ETHTaipei 2026: Vitalik Discusses Ethereum Breakthroughs, Lin Chih-Chen Proposes Taiwan's Crypto Island Blueprint

The annual Ethereum developer conference ETHTaipei 2026 concluded at the Nangang Bottle Cap Factory (POPOP Taipei). The event featured a two-day agenda focusing on research, development, and financial applications, inviting speakers such as Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Lin Chih-Chen, General Manager of Taiwan Mobile and Chairman and Partner of AppWorks, among others. Huang Shih-Ho, Secretary-General of the Financial Association, also attended to show support. On September 13, Cryptonative Day discussed protocol research, privacy, security, and on-chain efficiency, while Institution Day on September 14 invited banks, financial institutions, and enterprises to discuss the application of digital assets in the financial market.

Vitalik Discusses Censorship Resistance, Open Source, Privacy, and Security

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin delivers a speech at ETHTaipei 2026 Cryptonative Day

In the first speech of Cryptonative Day, Vitalik explained the goals that blockchain should serve using the acronym CROPS, which stands for censorship resistance, open source, privacy, and security. He believes that blockchain is a tool to achieve these goals, and developers should first clarify the problems they want to solve before deciding which functions need to use blockchain.

Vitalik also discussed the proprietary models, data monitoring, and de-anonymization risks under AI development, using examples of privacy AI queries and verifiable public safety cameras to illustrate how local or open-source AI, anonymous networks, zero-knowledge proofs, and trusted hardware can be used together. In these designs, blockchain can handle payments, trusted commitments, and public verification, while other functions are executed off-chain.

Reducing Verification Costs and On-Chain Read/Write: Vitalik and Polymarket Share Technical Solutions

In another technical presentation, Vitalik introduced the draft EIP-8288. The proposal allows signatures and proofs to be aggregated in the mempool, requiring only one aggregated STARK per block, thus reducing the need for individual transmission and recording of large proofs. The design focuses on lowering the verification costs of signatures and proofs, making it easier to adopt privacy tools and post-quantum security solutions. EIP-8288 is currently still in draft form, with specifications and adoption timelines yet to be determined.

Polymarket's senior protocol engineer Aditya shared the technical demands brought by approximately 30,000 markets on the platform daily and how the new protocol reduces on-chain data read/write. The new version adopts a modular design, following the principle of "derive, don't store," encoding market information into a 256-bit position ID, along with lazy initialization and replaceable oracles. Aditya noted that the platform once used about 70% of Polygon block space during peak periods. According to internal team estimates, V2 is expected to reduce this ratio to about 30%.

First Institution Day: Exploring the Integration of Blockchain and Traditional Financial Markets

The agenda for Institution Day covered digital assets, stablecoins, custody, real-world assets, and compliance. In his keynote, Lin Chih-Chen pointed out that if blockchain is only used for trading native crypto assets, the market it can serve remains limited. To enable assets like stocks, bonds, and real estate to use on-chain systems, collaboration with financial institutions, regulators, and existing market participants is necessary.

Lin used the development of the Internet as an example, arguing that the involvement of institutions does not necessarily change the spirit of openness. He likened regulations to protocols in the real world. Blockchain protocols govern the exchange of value and data, while regulations provide rules that the business community adheres to. He believes that compliance, governance, and user protection are issues that the crypto industry must address as it expands its applications.

Lin Chih-Chen Proposes Three Phases for Crypto Island

At ETHTaipei 2026 Institution Day, Lin Chih-Chen presents the vision for Crypto Island Taiwan

Lin proposed three development phases for Crypto Island, including enterprises establishing digital asset reserves, the development of DeFi, and the on-chain integration of financial infrastructure. He believes that Taiwan's foreign trade, supply chain, and technology industries, along with existing crypto asset users and compliant operators, will help develop applications such as cross-border remittances, supply chain finance, asset tokenization, and AI agent payments.

In his vision for Finance 2.0, the Internet is responsible for information exchange, blockchain for value exchange, and AI for automation, collectively supporting financial services. Lin looks forward to Taiwan becoming not only a technology manufacturing center but also an important node in digital finance by 2030.

Research and Financial Applications Featured on Two-Day Agenda

ETHTaipei 2026 arranged research on openness, privacy, security, and on-chain efficiency over the two-day agenda, also incorporating discussions on banking, regulation, assets, and Taiwan's industries, providing opportunities for researchers, developers, communities, financial institutions, and enterprises to exchange ideas.

About ETHTaipei

ETHTaipei is a community-initiated Ethereum event that allows developers, researchers, and communities in Taiwan and Asia to directly communicate with the global Ethereum team. Since its inaugural event in 2023, the cumulative participation has exceeded 3,000 individuals, with 169 speakers, 129 presentations, and over 70 peripheral activities.

Event Dates: 2026/9/13 (Sun) - 9/14 (Mon)

Location: Nangang Bottle Cap Factory POPOP Taipei

Complete event information: https://ethtaipei.org/