At Pragma Cannes 2025, Kartik Talwar and Vitalik Buterin discuss evolving trends in the Ethereum and broader crypto ecosystem. They highlight regional differences in community interests—privacy in Prague, AI in Taipei, and global diversity at Cannes. The conversation covers the shift from DeFi innovation to integration, the resurgence of previously failed ideas like micropayments and tokenized stocks, and the challenge of moving from hype to actual product delivery.
They debate the intersection of AI and crypto, noting limited real-world success so far. The importance of privacy, decentralization, and composability is emphasized, especially as institutions like Robinhood launch their own chains and stablecoins. They advocate for L1 asset issuance, improved L1-L2 interoperability, and formal verification for security. The session concludes with reflections on fostering a builder culture, balancing mainstream adoption with frontier innovation, and the need for practical, user-centric solutions in Ethereum’s future.
00:00 Introduction 00:42 Icebreakers & Robinhood Launch Discussion 01:48 Diversity & Culture in Ethereum Events 03:22 Pragma’s Audience & Event Structure 05:18 Regional Trends: AI, Privacy, DeFi 06:47 DeFi: Integration vs. Innovation 08:21 The Value of Experimentation in DeFi 09:42 Revisiting Old Ideas: Micropayments, Tokenized Stocks 11:49 Privacy as Feature, Not Application 12:35 Missed Opportunities: VPNs, Bandwidth Sharing 13:14 Surprising Successes & User vs. Developer Perspectives 14:18 Ethereum’s Subcultures & Community Dynamics 16:54 Builder Culture vs. Hype Cycle 18:52 Vision for ETH Pragma 2030 20:04 Lessons from Internet History & Event Curation 22:25 Economic Impact & Hackathon Metrics 23:18 Most Impactful Ethereum Applications 24:58 Distributed Compute & Idle Resources 25:18 AI & Crypto: Current State and Challenges 28:22 AI Agents, Wallet Use Cases, and Future Potential 30:14 Decentralization: Properties vs. Technology 32:26 User Attitudes Toward Privacy & Institutional Perspectives 34:40 Governments, Privacy, and Cashless Societies 36:31 Android, Linux, and Mass Adoption Lessons 38:33 Default Choices, User Education, and Crypto Values 40:26 Institutional Chains, Fragmentation, and L1/L2 Dynamics 43:02 Technical Priorities: L1-L2 Interoperability & Security 46:07 Vision for Ethereum Culture in 2027 47:37 Conclusion
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🇫🇷 *Pragma Cannes* Pragma Cannes 2025 was held on July 3rd at the Carlton Cannes in Cannes, France and was an in-person summit for builders and leaders in the web3 ecosystem. Watch the full Pragma Cannes YouTube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh6jZYPY5-YIBzvMtUT3ajjI
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.
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