The “Ethereum Applications Gathering,” hosted by the Ethereum Applications Guild (EAG), was held on April 22 on the Main Stage of the Hong Kong Web3 Festival in Hong Kong. This gathering brings together people working across different layers of the stack to share recent progress, compare perspectives, and surface practical insights from what’s being built today.
As Ethereum infrastructure continues to mature, the focus is increasingly shifting toward applications. Rather than focusing on narratives, the conversations center on real signals — where momentum is forming, what challenges remain, and how applications are beginning to take shape in practice.
The following are the key insights shared by the speakers.
Vitalik Buterin: Toward Full-Stack Open Source Security and an AI-Driven Era of Soft Sovereignty
In the fireside chat with Dr. Xiao Feng, Vitalik Buterin focused on the future direction of Ethereum and the growing importance of AI, hardware, security, and privacy-preserving computation in the blockchain ecosystem. He noted that Ethereum is rethinking the idea of “full-stack open source security,” meaning security should not be limited to the protocol layer but should extend across browsers, operating systems, hardware wallets, and even chip-level infrastructure. As blockchain applications increasingly move into the real world, hardware security and hardware acceleration will become foundational components that cannot be ignored. At the same time, he emphasized that Ethereum must continue to “simplify” in order to lower the barrier for both users and developers. Just as the internet evolved from command lines to GUIs and then to mobile apps, AI may usher in a new era of “natural language as the new command line,” where users can interact with complex systems simply through natural language, while AI wallets and AI-driven interfaces could become a key direction for on-chain interaction.
From a security and protocol perspective, Vitalik highlighted that AI is simultaneously enhancing and challenging blockchain systems. On one hand, AI can significantly improve formal verification, smart contract auditing, and core protocol development, making previously infeasible levels of verification possible. On the other hand, it also amplifies the capabilities of attackers and vulnerability discovery, meaning security is not only a technical issue but also a design choice made by developers. He noted that Ethereum’s next phase of development includes faster finality, quantum resistance, stronger decentralization, and improved protocol security, with increasing integration of AI and formal verification in these efforts. He also stressed that Ethereum’s core competitive advantage remains its security and trustworthiness, and that instead of competing on performance alone, Ethereum should focus on “things only Ethereum can do,” such as decentralization, security, privacy, and trustless infrastructure.
Regarding the convergence of privacy computing and AI, Vitalik stated that zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) have already reached a relatively mature stage, while fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) is developing rapidly and will soon become highly impactful. He believes that combining AI, FHE, and blockchain will unlock real-world applications in areas such as healthcare, IoT, and data collaboration, where both intelligence and strong privacy guarantees are required. Blockchain, in this context, can provide permissionless and trustless coordination for data and value exchange. He further explained that the Ethereum Foundation’s recent update to its mission and values reflects a commitment to maintaining decentralization, privacy, autonomy, and open collaboration in an era of rapid AI-driven transformation. He introduced the concept of “Soft Sovereignty,” arguing that future technology should not only improve efficiency but also empower users with true ownership and control over their assets, data, and digital lives, an idea that lies at the core of Ethereum’s long-term vision.
With the launch of the Ethereum Applications Guild (EAG), Vitalik noted that as the Ethereum ecosystem continues to expand, its long-term growth will increasingly depend on a broader range of independent organizations, developer communities, and application teams contributing across the broader ecosystem. He suggested that EAG may play a role in areas that are important for ecosystem development but not necessarily suited for direct Foundation involvement, including application-layer innovation, bridging traditional industries and blockchain industry, global developer coordination, and regional ecosystem growth.
Dr. Xiao Feng believes Ethereum is entering a new phase, shifting from infrastructure development toward real-world application deployment, where the key lies in continuously lowering technical barriers and improving user experience. Drawing on the evolution of the internet and operating systems, he notes that large-scale adoption has historically depended on the simplification of interaction models, from command lines to graphical interfaces and then to mobile applications. In his view, Ethereum will follow a similar path, with wallets, smart contracts, and on-chain interactions becoming more automated and intelligent, while AI and natural language interfaces may eventually allow users to interact with blockchain applications simply by expressing intent in natural language.
At the same time, Ethereum’s development should not focus solely on efficiency, but must continue to uphold its core values of decentralization, security, and user sovereignty. He highlights that the convergence of AI, privacy-preserving computation, and blockchain is opening new possibilities for real-world use cases such as healthcare and data collaboration, while technologies like zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption, and post-quantum cryptography are gradually moving toward practical application. In this context, Layer 1 should remain focused on security and decentralization, while Layer 2 and the application layer address diverse performance and functional needs across different scenarios.
Aya Miyaguchi: Advancing Ethereum Through the “Principle of Subtraction”
Aya Miyaguchi, President of the Ethereum Foundation, joined Audrey Tang, Executive Director of the Ethereum Applications Guild (EAG), for a fireside chat on Ethereum ecosystem governance, application development, and the evolving role of the Foundation.
Aya explained the "Principle of Subtraction" in the EF Mandate, which encourages the Foundation to come in only when the EF is needed. This means the EF increasingly shifts toward a supportive role in areas that are already relatively mature or where the community has sufficient capability, such as wallets and client implementations, allowing natural competition to produce better solutions. She described the EF's role as being "one of many" gardeners in the ecosystem.
She noted that “real applications” are typically grounded in Ethereum’s core values, including censorship resistance, open source, security, and privacy. She highlighted security as a foundation for meaningful adoption, and pointed to the importance of long-term resilience over short-term incentives, with the idea that Ethereum should be able to pass the “walkaway test” and sustain themselves over a decade or more.
She also highlighted the importance of a “local-first” strategy, noting that organizations like EAG can leverage deep regional ecosystems to generate global impact.
Joseph Chalom: From Institutional Ethereum Adoption to the Agent Economy
Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom joined Henry Chen, CBO of SNZ, in a conversation on Ethereum’s institutional adoption path and the future of an “Agent Economy” driven by AI Agents.
Joseph, after leading initiatives such as USDC reserve management, Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, and tokenized real-world asset funds at BlackRock, is now leading SharpLink, the first Ethereum-focused digital asset treasury company. Unlike Bitcoin treasuries, Sharplink treats ETH as a productive asset combining value storage with staking yield and operates with a long-term “permanent capital” structure, staking nearly all ETH holdings to generate on-chain revenue while reinvesting into the ecosystem.
Joseph emphasized Ethereum’s role as the foundation of future capital markets, where stablecoins become the core payment layer and tokenized assets such as stocks and bonds operate 24/7 on-chain. Looking ahead, he believes AI agents will reshape financial behavior by autonomously managing portfolios, optimizing yields, and executing transactions through integrated wallets linked to both bank accounts and crypto infrastructure. In this agent-driven economy, individuals will interact with a “digital twin” that executes financial goals in real time, shifting finance from human execution to machine-driven capital systems powered by Ethereum.
The Ethereum Application Gathering concluded successfully in Hong Kong. As Ethereum’s core infrastructure continues to mature, the application layer is emerging as the key driver of the ecosystem’s next phase of growth. The official launch of the Ethereum Application Guild (EAG) also marks the formation of an open and collaborative global network for builders. Looking ahead, as more real-world applications are deployed and cross-disciplinary integration accelerates, the Ethereum application ecosystem is expected to further expand its reach into the broader real world.
