ETHShanghai 2026 will be held in Shanghai on Sept. 22, 2026, under the theme "Ethereum Renaissance." The organizers say the event is meant to revisit Ethereum’s more than ten-year history and the values they believe still matter: openness, collaboration, freedom, autonomy, and new ways for people to connect with one another.
In the event description, the organizers argue that Ethereum has never been just a blockchain. In their view, it has also been reshaping how people connect, collaborate, and create. They point to digital nomads as one group already putting those ideas into practice in everyday life.
Borderless work, remote collaboration, and individual sovereignty are described as core parts of the digital nomad lifestyle, closely aligned with the original ethos of Ethereum. According to the announcement, these people may be based in Shanghai, Hangzhou, or Chengdu, but they may just as easily be living in a rural area, on an island, or in a city on the other side of the world. What ties them together, the organizers say, is that they are no longer defined by a fixed office or a single geographic location, and they continue to test new community structures, working methods, and ways of living. The announcement says digital nomad communities are becoming an important real-world testing ground for Ethereum’s spirit.
ETHShanghai seeks 2 to 5 communities with live, on-the-ground practice
This year’s ETHShanghai plans to invite 2 to 5 digital nomad communities from different cities and regions to attend in person. The organizers say they are not looking for abstract concepts, nor do they want communities to package themselves as "Web3 projects." What they want instead are concrete accounts: who the communities are, what they are doing now, how they coordinate and operate, what has worked, what remains difficult, and what they want to explore next.
The stated goal is to show Ethereum developers, researchers, public goods builders, and other community participants what digital nomad communities look like today and how they function in practice. The announcement lists several areas of focus:
- what is happening inside digital nomad communities right now;
- how co-living, co-learning, rural development, and youth self-organization actually operate;
- how governance, contribution records, open collaboration, and Web3 / DAO ideas enter real communities;
- which common problems are appearing across communities in different cities and regions;
- what new links may emerge between digital nomad communities and the Ethereum ecosystem.
What kinds of communities the event wants to hear from
The call says ETHShanghai wants to move away from grand, abstract framing and focus on stories unfolding at ground level. Communities are encouraged to apply if they are working in any of the following directions:
- offline co-living and co-learning, including youth self-organized groups, digital nomad hubs, and distributed collaboration bases;
- rural development and local integration, combining digital tools with new governance mechanisms to support villages and traditional communities;
- organizational and governance experiments that bring DAO ideas, open collaboration, contribution tracking, or on-chain identity into the routines of real communities;
- action-oriented teams that already have tangible stage-by-stage progress, with organizers or core members able to travel to Shanghai and willing to share detailed front-line experience.
The organizers add that the invitation extends to youth self-organized groups, co-living communities, rural-building communities, co-learning spaces, and digital nomad networks exploring new forms of collaboration. Their stated criterion is simple: if a community is trying to answer how people can live, work, and create together under new social relations, it is welcome to get in touch. The organizers also say they hope to meet communities from different places around the world.
Some of those communities may be in cities the organizers have never heard of before. Others may be running small-scale but compelling experiments. This year, they say, they want to bring those stories to Shanghai.
What selected communities will receive
Communities that are chosen will receive:
- a five-minute Community Showcase to present their practice on site at ETHShanghai;
- a themed booth to display the community, its members, and ongoing work;
- official exposure through the event handbook and ETHShanghai’s social media channels;
- face-to-face exchanges with Ethereum developers, researchers, public goods builders, and other participants;
- new connections with digital nomad communities from different countries and cities;
- post-event documentation, with standout cases to be compiled into a record titled "Collaborative Practices of Digital Nomad Communities."
The organizers say they do not want this to be only a showcase. They want it to become an encounter between communities. In their description, people from different places can come together around shared values, exchange what they are building, and talk through questions that still do not have clear answers.
The announcement also ties that idea back to the event theme. More than a decade ago, the organizers write, Ethereum reimagined what the internet could be. More than a decade later, they suggest it may be time to rethink how people can live together, how they can collaborate, and how real, human communities can form in a world without borders. In the event text, that possibility is presented as part of the meaning of "Ethereum Renaissance."
Timeline and application details
- Event date: Sept. 22, 2026
- Location: Shanghai, China
- Application deadline: Sept. 12, 2026, 23:59 (UTC+8)
- How to apply: contact the organizer via WeChat
The announcement notes that only 2 to 5 co-build slots are available in this round, in order to maintain presentation quality and allow deeper on-site interaction. The organizers say selected teams will be contacted as soon as possible.
The registration link included at the end of the announcement is: https://luma.com/365uky1b
Organizers and supporting groups
The article identifies ETHPanda as one of the organizers. It describes ETHPanda as an Ethereum community made up of Chinese-speaking builders, focused on connecting that group with the broader international Ethereum ecosystem through education, public services, events, and technical innovation, with the aim of supporting Ethereum’s continued development and innovation.
PANews is presented as a professional media platform covering developments at the intersection of technology and finance. The description says it tracks crypto assets, blockchain technology, AI, and related markets, offering breaking news, in-depth analysis, and trend insights. It is described in the announcement as one of the more influential Chinese-language media outlets in Web3.
The Excited Few is described as a collective of independent writers carrying forward the cypherpunk tradition. According to the announcement, it studies the threats posed by centralized AI and holds that no single force in cyberspace should have the power to define the whole truth.
The list of special supporters includes GCC, Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, LXDAO, ETH HK Hub, and Web3Buidler.Tech.
GCC is described as a grant-making organization supporting Chinese-language digital public goods and open-source ecosystems, with a focus on Ethereum, developer education, open-source tools, and infrastructure.
Wanxiang Blockchain Labs, according to the announcement, was founded in 2015 by China Wanxiang Holdings Co., Ltd. It brings together experts in the field to study technical research and development, commercial applications, and industrial strategy, while also providing guidance for entrepreneurs and references for industry development and policymaking.
LXDAO is introduced as a research and development-oriented decentralized DAO focused on sustainably supporting Web3 public goods and open-source projects.
ETH HK Hub is described as being initiated by the Ethereum Foundation and jointly operated by SNZ and ETHTAO. The announcement calls it Asia’s first physical Ethereum community center and a global hub for exchange and innovation linking East and West as well as Web2 and Web3. Its stated aim is to bring together developers, entrepreneurs, investors, community members, and Web3 builders in an open space for coworking, community interaction, and project collaboration.
Web3Buidler.Tech is described as a technical co-building community focused on innovation at the intersection of Web3 and AI.