose mission is to onboard thousands of developers into the web3 ecosystem. He explains what makes ETHGlobal events different: a focus on builders, a place to learn and grow, and the belief that showing beats telling, so on Sunday everyone demos what they built. He traces ETHGlobal's history from a small 2017 hackathon (where NFTs were invented) through global expansion across six continents, noting that counting the recent ETHConf, they have run over 331 events in eight and a half years, hosted 165,000 people from 156 countries, produced 18,000+ hackathon projects, and seen projects raise over $500 million. This weekend brings almost 700 attendees (close to 500 hackers, 30% new to web3), plus supporting staff, 17 mentors, 20 recorded workshops, zero talks, over $200,000 in prizes, and 16 sponsors. Kartik walks through key logistics and rule changes. Hacking begins immediately, teams can have up to five members, and submissions are due Sunday at 9am. On AI, he encourages using tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and Codex but warns from thousands of data points not to use AI to generate or validate your idea (crypto bias is real), to keep a human in the loop, to reference-check SDK integrations, to commit plan files, and to always know what your codebase does. He introduces the new continuity track, letting hackers build from scratch, extend an open source project, or ship a feature into existing or private code, as long as new work stays open source and traceable via the GitHub API, with track-specific prizes. He covers venue security, Wi-Fi etiquette, the website as source of truth, Discord support, four spotlight teams (Aquazero, CodeQuil, Pompalo, Railbridge), and judging: partner-prize demos plus an add-on finalist track for the top 10 teams (up to seven scratch, three continuity) requiring an auditable open source repo, a live deployed site, and a video demo, with finalist perks including ETHGlobal Plus, $1,000 per member, travel, and developer credits. He closes by bringing on partners Tanner from 1inch (Aqua self-custodial AMMs), Gotham from Google Cloud Web3 (ERC-8004 data track), and Greg from ENS (naming as universal pointers), before telling everyone to get hacking. 00:00 Introduction 00:40 What Makes ETHGlobal Events Different 01:03 The History From 2017 to Today 01:49 Expanding Across Six Continents 02:18 The Numbers: 331 Events and Counting 02:44 18,000 Projects and $500 Million Raised 03:47 Mentors, Workshops, and Sponsors 04:27 Thanking the Sponsors 05:01 Logistics: Hacking Begins Now 05:19 The New Rules: Teams and Timing 05:37 Guidance on Using AI to Build 06:12 Explaining Your Contribution vs Delegation 07:11 Why Not to Use AI to Generate Ideas 07:38 Why Not to Use AI to Value Your Idea 08:33 Why Not to Blindly Delegate SDK Integrations 08:56 Always Know What Your Codebase Does 09:43 Introducing the Continuity Track 10:49 The Three Paths You Can Take 11:28 How Extending Open Source Works 12:43 Adding Features to Your Own Project 13:27 Adding a Module to Private Code 14:58 Why Prizes Are Track Specific 15:44 Venue Security and Wristbands 16:39 Wi-Fi 7 and Why Not to Use Hotspots 17:52 The Website and Discord Support 18:53 Food, Activities, and Swag 19:26 The Four Spotlight Teams 20:13 Judging and the Prize Structure 21:03 The Partner Prize Track 21:22 The Finalist Track for the Top 10 21:45 Finalist Perks and Requirements 23:45 Splitting Finalists Across Tracks 24:14 Submission Logistics and Timing 25:54 Why a Better Submission Wins 26:57 Where to Get Help From Mentors 27:40 Code of Conduct and IP Ownership 28:51 Tanner From 1inch on Aqua 31:00 Gotham From Google Cloud on ERC-8004 33:19 Greg From ENS on Naming 35:41 Summarizing the Prizes 36:23 Final Advice and Let's Get Hacking _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Aug 9, 2026

