Aya Miyaguchi I Growing the Infinite Garden | Ethereum Foundation I Pragma Tokyo 2023

Mon, Oct 2, 2023, 12:00 AM

Aya Miyaguchi, Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, joins Pragma Tokyo to explore the mission of growing Ethereum as an “infinite garden.” In this deeply personal and philosophical conversation, Aya reflects on Ethereum's values, Japan’s emerging role in the developer ecosystem, and what it means to coordinate a decentralized movement. From the EF’s support structure and cultural insights to the challenges of maintaining neutrality and scaling open systems, Aya shares how her background as a teacher influences her leadership style and how EF empowers others rather than dictates outcomes. The conversation also touches on Japan’s potential in areas like DAOs, open source culture, and unique approaches to coordination, governance, and identity. If you're curious about Ethereum’s future, EF’s philosophy, or global crypto adoption through cultural lenses, this is a must-watch. 00:00 Intro and welcoming Aya Miyaguchi 01:31 Aya’s relationship with Japan 03:12 Rise of builders in Japan’s Ethereum ecosystem 05:02 From teacher to Ethereum Foundation 07:59 What the Ethereum Foundation does 09:42 The Infinite Garden philosophy 12:24 Trade-offs of decentralized coordination 14:01 Why Ethereum is built in an open, slow way 16:00 Cultural values and leadership at EF 18:15 Why Ethereum is not a product or a company 20:21 Challenges of explaining Ethereum in Japan 23:15 Japan’s potential in open source and web3 26:06 Empowering developers and shifting mindsets 27:27 Growing optimism in Japanese policy 28:55 Ethereum’s bottoms-up culture vs top-down 29:52 EF’s evolving role as coordinator 33:36 The Infinite Garden and value alignment 34:51 Holding less than 1% of ETH and why that matters 36:31 Subtraction, legitimacy, and balance 39:13 Thanking the EF team and community 41:35 Q&A: Ethereum and network states 43:00 Q&A: Use cases for Japan and local innovation 46:16 Closing remarks and community encouragement _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 🇯🇵 *Pragma Tokyo* It’s always been about hackathons. Until now! Kicking off in Tokyo we announced the latest edition to the ETHGlobal family last week. Pragma will be one day summit, focusing on high quality talks in an intimate atmosphere that fuels reimagining the world and networking with like-minded individuals. Watch the full Pragma Tokyo 2023 playlist here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXzKMXK2aHh72VNBeeMzsvxnDdJH-vPhZ&si=z7enlsk30_DUjIoL _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ✅ *Follow the Kartik Talwar* X: https://x.com/therealkartik Warpcast: https://warpcast.com/kartik ✅ *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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _