Ethereum Heads to Cannes: EthCC[8] Arrives at a Defining Moment for the Community

The Ethereum community is packing its bags for the French Riviera.

This year’s Ethereum Community Conference — EthCC[8] — is set to take place in Cannes from June 30 to July 03, marking a significant shift in tone, location, and timing for one of the ecosystem’s most important gatherings.

Traditionally held in Paris, the move to Cannes signals more than just a change of scenery. As Ethereum navigates its next phase of growth following the Pectra upgrade, this year’s conference comes at a pivotal moment — where questions around scalability, mainstream adoption, and financial infrastructure are no longer theoretical, but urgent.

From Grassroots to Global Infrastructure

EthCC has always been a grassroots affair — built by the community, for the community. But this year’s event has heavyweight sponsors including Robinhood and Crypto Life (powered by Baanx), reflecting Ethereum’s increasingly close ties with traditional finance and fintech. The timing is no accident: the recent Pectra upgrade, which brought significant improvements to scalability and efficiency, has set the stage for a new wave of real-world applications.

“Ethereum isn’t just a protocol anymore — it’s becoming infrastructure,” said Jerome de Tychey, founder of Ethereum France and longtime EthCC organizer. “And in times of growth, it’s critical to return to the values that built this ecosystem in the first place: openness, resilience, and community.”

A Diverse Crowd, A Common Goal

EthCC[8] will bring together over 400 speakers and thousands of attendees for four days of talks, workshops, and community-led events. The lineup reflects Ethereum’s broadening scope — from protocol researchers and open-source developers to startup founders, regulators, and institutional players.

Confirmed speakers include Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Robinhood Crypto’s Johann Kerbrat, Sygnum Bank’s Remo Glauser, and even David Lisnar, the Mayor of Cannes. The conference will also feature a new round of EthVC — a pitch program where selected startups present to top venture capital firms like Accel, DFG, and BPI France.

“There’s a real sense this year that Ethereum is entering a new phase,” said Bettina Boon Falleur, Head of EthCC. “We’re seeing conversations that go beyond tech — into ethics, policy, identity, public goods, and how we build systems that last. That’s why it’s so important to have voices from across the spectrum: developers, investors, regulators, and builders.”

Why Now Matters

The past few years have seen Ethereum achieve some of its most ambitious milestones — from the Merge, to Shanghai, and now Pectra. But these technical leaps have also brought new challenges: how to scale responsibly, how to manage decentralization as institutions join the fold, and how to preserve user privacy while pushing for mainstream relevance.

Topics like zero-knowledge proofs, tokenized real-world assets, and decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN) will be front and center in Cannes. And while the location may be glamorous, the mission remains grounded: to share knowledge, debate tough questions, and build systems that last.

Beyond the Conference Halls

As always, EthCC is more than just the main event. The surrounding week will be packed with community-organized side events, hackathons, meetups, and beachside brainstorms. It’s where the real Ethereum gets built — not just in code, but in conversation.

Bottom Line

As Ethereum continues to grow from protocol to public utility, EthCC remains the community’s moment to reflect, reset, and plan ahead. This year, under the sun of Cannes, that work feels more important than ever.

Because in a world that’s racing toward tokenized everything, the Ethereum community still believes in building something human — open, decentralized, and shared.

And that, more than the tech, is what’s worth gathering for.