In this welcome and opening ceremony, Kartik Talwar, co-founder of ETHGlobal, opens ETHGlobal Lisbon 2026, stressing that this is not a conference but a hackathon whose mission is to onboard thousands of developers into the web3 ecosystem. He explains what makes ETHGlobal events different: a focus on builders trying out ideas, learning new skills and protocols, and the belief that showing beats telling, so on Sunday everyone demos what they built to judges, partners, and each other. He traces ETHGlobal's history from the first 2017 event in Waterloo through global expansion across six continents, notes the 2026 events in Cannes and last month's New York, and welcomes everyone back to Lisbon for the second time. This weekend brings over 518 attendees (380 hackers, 26% coming from web2), from 116 cities, 47 countries, and six continents, plus 43 partners, 16 technical mentors, eight workshops, zero talks, and $100,000 in prizes across eight partners: 1inch, 0G, Hedera, Sui, The Graph, Uniswap Foundation, World, and ENS. Kartik walks through key logistics and rule changes. Hacking has begun, teams can have up to five members, and submissions are due Sunday at 9am. He encourages using LLMs and AI coding tools like Codex and Claude Code but recommends committing plan markdown files and frequent descriptive commits so work is traceable, sharing SDK feedback with partners, and avoiding four AI pitfalls (do not use AI-generated ideas, get real human feedback, do not just delegate, and always understand your own code). He introduces the continuity track, letting hackers extend a past project, fix an open source bug, or ship an open source module into private code, with track-specific prizes. He covers venue security, Wi-Fi etiquette, Discord support, food, a tile-painting activity, swag, and four spotlight teams. On judging, he explains the partner track (apply to up to three of the eight partners) versus the finalist track (top 10 teams demoing live on stage) with an auditable repo, live deployment, and video demo required, and finalist perks like ETHGlobal Plus, $1,000 cash, flight credits, and AWS credits. He brings on Matt from 1inch, who shares that 1inch began at a 2019 hackathon and has since done over $800 billion in volume, and introduces the $7,000 in bounties for building Aqua apps, a liquidity provision method that keeps tokens in the LP's wallet. 00:00 Introduction 00:11 Welcome: This Is a Hackathon, Not a Conference 00:37 What Makes ETHGlobal Events Different 00:54 Why Showing Beats Telling 01:18 The History From 2017 to Today 02:25 Back in Lisbon for the Second Time 02:31 Who Is Here This Weekend 03:05 Partners, Mentors, and Workshops 03:27 $100,000 in Prizes and the Eight Partners 04:28 The Hackathon Has Begun 05:07 Team Rules and Submission Timing 05:42 Using LLMs and AI Coding Tools 06:25 Committing Plan Files and Sharing Feedback 07:24 The Four AI Pitfalls to Avoid 07:47 Why Not to Use AI-Generated Ideas 08:23 Why to Get Real Human Feedback 08:42 Why Not to Just Delegate 09:33 Introducing the Continuity Track 09:55 How to Continue a Past Project 10:55 Extending Open Source and Private Projects 12:08 How to Select Your Track 12:59 Venue Security and Badges 14:05 Wi-Fi Etiquette and No Hotspots 15:00 The Website and Discord 16:29 Venue Layout and Pragma 17:02 Food and Activities 17:53 Swag and Giveaways 18:40 The Four Spotlight Teams 19:54 Judging and Prizes: The Two Tracks 20:19 The Partner Track 20:57 The Finalist Track 21:55 Why Become a Finalist 22:32 The Requirements to Be a Finalist 23:50 Demoing Live to Judges 24:47 The Finalist Demo Format 25:09 Why Not to Record Your Video Last Minute 26:28 How First-Come Judging Works 27:32 The Mentors Who Can Help 28:29 Rules, Respect, and IP Ownership 29:42 Bringing On Matt From 1inch 30:55 Introducing the Aqua Protocol 32:00 The 1inch Bounties 33:39 Recapping the Prizes and Closing _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇵🇹 *ETHGlobal Lisbon 2026* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal Lisbon 2026, a 3-day hackathon held July 24-26 at the Carlos Lopes Pavillion, 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 Lisbon 2026 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWgAODGnD_is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · May 9, 2026

