October meeting in Shanghai: The first batch of sponsors for ETHShanghai 2025 has been announced, and registration for the hackathon is now open.

2025 is a year to remember for Ethereum. From the launch of the Ethereum Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) era and institutions holding nearly 5 million ETH, to RWA becoming the focus of the capital markets after the passage of the “GENIUS Act”, these all signify that Ethereum is accelerating its emergence as the financial technology foundation of Wall Street. Amidst this prosperous landscape, Ethereum not only celebrates the milestone of the tenth anniversary of its mainnet launch but also reaches an all-time high in price, igniting market enthusiasm.

In the wave of technological innovation and market resonance, the 4th ETHShanghai will land in Shanghai from October 18 to 22, 2025, with the theme of “Expanding Ethereum, Shaping an Open Future” to kick off a five-day global developer feast. The conference is led by ETHpanda, co-hosted by Wanxiang Blockchain Lab, PANews, and TinTinLand, and will be held concurrently in the same city as the Wanxiang Blockchain Global Summit.

Three core sectors: the evolution from code to ecosystem

This event centers around a five-day hackathon and summit, complemented by online co-learning and workshops, aimed at gathering the most active developers and researchers in the Asia-Pacific region to drive creativity from code to users.

Before the main event begins, a three-month ETHShanghai Youth Voyage Program will kick off. The program has a budget of over 6000 USDT and aims to discover and fund at least 30 outstanding young developers from Asia, providing them with transportation subsidies of up to 200 USDT and a communication platform to lower the barriers for them to come to Shanghai and interact deeply with the Ethereum core ecosystem. Voyage Program members must register and participate in the ETHShanghai hackathon. Registration link: ETHShanghai 2025 Youth Voyage Program Application Form

Schedule:

• Registration Period: September 19 - October 3
• List Announcement: October 10
• Voyage Plan Meetup: October 19

Innovation Engine: 72-Hour Offline Hackathon

As the technical core and innovation engine of the event, the 72-hour offline hackathon from October 18 to 21 will be the Builder stage to ignite the next decade of innovation in Ethereum. The event will select around 100 top developers from over 500 applicants worldwide, incubating 30 to 40 cutting-edge projects on-site. This hackathon will focus on three major cutting-edge tracks:

• AI × ETH: Exploring the deep integration of AI and Ethereum. On September 15, the Ethereum Foundation announced the establishment of a dedicated dAI team to promote Ethereum as the infrastructure for AI development. This track encourages developers to experiment in areas such as smart contract automation, on-chain governance agents, and AI-driven risk control, making agents important nodes in the on-chain economy. It is worth noting that Vitalik has warned that direct involvement of AI in governance may pose risks of malicious exploitation.
• DeFi × Infra: Promoting the reconstruction of financial infrastructure. From the accelerated implementation of RWA and stablecoins to the evolution of modular technologies such as EIP-4844, Rollup, and ZK, DeFi is moving towards scaling and compliance. This track focuses on a safer, smarter, and more scalable financial network.
• Public Goods × Open Source Development: The long-term health of the Ethereum ecosystem relies on public goods and the spirit of open source. This track encourages the construction of underlying infrastructure and collaborative tools, strengthening the ecological foundation and promoting the further development of open finance and open society.

The winning projects will share a total prize pool of $15,000, and the first prize teams in each track will have the opportunity to showcase on the main summit stage to attract the attention of top investment institutions and incubators. Participants are required to submit a GitHub repository, a 3-minute demonstration video, and proof of originality, and will undergo multi-dimensional evaluations on code quality, innovation, ecological value, and more. Currently, registration for the hackathon is fully open, with a deadline of October 1. Registration link: ETHShanghai 2025 Hackathon

Ideological Collision: The Main Summit Will Focus on Cutting-Edge Topics

The main summit on October 22 will be the ultimate collision of technological consensus. The summit agenda includes keynote speeches and panel discussions, with plans to invite over 40 industry leaders, including representatives from the Ethereum Foundation, VCs, core developers, protocol founders, and researchers. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik and Hsiao-Wei Wang, co-executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, are among the notable guests on the invitation list and may deliver keynote speeches.

The main venue will specifically set up an “Exhibition Display Area” focusing on the latest developments in Ethereum scalability and modular ecosystems. The exhibition content revolves around three core themes that are highly aligned with the strategic goals of the Ethereum Foundation:

• Developer Growth: Empowering developers to efficiently build and scale innovative applications on Ethereum by providing skills, resources, and network support;
• Ecological Amplification: Link community and media resources to expand the global influence of quality projects and promote the prosperous development of the Ethereum ecosystem;
• Long-term Security and Resilience: Enhance the security and stability of Ethereum, building a sustainable and resilient open network ecosystem.

