Web3 Summit

A huge thank you to @AcademyPolkadot for bringing this conversation to the @Web3summit stage — and to @PaulineVorms, @marinamarc, @LuzMelyReyes, @Caco_aguilo, and José Luis Peñarredonda for closing the program with such urgency and clarity. The promise of Web3 is not technology for its own sake. It is building products, tools, and networks that serve people — and independent journalism is one of the clearest places to start.

Great to see the developer activity at @Web3summit Open-source code only goes as far as the people who run with it. Shout out to the independent validators, collaborators, and third-party teams who kept infrastructure moving last week. 🙌

some of my reflections after web3 summit: parity has built some incredible things which completely abstract the blockchain(s) away. this was the original theory behind polkadot - blockchains which all serve different purposes, but work together in ways to enable a cohesive whole. this whole allows us to build protocols on top of those infrastructure components which are decentralized, uncensorable versions of things which web2 developers are well-acquainted with: message passing, hot storage, syncing and notifications, along with the added bonus of having native (fully private!) payment rails alongside the entire thing. in case it's not obvious, privacy for not just payments but for all things polkadot is a theme here. this means decentralized web hosting (yes, your react site will work too), addressable sites (dotNS), universal sign in (with the polkadot app) - while keeping the ability to stay private across different services, and selectively choose who or what you reveal your identities to. it might not have been clear with the prototypes demonstrated at the summit, but there is a massive focus on user experience and real-world applications which allow people to finally truly have a stack which is fully integrated to build on in web3. this is no easy feat, but the building blocks are there and worked extremely well for the Summit participants - proof that we can build things and roll out stuff that enables people to build this new internet with us. there is a lot more in the pipeline and what we have showed the world is only a small part of the massive integrated stack that gav touched on in his "Polkadot 2030" talk. no, it won't take until 2030. and i'm very happy everyone liked my stickers and was able to win them after achieving their personhood playing the game. 🖤

Thank you, @yanisvaroufakis for joining us at @Web3summit 2026! Your insights, ideas, and constructive criticism brought a vital perspective to the Summit, challenging the Web3 community to think bigger, build with purpose, and confront the power structures shaping the internet. Transitioning beyond Web2 means more than new technology. It means asking who controls the platforms, the data, and the value created online — and what it will take to return that power to people.

This year's @Web3summit brought the future of the internet into the hands of everyone who participated. From the fight for the future of AI, privacy that actually works, censorship-resistant journalism, cypherpunk culture, proof of personhood, and the future of truth online to hands-on demos with the test app and Playground .dot — this was Web3 as a living, building movement. A BIG thank-you to every participant, speaker, artist and developer who joined us. 🙏 For those of you who couldn't join the Summit IRL, stay tuned for detailed recap videos. Until then, here are some impressions 📽️:

did you know that polkadot has developed fully private payments? that was experienced by participants at the web3 summit - they were able to pay for their food & drink faster than using a credit card & totally opaque: no one can see who paid, but merchants can still verify txs

At the Web3 Summit in Berlin, developers, economists and activists debate whether decentralised technology can deliver on its promise to put control of the internet back into the hands of users. l.euronews.com/liFb

Very cool Proof of Talk demo by @KarimJDDA just happened at @Web3summit using the @Polkadot App! Proof ou are a human by presenting, hashing your talk and proving it only in a few clicks.

Continuous, indefinite execution. High-performance synchronous composition. Vast scale through network parallelization. This cannot be done with traditional blockchains. Not even parachains. @gavofyork shares his thoughts on the possibiities of JAM at @Web3summit

Congrats! 🥳

The Playground . dot leaderboard has spoken. 🥇 armsves.01 -2,345 XP 🥈 dodonew - 845 XP 🥉 thewudlands - 795 XP Crowd favourite: rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock.dot Most modded: playground-tutorial.dot This is what happens when you give developers an open testnet and two days. Congratulations to everyone who shipped something. 🏆

Moved over to Studio 1 now.

The JAM Demo: Why This Architecture Changes Everything & JAM Economics Fireside In a few hours @gavofyork takes the stage again. This time for a deep tech dive and discussion. See you there.

Let’s talk about JAM. @gavofyork session has moved to Studio 1. Starts at 3.40pm

Playground .dot closing in 30 minutes. Stay tuned for the winners announcement.

Playground .dot in action. Devs, it's not too late to build your own app.

One of the things that makes Web3 Summit unique. Yesterday, the Pala team hosted an informal student networking session as part of the summit's participatory program. Around 30 students joined the gathering to connect with builders, researchers, founders, and fellow students interested in the future of Web3. A special highlight was seeing Dr. Gavin Wood stop by to chat with participants, answer questions, and exchange ideas in a relaxed setting. The future of Web3 is shaped not only on stage, but also through conversations like these. See you at the final day of @Web3Summit 2026!

Happening now, @JoanWesten75687 : Artist Should be Running This

Day 2 at @Web3Summit. Studio Two is running sessions on the things that matter most right now. Privacy as a business model. Identity rooted in community. Technology built around people. Come find out what that looks like in practice. Agenda: web3summit.com/agenda/?day=fr…