In this kickoff, Kartik Talwar, co-founder of ETH Global, welcomes 800+ hackers from six continents to Open Agents — ETH Global's second async hackathon of 2026. He covers the upcoming 2026 calendar including in-person hackathons in New York, Lisbon, Tokyo, and Mumbai, plus ETHCom in New York City bringing together institutional finance and crypto. The hackathon offers $50,000 in prizes from five partners: Uniswap Foundation, ZeroG, ENS, Genson, and Keeper Hub. Kartik walks through the full set of rules and submission requirements: hacking begins immediately with submissions due Sunday, May 3rd at 12 PM Eastern, teams of up to five members, everything must be built from scratch with proper Git history, and a 4-minute demo video is required. He details the two judging tracks — partner prizes (judged asynchronously based on submission quality) and the finalist track (top 10 teams selected via live Zoom judging from 12-2:30 PM Eastern the day after submissions close). Finalists receive ETH Global Plus for a year, $1,000 USDC per team member, $500 flight credit to the next in-person hackathon, on-chain proof, and $15K in developer credits. He emphasizes that AI agent usage is encouraged but must be clearly attributed, with proper incremental commits rather than batched mega-commits. Two required check-ins and two live feedback sessions (Tuesday 2-4 PM and Thursday 9-11 AM Eastern) will support builders throughout the 10-day event. 00:00 Welcome to Open Agents 00:35 Upcoming ETH Global Events and ETHCom 01:27 Hackathon Stats: 800 Hackers from Six Continents 01:49 Five Partners and $50K Prize Pool 02:11 Communication: Discord and Hacker Dashboard 03:14 Hackathon Timeline: 10 Days to Submission 03:46 Rules: Build from Scratch, Auditable Repos 04:33 Open Source Libraries and SDKs Are Allowed 05:15 Submission Deadline and Demo Video Requirements 06:28 Two Judging Tracks: Finalist vs Partner Prizes 07:09 How Partner Prize Judging Works 08:37 Finalist Track: Live Zoom Judging Process 09:22 Finalist Live Call Time Zones 10:37 Finalist Pack: USDC, Flight Credit, Developer Credits 11:41 Finalist Requirements: Live Demo and Auditability 12:22 Tips for a Great Submission Video 13:23 Workshops, Tutorials, and Team Formation 14:30 Required Check-Ins and Stake Returns 15:36 Live Feedback Sessions Tuesday and Thursday 15:56 Code of Conduct and IP Ownership 17:02 AI Agent Usage Rules and Attribution 17:54 Prize Breakdown by Partner 18:39 Pace Yourself: Have Fun and Experiment 19:36 Closing Remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *Open Agents 2026* Join us for the kick-off for "Open Agents 2026," an async hackathon organized by ETHGlobal and held from April 24 to May 6. HackMoney 2026 brings together the world’s most talented Web3 developers, designers, and product builders to advance the Ethereum ecosystem! _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *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

ETHGlobal New York 2025 Opening Ceremonies, led by co-founder Kartik Talwar, kicks off a major Web3 hackathon focused on onboarding developers into the blockchain ecosystem. Emphasizing building over talking, the event gathers 950+ attendees (690 hackers) from 51 countries, with 37% new to Web3. ETHGlobal’s growth since 2017 includes 210+ events, 150,000+ participants, and $15M in prizes. The hackathon offers $275,000 in prizes from 27 partners like Coinbase, Flow, and LayerZero, with tracks for partner and finalist prizes. Rules require projects to start from scratch, be open source, and demo live. Resources include 2,700+ educational videos, 22 workshops, 24/7 mentorship, and on-chain wristbands as Ethereum wallets. Logistics cover venue access, security, food, and Discord-based support. Partner reps present their protocols and prize tracks. The event fosters learning, collaboration, and innovation in Ethereum, DeFi, NFTs, and cross-chain development. 00:00 Introduction 00:41 ETHGlobal Mission & History 02:01 Global Growth & Impact 03:33 2025 Event Stats & Attendees 04:37 Partners, Mentors & Workshops 05:48 Hackathon Rules & Submission Guidelines 07:23 Resources & Learning Opportunities 07:59 Venue Logistics & Security 09:09 Internet & Communication 10:15 Schedule & Discord Support 11:10 Venue Layout, Food & Activities 13:18 On-Chain Wristbands & Networking 14:39 Prize Structure & Tracks 17:10 Finalist Criteria & Benefits 18:26 Judging Process 21:42 Submission Best Practices 22:51 Mentorship & Support 23:39 Code of Conduct & IP Rights 24:36 Partner Presentations: Coinbase 26:21 Partner Presentations: Flow 29:12 Partner Presentations: LayerZero 31:41 Additional Prizes & Resources 32:31 Team Building & Event Culture 33:07 Closing Remarks & Happy Hacking _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *ETHGlobal New York* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal New York, a 3-day hackathon held August 15-17, bringing together the most skilled web3 developers, designers and product builders from all around the globe for a weekend-long adventure to advance the Ethereum ecosystem! Watch the full ETHGlobal New York 2025 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4Xze0ZeSWCSGsw25clPpvZ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow Kartik Talwar* X: https://x.com/TheRealKartik ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city

