ETHCluj conference returns to Cluj-Napoca, expanding Eastern Europe’s builder ecosystem
Following a successful first edition, ETHCluj is back for its second conference in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Building on the momentum of its 2025 debut, the 2026 edition will once again unite the Ethereum community for two days of technical talks, research, collaboration, and side events across the city.
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 welcomed more than 200 attendees, including over 40 students, alongside:
- 80 speakers
- 90+ sessions
- 9 side events
- 10 sponsors
- 3 institutional partners
- 19 ecosystem partners
The event was delivered by a lean, builder-led team deeply rooted in the local technical community.
Community and ecosystem support
ETHCluj 2026 is backed by a growing network of sponsors and global community partners. This year’s Main Sponsor is Akasha Foundation. It also collaborates with leading Ethereum communities worldwide, with more partners continuing to join.
Local and regional partners include:
- 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, an open-source technology community
Together, these collaborations strengthen ETHCluj’s global connectivity while supporting meaningful ecosystem development in Eastern Europe.
Conference tracks for the 2026 edition
Content at ETHCluj 2026 will be organized across six technical tracks:
- Ethereum Culture and Roadmap
- AI and Ethereum
- Privacy
- Usability and Adoption
- Security
- Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
The program will feature both local and international speakers announced through the official website and social channels, representing infrastructure, research, security and application-layer innovation across the Ethereum ecosystem. In addition to the two-day conference, ETHCluj will once again be surrounded by a series of community-driven side events throughout ETHCluj Week in Cluj-Napoca.
During the 2025 edition, the ecosystem hosted 9 independent side events, including meetups, workshops, informal builder gatherings and partner-led sessions across the city. These events created more 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 will take place on May 13–14, 2026, at Cluj Arena, ETHCluj Week will extend activities across multiple venues throughout the city. This format gives participants the chance to experience not only the conference itself, but also the broader Ethereum community gathering in Cluj-Napoca.
Featured speakers for ETHCluj 2026
ETHCluj 2026 will bring together 40+ 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, onchain 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
- Krzysztof Paruch — Mathematician and crypto economist focused on mechanism design, prediction markets, and capital-efficient onchain financial systems
- Anastassis Oikonomopoulos (Sinkas) — Program manager at ArbitrumDAO OpCo with a background in business administration and economics
- Roxana Nasoi — Core Contributor at Logos, leading the 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 $1 billion 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
- Dr. Neville Grech — White hat hacker focused on software engineering, security, and program analysis, and lead author of MadMax, a static analysis technique designed to automatically identify gas-focused vulnerabilities in smart contracts
- Owen Healy — One of the most recognized recruiters in blockchain technology, helping build teams behind leading Web3 projects
Readers can get 50% off ETHCluj 2026 tickets using the dedicated community link.
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