Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 13–14 May 2026 – After a successful first edition, ETHCluj returns for its second conference, bringing together Ethereum developers, researchers, founders, and community leaders from across Europe and beyond.
Taking place at Cluj Arena, ETHCluj 2026 builds on the momentum of its 2025 debut, which gathered over 200 attendees – more than 40 of them students, 80 speakers, 90+ sessions, 9 side events, 10 sponsors, 3 institutional partners, and 19 ecosystem partners – all delivered by a lean, builder-led team rooted in the local technical community.
Community & Ecosystem Support
ETHCluj 2026 is supported by a growing network of sponsors and global community partners – to mention a few: Akasha Foundation, Arbitrum, Logos Network, Geode Labs, and matcha.xyz Powered by 0x. ETHCluj collaborates with leading Ethereum communities worldwide – some of them are listed here, and the list continues to grow.
- ETHBelgrade
- ETHGlobal
- ETH Tbilisi
- ETHBengaluru
- ETHBucharest
- ETHCali
- ETH Cinco de Mayo
- Ethereum Cat Herders
- ETHDublin
- ETHLagos
- ETHMexico
- ETHMumbai
- ETHPrague
- ETHPanda
- ETHSlovenia
- ETHTokyo
- ETHWarsaw
- NapulETH
- POAP
- Thrilld Labs
- Web3 Privacy Now
- Urbe.eth
Local and regional partners
- Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
- Babes-Bolyai University
- Transilvania IT Cluster
- Cluj Startups
- Cluj-Napoca Transylvania Angels Network
- The Municipality of Cluj-Napoca
- Cluj-Napoca Municipal Council
- OpenAlt Romania open-source technology community
Together, these collaborations strengthen our global connectivity while rooting meaningful development within Eastern Europe.
ETHCluj Community & Conference Built by Builders, for Builders
ETHCluj is a community-led Ethereum initiative based in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, focused on technical education, protocol literacy, and sustainable ecosystem growth. Run by developers and ecosystem operators, the initiative prioritizes depth over hype and long-term contribution over short-term visibility.
ETHCluj Conference is not a generic crypto event. It is a technical Ethereum-focused conference designed around:
- Protocol literacy
- Infrastructure and security
- Applied Ethereum development
- Long-term ecosystem growth
Conference Tracks – 2026 Edition
Content will be structured across six technical tracks:
- Ethereum Culture & Roadmap
- AI and Ethereum
- Privacy
- Usability & Adoption
- Security
- Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
In addition, ETHCluj 2026 will feature a dedicated Arbitrum Education Track, including workshops, panels, and talks focused on the Arbitrum ecosystem. This track is designed to guide developers through a structured journey- from ecosystem introduction and hands-on building to deeper engagement with tooling, grants, and DAO participation.
The program features both local and international speakers announced via the official website and social channels, representing infrastructure, research, security, and application-layer innovation within the Ethereum ecosystem.
Side Events During ETHCluj Week
In addition to the two-day conference, ETHCluj will once again be surrounded by a series of community-driven side events taking place throughout ETHCluj Week in Cluj-Napoca.
During the 2025 edition, the ecosystem organized 9 independent side events, including meetups, workshops, informal builder gatherings, and partner-hosted sessions across the city. These events created additional opportunities for deeper technical discussions, project collaboration, and community connection beyond the main conference agenda.
For 2026, ETHCluj expects a similar number of side events, organized by ecosystem partners, visiting communities, and local contributors. While the main conference takes place on 13–14 May 2026 at Cluj Arena, the broader ETHCluj Week will extend activities across multiple venues throughout the city.
Full side events schedule is available here: https://luma.com/ETHCluj2026
This format allows participants to experience not only the conference itself but also the wider Ethereum and blockchain community gathering in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Featured Speakers for ETHCluj 2026
ETHCluj 2026 brings together 45+ global industry leaders, including:
- Paul Dylan-Ennis (Polar) – Professor at the College of Business, University College Dublin, and author of Absolute Essentials of Ethereum.
- Cheeky-Gorilla – Core contributor to Protocol Guild- a collective fund that supports Ethereum Layer 1 core protocol contributors through long-term, on-chain token vesting.
- Milos Stankovic – Core protocol developer, working for the Ethereum Foundation since 2024, and currently part of the Protocol Prototyping team working on Ethereum’s upcoming upgrades.
- Jan Gorzny – co-founder of Zircuit, he is building next-generation blockchain infrastructure for secure and scalable finance. His expertise spans DeFi, blockchain architecture, and zero-knowledge proofs.
- Krzysztof Paruch – Mathematician and crypto economist focused on mechanism design, prediction markets, and capital-efficient on-chain financial systems.
- Anastassis Oikonomopoulos (Sinkas) – Program manager at the ArbitrumDAO OpCo with a background in business administration and economics.
- Mike McCabe – co-founder of Privacy Pools, he is building privacy tech
- Keyvan Kambakhsh – hardcore computer geek who adores reinventing the wheel! His main interest is the application of zero-knowledge proofs to privacy protocols. He is the main author of EIP7503.
- Roxana Nasoi – Core Contributor at Logos, leading London chapter, Forbes-featured, Top Privacy Voice 2025, and TEDx speaker on Digital Identity 2020.
- Alin-Mihai Barbatei – Founder and Principal Security Researcher at Cyba Blockchain Security, with over a decade of cybersecurity expertise spanning Web2 and Web3, securing over $1B in TVL across EVM and Bitcoin L2s.
- Gavin Birch – Builder focused on privacy infrastructure and governance design, founder of Armada, exploring activity shaping, revenue-gated unlocks, and credible neutrality in Ethereum systems.
- Gabi Dumitriu – Certified Investigator (OSCE Cyber), blockchain expert building tools to combat illicit crypto activity, with experience spanning enterprise blockchain solutions and crypto forensics.
- Sebastian Banescu – CEO & Founder of Adevar Labs, a security researcher with deep expertise in blockchain, smart contracts, and software security.
- Owen Healy – One of the most recognized recruiters in blockchain technology, helping build teams behind leading Web3 projects.
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