Kartik Talwar

ETHGlobal · Oct 9, 2025

ETHGlobal New York 2025 concluded with a high-energy closing ceremony, celebrating over 950 attendees and 690 hackers from 51 countries, 37% of whom were new to web3. The event focused on building and demoing real-world web3, DeFi, AI, and crypto projects, with 275 submissions across categories like DeFi, payments, and AI. Key integrations included Typescript, Python, Solidity, Flow, CDP, Dynamic, and Ethereum mainnet. The top 10 finalist teams—X42 Flash, Hardhat 3 Ledger, Noah, Pumpkin Spice Latte, KaPay, Primer, TX Delay Insurance, Swap Pay, Rivals, and Pika Vault—demoed innovations in payments, security, inheritance, DeFi, stablecoin swaps, AR gaming, and cross-chain vaults. Over $275,000 in prizes were awarded, with special thanks to 192 partners and 18 judges. ETHGlobal Plus and new onchain perks were announced, and a major ETHGlobal conference is set for June 2026 in NYC. The event emphasized community, live deployments, and onboarding new developers to web3. 00:00 Introduction 02:12 Event Overview & Stats 03:44 Partner Acknowledgments 04:21 Hackathon Focus & Hacker Demographics 05:58 Project Submissions & Trends 06:50 Judges & Project Evaluation 07:12 Finalist Teams Announcement 08:51 All Projects Recognition 09:40 Feedback & Community Engagement 10:28 Finalist Demo 1: X42 Flash 16:18 Finalist Demo 2: Hardhat 3 Ledger 21:26 Finalist Demo 3: Noah 27:47 Finalist Demo 4: Pumpkin Spice Latte 32:32 Finalist Demo 5: KaPay 37:38 Finalist Demo 6: Primer 44:02 Finalist Demo 7: TX Delay Insurance 49:38 Finalist Demo 8: Swap Pay 54:20 Finalist Demo 9: Rivals 1:01:02 Finalist Demo 10: Pika Vault 1:09:36 Finalists Recap & Live Deployments 1:10:26 Onchain Packs & ETHGlobal Plus 1:12:35 Prize Announcements 1:28:21 Finalist Packs & Next Steps 1:29:40 Prize Verification Process 1:30:45 ETHGlobal Conference Announcement 1:32:08 Thank Yous & Closing Remarks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇺🇸 *ETHGlobal New York* This workshop is specifically for ETHGlobal New York, a 3-day hackathon held August 15-17, bringing together the most skilled web3 developers, designers and product builders from all around the globe for a weekend-long adventure to advance the Ethereum ecosystem! Watch the full ETHGlobal New York 2025 playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh4Xze0ZeSWCSGsw25clPpvZ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Kartik Talwar X: https://x.com/TheRealKartik ✅ *Follow ETHGlobal* X: https://x.com/ETHGlobal​ Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/ethglobal Website: https://ethglobal.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ETHGlobal _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Are you interested in Ethereum development and entrepreneurship?_ 👉 Sign up for the next ETHGlobal event: https://ethglobal.com/events 🎁 Get exclusive access and perks with ETHGlobal Plus! https://ethglobal.com/plus 📣 Want us to throw an event in your city? Tell us where! https://ethglobal.com/city _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ETHBerlin · Sep 4, 2024

ETHBerlin04 May 24-26, 2024, CIC Innovation Campus Afri & Franzi from the DoD open the hackathon! ETHBerlin04 - https://ethberlin.org A Department of Decentralization event - https://dod.ngo The video features Francie and Afri welcoming participants to the opening ceremony of a hackathon event in East Berlin. They provide an overview of the event, emphasizing that it's a hands-on hackathon with no passive spectators, and encourage everyone to actively contribute. They welcome all hackers, volunteers, mentors, judges, speakers, experience hosts, and remind returning attendees about the event's purpose: to make a difference and build useful things. They urge new participants to read the manifesto for inspiration. The hosts outline house rules including the necessity of wearing a wristband for entry, inform attendees that the venue is open 24 hours with food and drinks provided, and stress that there will be no tolerance for code of conduct violations. They explain the venue's security system for door access using color-coded signals and encourage exploration of the multi-floor venue while cautioning against accessing restricted areas. They highlight essential information for hackers such as joining the matrix room for communication with mentors and other participants. The summary conveys that this video is an informative guide for attendees on how to navigate and make the most out of their hackathon experience at East Berlin.