The Future of Web3 Is Not Blockchain - Grigore Rosu

Thu, Oct 2, 2025, 12:00 AM

Grigore Rosu, co-founder of Pi Squared, challenges the prevailing belief that Web3 must rely on blockchains. He highlights blockchain limitations, especially total ordering, which slows down scalability and flexibility for complex decentralized applications. Rosu introduces alternative protocols like FastPay and his team's new FastSet protocol, which enable massively parallel, verifiable, and decentralized settlement of claims—such as payments, computations, and asset transfers—without blocks or total ordering. This approach allows for instant, programmable, trustless coordination and execution across chains and agents, supporting AI-native infrastructure and billions of concurrent operations. Pi Squared’s infrastructure enables claims with proofs to be validated and settled independently, unlocking horizontal scalability and interoperability. Rosu announces the launch of their devnet and plans for a mainnet and a flagship wallet product, leveraging cross-chain liquidity via Wormhole, aiming to redefine Web3 infrastructure beyond blockchain constraints. 00:00 Introduction 00:38 Grigore Rosu Background 01:18 Questioning Blockchain Necessity in Web3 02:35 The Problem with Total Ordering 03:33 Blockchain Limitations for Web3 Applications 04:01 Introduction to FastPay Protocol 04:38 Generalizing FastPay Beyond Payments 05:09 Verifiability vs. Ordering 05:58 Innovations and Modularity in Blockchain 07:08 The Future Role of Blockchains 07:53 Applications Not Requiring Total Order 08:28 Web3 at an Inflection Point 09:15 Pi Squared’s Vision for Web3 Infrastructure 09:42 Unlocking Parallel Trustless Coordination 10:22 Programmable, Decentralized Claims 10:57 AI-Native, Massively Parallel Infrastructure 11:46 Introducing the FastSet Protocol 12:13 How FastSet Works: Claims and Proofs 13:39 Decentralized Validation and Settlement 14:53 Handling Causal Dependencies 15:43 Parallel, Blockless, Chainless Settlement 16:10 Devnet Launch and Mainnet Roadmap 16:46 Flagship Wallet and Cross-Chain Liquidity 17:10 Conclusion _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇫🇷 *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. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ Follow Grigore Rosu X: https://x.com/RosuGrigore ✅ Follow Pi Squared X: https://x.com/Pi_Squared_Pi2 ✅ 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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _