Welcome & Introduction | Kartik Talwar (ETHGlobal) at ETHConf

Thu, Jul 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

In this opening keynote, Kartik Talwar, co-founder of ETHGlobal, welcomes attendees to ETHConf, billed as the biggest conference in America focused entirely on showcasing the world of Ethereum. He explains the motivation for launching the event: after a decade of running hackathons where Ethereum technology is built, the question has shifted from whether people will care about this technology to how fast the ecosystem can move to support the businesses, institutions, and companies now integrating it. Kartik frames ETHConf as intentionally institutional, proudly American, and centered in New York where digital assets meet traditional finance. He highlights the diversity of the audience, ranging from Ethereum co-founders and longtime builders to people managing billions in stablecoin balance sheets and DeFi founders running protocols larger than most banks. He outlines the three themes that will run throughout the conference: institutional adoption with people actively integrating Ethereum, the evolution of the Ethereum protocol itself including upcoming improvements, and the path to scaling Ethereum onchain for millions of transactions per second. He emphasizes that every speaker at the event has actually shipped what they are discussing, and the goal is to create a place where developers and financial decision makers can connect directly to shape what comes next. 00:00 Welcome to ETHConf 00:39 Why ETH Global Decided to Run This Conference 01:51 The Audience: Builders, Institutions, and Decision Makers 02:44 Logistics and Event Format 03:17 Thanking the Sponsors 03:51 Three Themes: Institutional, Protocol, Onchain at Scale 05:06 Real Shipped Products on Stage 05:24 Bringing Founders and Decision Makers Together 06:02 Shaping the Future of the Ecosystem 06:52 Closing and Kickoff _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _