Reimagining Ethereum Through a Buddhist-Inspired Pop-Up Village

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Speaker: Shinya Mori

Type: Talk

Expertise: No prior knowledge

Event: Devcon

Date: Nov 2026

I’ll reimagine Ethereum not merely as a technology, but as “a technology for off-grid living,” through our practice at the pop-up village “kuu village.” As Ethereum gains wider adoption, its technology spreads without its underlying values and vision. To avoid reproducing Web 2.0 structures through superficial adoption, we need to reconsider Ethereum’s place in society. I co-organize kuu village, inspired by the Buddhist concept of kuu (“emptiness”). Across 2 pilots, about 50 people experimented with physical off-grid practices (building huts and digging wells) and digital off-grid practices (onchain governance, self-hosted servers, and mesh networks). Through values such as resilience, openness, and regeneration, we began to see these practices as Ethereum-like infrastructure, while reimagining Ethereum itself as an off-grid technology. My talk can share this perspective and practical ways to collaborate with people who don’t know Ethereum deeply, but embody its underlying values.