Sponsor Announcement

The successful hosting of ETHShanghai 2025 could not have been achieved without the strong support of numerous industry partners. Here are the first batch of sponsors for this conference:

Diamond Sponsorship

ESP is the ecological support program of the Ethereum Foundation, dedicated to funding and supporting developers and organizations that build Ethereum public goods. Since its launch in 2018, ESP has provided funding and resource support to hundreds of projects worldwide, with nearly $3 million in grants given to 105 projects in 2024 alone. The areas supported by ESP include developer tools, core infrastructure, research, community education, and public goods. Its vision is to strengthen the foundation of Ethereum, support future Builders, and promote long-term sustainable development through public goods. Currently, ESP is actively responding to the Foundation's new EcoDev strategy, shifting from passive grants to more forward-looking strategic support, continuously injecting vitality into key public goods of the Ethereum ecosystem.

BitSeek is hailed as the “Bitcoin moment of the AI industry” and is the world's first decentralized AI model provider. By combining model atomization technology with a globally distributed GPU network, BitSeek achieves decentralized execution of trillion-level AI models, aiming to build an open, verifiable, and user-owned intelligent new paradigm, liberating AI from the control of tech giants. Its vision perfectly aligns with the “AI x ETH” track of this hackathon.

Platinum Sponsorship

HashKey Chain is the preferred public chain for financial institutions to bring RWA assets on-chain, committed to promoting compliant and scalable on-chain finance. It inherits the decentralized security of Ethereum and significantly enhances transaction efficiency through high-performance optimization, boasting advantages of low Gas fees and high throughput. HashKey Chain is partnering with global financial institutions and compliant Web3 projects to provide optimal solutions for institutional DeFi, RWA tokenization, and stablecoin settlement, accelerating the digital upgrade of the financial system.

Gold Sponsorship

GCC is the first non-profit cryptocurrency foundation in the Chinese-speaking region, focusing on funding the construction of public goods, including open-source software, open copyright works, protocol standards, and public service talent. GCC has funded over 45 projects, with donations exceeding $1.3 million, dedicated to promoting the development of digital public goods in the Chinese-speaking region and supporting the values of long-termism.

Nantang DAO Investor Liu Bing: Liu Bing is an investor who has long focused on cryptocurrency and rural development. Since 2017, he has funded the operations of Nantang DAO and the cooperative by donating ETH. Nantang DAO is China's first DAO that combines Web3 technology with rural construction. It was born in Nantang Village, Fuyang, Anhui, which has a deep democratic governance gene. By introducing digital technology and innovative governance models, it aims to explore a brand new sustainable path for rural development, serving as a pioneering social experiment benchmark in the Web3 field.

Hackathon Sponsorship

BGA ( Blockchain for Good Alliance ): The BGA, initiated by Bybit in 2024, is a long-term non-profit collaborative initiative aimed at leveraging blockchain technology to address real-world problems and contribute to social welfare, aligning its goals with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations ( SDG ).

Chainlink: As an industry-leading decentralized computing platform, Chainlink provides the core infrastructure for the scalable development of on-chain finance. It securely connects blockchain with real-world data, identities, and compliance systems, facilitating transactions worth trillions of dollars and earning the trust of numerous top global financial institutions and DeFi protocols such as Swift, Mastercard, and Aave.

Co-creating the Future

ETHShanghai 2025 is not only a celebration after Ethereum's tenth anniversary but also the starting point for the next phase of ecological expansion. With the joint participation of global developers, researchers, and sponsors, the conference will become a key engine driving Ethereum towards the next decade.

From October 18 to 22, Shanghai will once again become the focus of the global cryptocurrency and Web3 world. ETHShanghai 2025 is worth looking forward to for all builders, researchers, and investors.

Official Website:

Official X (Twitter): x.com/EthereumSH

Registration link：

Cooperation Contact: ethpanda.org@gmail.com / panews@panony.com

About the organizer

• Wanchain Blockchain Lab was established in 2015 by Wanxiang Group Corporation in China, gathering experts in the field to conduct research and discussions on technology R&D, commercial applications, and industrial strategies, providing guidance for entrepreneurs, offering references for industry development and policy formulation, and promoting the advancement of blockchain technology for social and economic progress.
• ETHPanda is an Ethereum community composed of Chinese-speaking builders, dedicated to connecting Chinese-speaking builders with the international Ethereum ecosystem through education, public services, events, and technological innovation, jointly promoting the sustainable development and innovation of Ethereum.
• PANews is a leading think tank information platform in the blockchain and Web3.0 fields, created by traditional media professionals and senior industry figures.
• TinTinLand is a technology community empowering the next generation of developers by gathering, nurturing, and delivering developers to various open networks to jointly define and build the future.