Open Conversations: Removing Barriers to Ethereum Adoption (Gonzalo Othacehe)

Mon, Feb 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

Ethereum is already useful—but it’s still hard for many people to use. In this conversation, Gonzalo Othacehe, Software Engineer at OpenZeppelin, talks about building from Argentina, where stablecoins and alternative financial systems are part of everyday reality. Ethereum works, but adoption often breaks at simple moments: when users try to transact and are blocked by gas fees or the need to hold native ETH. During the Funding the Commons Builder Residency, Gonzalo worked on a trustless, decentralized paymaster that lets users pay transaction fees with the tokens they already have. Liquidity providers supply ETH to sponsor transactions, allowing apps to abstract gas entirely. The goal is practical: reduce friction so Ethereum can be used by more people, not just experienced users. Filmed at Funding the Commons Builder Residency, Buenos Aires, November 2025. Relevant Projects OpenZeppelin: https://www.openzeppelin.com Funding the Commons: https://www.fundingthecommons.io Thank You to Our Sponsors Protocol Labs: https://www.protocol.ai human.tech by Holonym Foundation: https://human.tech/ Stellar Development Foundation: https://stellar.org Drips: https://drips.network Octant: https://octant.app NEAR Foundation: https://near.foundation Logos: https://logos.co