ETHPrague 2025 brought together leading voices from the Ethereum and broader Web3 ecosystem to discuss the future of decentralized technology. With a rich program of fireside chats, panels, and deep-dive talks, the event explored critical topics from AI and zero-knowledge proofs to post-quantum cryptography and user experience innovations.

The highlights below reflect the talks I personally attended. They reflect subjects that are of particular interest to Nexus — such as AI, zero-knowledge, L1s and L2s — as well as topics closely tied to my own area of expertise in cryptography.

Some sessions were also chosen out of curiosity, offering an opportunity to explore and learn more about emerging developments in the space.

You can find great coverage of the talks at ETHPrague on this YouTube playlist:

Fireside chats

Vitalik Buterin & Tim Berners-Lee: Sustainable futures

At ETHPrague 2025, Vitalik Buterin and Tim Berners-Lee engaged in a thoughtful fireside chat on the evolution of the internet and the role of blockchain technologies.

Berners-Lee emphasized that the web was originally built to be decentralized, empowering individuals to host and link content freely. However, corporate consolidation led to centralization, which he hopes to reverse through initiatives like Solid that decouple data from applications.

Buterin reflected on Ethereum’s ideological roots—blending the decentralization of BitTorrent with shared memory—and acknowledged that early limitations such as high transaction fees and poor user experience steered Web3 toward speculative use cases. He highlighted zero-knowledge proofs as a key tool to restore privacy while maintaining decentralization.

The conversation also explored parallels between DNS and blockchain-based systems like ENS, discussed how Web1 succeeded through open-source and standards, and assessed how Web3 is gradually overcoming skepticism. Both speakers recognized the growing legitimacy of blockchain and privacy-enhancing technologies, though Buterin cautioned against repeating Web2’s mistakes. They also addressed the role of AI in decision-making, agreeing it should be constrained and human-aligned. Overall, the dialogue underscored a shared vision for a more open, user-centered internet—one that balances innovation with ethical responsibility.

Vitalik Buterin & Marek Olszewski: Stablecoins use, L2 revenue, and identity

In their ETHPrague 2025 fireside chat, Vitalik Buterin and Marek Olszewski explored the growing role of stablecoins, decentralized identity (DID), and Ethereum’s evolving infrastructure.

Marek emphasized the real-world impact of peer-to-peer stablecoin usage in underserved markets, drawing parallels to WhatsApp’s rise in global messaging. Vitalik noted that institutional and grassroots stablecoin adoption can reinforce each other, and both predicted continued dominance of USDC and USDT due to strong network effects, while expressing optimism for local stablecoins in inflation-prone regions.

They also highlighted the practical use of crypto in remittances and emerging financial rails, citing examples like MiniPay in Africa. The discussion transitioned into digital identity, where Marek introduced self.xyz, a ZK-powered passport verification protocol enabling secure, Sybil-resistant onboarding.

Vitalik supported a pluralistic DID ecosystem to maintain privacy and resilience. They concluded by discussing Ethereum’s role as a global settlement layer, with Marek backing the L2 model and Vitalik emphasizing the synergy between L1 and L2 activity. Both encouraged builders to focus on decentralized identity and real-use financial tools as the ecosystem matures.

Panel highlights

Client-side proving: Unlocking the next generation of private, verifiable applications

Panelists: Michel Abdalla (Nexus), Elias Tazartes (Kakarot), Maya Dotan (StarkWare), Tomasz Stanczak (Ethereum Foundation), Moderator: Leo Sizaret (StarkWare)

The panel on client-side proving, featuring experts from Nexus, StarkWare, Kakarot, and the Ethereum Foundation, explored how client-side zero-knowledge (ZK) proving is revolutionizing privacy, verifiability, and user autonomy in blockchain and beyond. The discussion centered on how moving proof generation to the user's device enables applications like zk-identity, zkLogin, private payments, and selective disclosure without exposing personal data to centralized servers.

The panelists emphasized the benefits not only for individual privacy but also for institutional data liability, enabling compliance without data retention. The panelists also delved into the technical and strategic aspects of client-side proving—covering emerging proving systems like folding schemes, small-field commitments, and the feasibility of low-resource proof generation on devices like smartphones.

They foresaw a future where users unknowingly benefit from seamless, secure, and privacy-preserving interactions powered by local proofs. Applications discussed ranged from decentralized finance and KYC to onchain gaming, verifiable AI.

How do L2s win as L1s mature

Panelists: Andrew Koller (Founder of Ink), Alex Gluchowski (Co-Founder & CEO Matter Labs), Jordi Baylina (Co-Founder of Polygon), Marek Olszewski (CTO & co-founder at cLabs), Hubert Kotlinski (Go-to-market lead at L2BEAT)

As Ethereum L1 becomes more scalable, the panel explored how Layer 2s can remain competitive. Alex Gluchowski argued that L2s should specialize—focusing on privacy, regulation, or unique business needs—rather than trying to be general-purpose chains. Marek Olszewski emphasized that L1 improvements benefit L2s and reaffirmed Ethereum’s role as the base layer of Web3.

Jordi Baylina stressed that decentralization and censorship resistance must remain core values, while Andrew Koller described how Kraken’s L2 (Ink) aims to blend centralized and decentralized systems for a better user experience.The panel also covered user growth and technical strategy. Marek discussed Celo’s efforts to onboard mobile users through MiniPay in emerging markets, while Andrew explained Kraken’s goal of simplifying on-chain access for its existing user base.

As the cost of launching L2s falls, the panel agreed that specialized L2s will multiply. They debated decentralization timelines and trade-offs, with Jordi warning about growing centralization pressures, and Alex urging a focus on decentralized sequencing.

Overall, the panel conveyed that success will depend on user experience, clear differentiation, and commitment to Ethereum’s core values.

AI and Blockchain: Emerging Synergies

The future of AI and blockchain

Panelists: Tomáš Mikolov (Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics), Maurice Chiodo (University of Cambridge), Wessel Reijers (Paderborn University), Tomáš Studeník (Insane Business Ideas), Moderator: Sara Polak

This panel explored the intersection of AI and blockchain through philosophical, ethical, and societal lenses. Rather than focusing on purely technical synergies, the discussion addressed concerns about human agency, responsibility, and moral alignment in the context of accelerating AI capabilities.

Maurice Chiodo cautioned against delegating critical moral reasoning to machines, stressing that AI reflects our own unresolved ethical dilemmas. Wessel Reijers emphasized the role of public discourse and governance in shaping AI, warning of the risks of allowing purely market-driven or technocratic approaches to prevail.

Tomáš Mikolov voiced skepticism toward overhyping current AI systems, pointing out their limitations and calling for humility and realism in our expectations. Tomáš Studeník complemented the discussion with insights into innovation culture and stressed the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists, technologists, and humanities scholars.

The panel collectively advocated for a proactive, ethically grounded framework where technology supports rather than supplants human decision-making. Rather than asking what AI can do, they suggested we should ask what kind of society we want AI to serve.

ETHPrague talks

DeFi and AI for Mass Adoption (James Ross)

In his talk, James Ross outlined how AI is being positioned as the user experience layer that DeFi has long needed. Drawing from his work on Mode Network, Ross identified three main pillars driving this change: intelligent consumer interfaces, autonomous onchain agents, and predictive intelligence systems. He presented AI wallets and interfaces like Mode AI Terminal and HeyAnon as tools to simplify interactions, while agents built with platforms like Arma and Olas now automate complex DeFi operations across protocols. Additionally, Ross highlighted predictive intelligence layers such as Allora and Synth, which are being designed to support real-time financial decision-making by agents. With LLMs improving and AI agents already processing thousands of onchain transactions, Ross projected that by 2026, over 80% of such transactions could be AI-driven—framing this as an inflection point where DeFi evolves from fragmented tools to user-centric financial services.

Cryptography-Focused Talks

The Future of Proving with S-two (Maya Dotan)

In her talk, Maya Dotan introduced S-two, StarkWare’s next-generation STARK prover designed to significantly improve proving efficiency and scalability across the Starknet ecosystem. The talk covered three main areas: the role of Starknet as a scalable Layer 2 for Ethereum (and potentially Bitcoin), the design and performance of S-two, and Starknet’s long-term privacy roadmap. Maya explained how ZK rollups help scale Ethereum without compromising security, and how S-two will enable real-time validity proofs for entire Ethereum blocks—eliminating the need for re-execution.The presentation outlined how S-two is built using Circle STARKs and a flat AIR design optimized for speed. Performance benchmarks showed that S-two outperforms other provers such as SP1, Risc0, and Jolt on SHA2 and SHA3 workloads. Future plans for S-two include 10–100x performance improvements, client-side proving for ZK applications on user devices, and support for private payments, AI integration, and ZK identity. Maya also emphasized how S-two can extend proving to Layer 3s, Bitcoin (via OP_CAT), and cross-chain state settlement—broadening the scope of trustless scalability within and beyond Ethereum.

Indistinguishable obfuscation: The tech that will solve crypto (Jordi Baylina)

In his talk, Jordi Baylina explored the field of indistinguishable obfuscation (iO) and its potential impact on blockchain applications. He explained how obfuscation can be used to encode programs in a way that conceals their logic while preserving functionality, enabling a wide range of use cases such aszero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), decrypt-on-payment schemes, and Bitcoin rollups without hard forks. Using architectural diagrams, Jordi showed how obfuscation could serve as the foundation for anonymous identity systems, auctions, and cross-chain interoperability—particularly through mechanisms like double-pegged Bitcoin transactions.While acknowledging that practical obfuscation is still in its early stages, Jordi pointed to recent breakthroughs that have revived interest in the field, such as the “local mixing” approach. He noted that fewer than ten researchers are currently active in this area, despite its far-reaching implications. Jordi emphasized that despite the complexity, the use cases are compelling, and the community should consider investing more in R&D to bring these ideas closer to real-world deployment, especially given their fit with the values of decentralization and permissionless infrastructure.

Making existing protocols post-quantum safe (Lukas Pohanka)

In his talk, Lukas Pohanka discussed the process of transitioning cryptographic protocols — particularly those built on or around the EVM—to post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Drawing on HOPR’s experience migrating their incentivized mixnet, he outlined common challenges, such as the incompatibility of PQ primitives with existing blockchain systems and the inefficiencies introduced by larger key and signature sizes. He also highlighted emerging alternatives, including lattice-based and multivariate schemes, and noted that hybrid solutions—combining classical and PQ cryptography—are currently the most practical path forward.

Pohanka emphasized that while quantum threats are not yet immediate, protocol designers should begin adapting to them now. He shared practical techniques — like KEM combiners and multi-recipient encryption — to mitigate PQC overhead and emphasized trade-offs around performance and resource use.

Importantly, he addressed broader implications of PQ adoption: existing protocols often rely on assumptions (e.g. regarding anonymity sets, identity schemes, or multiparty setups) that may break down when switching to PQ primitives. This means that migrating to PQC is not just a drop-in replacement of algorithms, but a deeper reconsideration of protocol architecture. Pohanka closed by encouraging more experimentation and knowledge sharing, noting that while few teams are currently working on this transition, the available tools are maturing — and now is the right time to get involved.

Post-quantum Ethereum era, implementation results and foresight (Renaud Dubois)

In his talk, Renaud Dubois outlined a concrete path for integrating post-quantum (PQ) cryptography into Ethereum, focusing on the practical implementation of lattice-based signature schemes like FALCON and DILITHIUM. His team introduced optimized variants—ETHFALCON and ETHDILITHIUM—that significantly reduce gas costs and are compatible with zero-knowledge proof systems. These implementations aim to make Ethereum more resilient to quantum threats while remaining efficient within its current constraints.

The presentation also highlighted trade-offs and challenges, including signature size, lack of algebraic structure in some PQ schemes, and the need for hybrid solutions during transition. Dubois emphasized that although quantum computers aren't a present threat, migration has already begun in other sectors. He concluded with a call to action: the Ethereum community should begin coordinating efforts now to avoid fragmented upgrades in the future.

Other Interesting Talks

Progress of Ethereum scaling: Are L2s delivering? (Lorenz Lehmann)

Lorenz Lehmann took a data-driven approach to assess whether Ethereum’s L2 solutions are living up to their scaling promise. He reviewed the transition to a rollup-centric roadmap, the introduction of data sharding via EIP-4844, and the impact of blobs on metrics like transaction costs, throughput, and user engagement. His analysis highlighted significant improvements since the implementation of blobs in March 2024, particularly in reducing fees and increasing adoption.Lehmann concluded with a forward-looking perspective, arguing that Ethereum’s success depends not just on short-term growth but on long-term, sustainable adoption. He emphasized the importance of “long-term greed” over short-term wins, urging the ecosystem to stay focused on fundamentals that promote sticky, meaningful usage.

At the intersection of data availability sampling and sharded mempools (Leonardo Bautista-Gomez)

At ETHPrague 2025, Leonardo Bautista-Gomez presented a detailed overview of Ethereum’s scaling efforts, focusing on how data availability sampling (DAS) and blob sharding can improve throughput without compromising decentralization. The talk walked through Ethereum’s progression from early sharding concepts to the Deneb-Cancun and Electra-Prague upgrades, and outlined upcoming proposals like PeerDAS.

These changes aim to reduce bandwidth requirements by distributing blob storage and propagation responsibilities—execution layer nodes handle only parts of the data, while consensus layer nodes verify and disseminate partial columns.Leonardo also introduced architectural updates like two-dimensional erasure coding and blob pool sharding, designed to scale Ethereum to handle 256 blobs per block (~32MB) efficiently.

These mechanisms lower the burden on individual nodes, especially home stakers, by limiting the amount of data any single node must process. The presentation emphasized Ethereum’s goal of increasing transaction throughput while maintaining a decentralized and secure network, with clear steps mapped out for upgrades beyond the current roadmap.

Locally grounded, globally connected: The Celo Regional Council (Rica Amaral & Joan de Ramon Brunet)

This talk introduced the Celo Regional Council, a novel governance framework designed to balance local autonomy with global strategy. By establishing regional and local nodes across Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, Celo enables communities to propose solutions tailored to local needs while staying aligned with broader ecosystem goals.

The governance model includes on-chain accountability, standardized KPIs, and monthly coordination calls. Real-world initiatives—like stablecoin lending, regional DAO grants, and community onboarding—are driven by local voices but supported through global funding and strategy. The council serves as a blueprint for decentralized governance, emphasizing participation, regional diversity, and sustainable ecosystem growth.

A new frontier in confidential computing: SpaceTEEs and L2 security (Filip Rezabek)

In his talk, Filip Rezabek introduced SpaceTEEs and the broader SpaceComputer architecture as a new approach to enhancing blockchain security through orbital infrastructure.

SpaceComputer operates as a robust Layer 1 in space, leveraging trusted execution environments hosted on satellites to offer physically isolated, tamper-resistant computation. By combining satellite-based communication (via Iridium) with secure computation platforms (like Aptos Orbital), SpaceComputer can provide pre-confirmation attestations and data integrity guarantees to L2s and L1s on Earth, addressing key challenges in cross-layer trust and scalability.

The system features a two-tier architecture: a Celestial layer in orbit focused on security and finality, and an Uncelestial layer on Earth focused on scalability. SpaceTEEs complement traditional TEE models (like Intel SGX or AMD SEV-SNP) by adding physical separation, offering new security guarantees.

Additionally, orbital data centers promise energy efficiency, lower latency for some use cases, and environmental benefits. Altogether, SpaceComputer reimagines the blockchain stack as resilient, censorship-resistant, and extraterrestrial, pushing the boundaries of how infrastructure can be decentralized.

Final observations

This was my first time attending an Ethereum conference, and I wasn’t sure about what to expect. It turned out to be a valuable opportunity to hear about the latest developments in the Ethereum ecosystem and the issues the community is actively working to solve.

The panels and fireside chats stood out for their more personal and reflective tone. The sessions I attended focused on areas that are particularly relevant to my work at Nexus — such as AI, zero-knowledge, and scalability — as well as topics related to my background in cryptography and others I was simply curious to learn more about.

I was also glad to have the opportunity to participate in a panel myself, which made the experience even more engaging and memorable. It provided a chance to contribute to the discussion, connect my work with broader community efforts, and exchange ideas directly with other speakers and attendees — something I found particularly rewarding given the overarching themes of collaboration and innovation at the conference. and to engage in meaningful conversations with other speakers and attendees throughout the event.