2026-11-04 –, Lightning Stage
Since I first joined in the Ethereum space in 2017 my instinct has been to "disintermediate" the incumbents, whether ICANN, standards bodies, or the legacy identity system. I'll reflect on how this instinct has changed as Ethereum is increasingly becoming financial infrastructure for traditional businesses, and share a practical playbook for building coalitions with the institutions that already steward open source infrastructure.
While creating neutral, censorship-resistant tech has always been an Ethereum ideal, my younger self thought that accompanied a total deconstructing of existing institutions. A decade later I've watched the opposite prove true. Ethereum is earning its place as core financial infrastructure by working with open source standards bodies. ENS could have minted TLDs on its own authority; instead we support the single DNS root and contribute to ICANN technical working groups. GLEIF, the G20's post-2008 business identity body, is bringing verifiable company IDs onchain. SWIFT is bringing bank IDs onchain. Coinbase gave x402 to the Linux Foundation. Each of these coalitions run on mutual interest because no competitor wants to adopt a standard another competitor owns. I'll share what actually works when pitching Ethereum, like unlearning our jargon, leading with their risk instead of our ideals, and being honest about what our infrastructure can and can't do.
James Beck is a Brooklyn-based writer, technologist, and music producer working on consumer blockchain applications. As Head of Growth at ENS Labs, his mission is to increase brand awareness and drive integrations of ENS's decentralized identity protocol. Since 2017, James has been immersed in the Ethereum ecosystem, previously Consensys, Mirror, and Avara.