With the recent push from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan to reclassify cryptocurrencies as financial products, and the growing institutional interest in Ethereum driving up ETH prices, EDCON 2025 will welcome the eighth global conference and return to Japan. EDCON 2025 will bring the Ethereum community to Osaka for high-level discussions around protocol evolution, financial integration, and real-world adoption.
The conference will be held from September 16-19 at Congrès Square Grand Green, expecting to attract over 6,000 developers, researchers, founders, and policymakers from around the world. This conference is co-hosted with public sectors and businesses, including the Osaka Prefectural Government and Osaka Innovation Hub.
EDCON will be a significant part of the Global Startup Crossroads–Osaka, a large international innovation event, and will take place concurrently with the Global Startup EXPO at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai World Expo.
"Holding the EDCON event in Osaka highlights our firm commitment to supporting local entrepreneurs and promoting innovative technology applications that will shape Osaka's vibrant future," said the Osaka Prefectural Government and the Osaka Business Development Agency (Osaka Innovation Center). "These initiatives complement Japan's recent progress in cryptocurrency regulation, placing Osaka's dynamic business community in a unique position to seize new opportunities."
This year, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum Foundation representative Adrian Li, and several top industry guests will deliver keynote speeches, with numerous Layer 2 networks (L2), DeFi protocols, and Japanese companies and financial institutions participating.
Transitioning from regulation to becoming the infrastructure of the real world
The Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan recently proposed to redefine cryptocurrencies as financial products under the framework of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA). This move indicates an increasing consensus at the institutional level and may pave the way for licensed ETFs, lower capital gains taxes, and the integration of stablecoins into banks, fintech companies, and public infrastructure systems.
This policy shift establishes the core theme of EDCON 2025—transitioning from protocol upgrades to real-world deployment, promoting the construction of compliant and scalable systems on Ethereum.
Key topics of the conference include
Stablecoins and tokenized finance: compliant issuance, Japanese foreign exchange (FX) application scenarios, integration of real-world assets (RWA)
Ethereum protocol and roadmap: Fusaka upgrade, ZK-EVM, PeerDAS, Blob scalability, zkFOCIL, ePBS, cross-L2 interoperability
Crypto and Artificial Intelligence (Crypto x AI: DeFAI, Verifiable ML, AI governance and alignment via DAO)
Cryptography and Privacy: privacy-preserving identity and reputation systems, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), multi-party computation (MPC), post-quantum cryptography
Consumer applications: wallet user experience (UX) optimization, mini-program ecosystem, the path to mass adoption
Decentralized acceleration (d/acc): infrastructure sovereignty, decentralized science (DeSci), open-source innovation acceleration
From community to community
Since its inception, the Ethereum Developer Conference (EDCON) has been a community-driven gathering, consistently upholding its mission to promote communication and collaboration among the global Ethereum community.
For EDCON 2025, the EDCON team is collaborating with various communities within the ecosystem to launch a series of collaborative programs, each creating unique stages and experiences:
A student session in collaboration with the Japan Student Web3 Association, gathering student representatives from around the world to discuss how the next generation can engage in Ethereum development.
Two workshops in collaboration with BGIN, focusing on cybersecurity and privacy pool standardization.
A workshop in collaboration with Open Build, themed around open source.
A workshop in collaboration with Uniswap Foundation, discussing Uniswap v4 Hooks.
A VC connection stage in collaboration with Web3 Salon, hosting a startup competition specifically for emerging Web3 startups.
A super demo session in collaboration with Akindo, showcasing the next-generation innovative achievements of Ethereum projects.
Registration and Cooperation
For ticket information and applications as speakers, sponsors, or community partners, please visit the official website https://www.edcon.io/.
About EDCON
EDCON is a nonprofit conference initiated by the Ethereum community, aimed at connecting public interest, policy-making, and protocol development. Since its establishment, it has been successfully held in Paris, Toronto, Sydney, San Francisco, Montenegro, Tokyo, and other locations. In 2025, EDCON will return to Japan against the backdrop of regulatory breakthroughs and institutional acceleration, continuing to gather top developers, researchers, and policymakers from around the world to promote open dialogue and innovation in Ethereum. For more information and the latest updates, please visit edcon.io.
