Gm frens,
This month we are a bit delayed with the newsletter (we aim at sending it out once a month around the 20th). Hope you didn't miss us too much!
Here's a TLDR of this month's edition:
Bizza Day 2026 is THIS FRIDAY β join us in Bucharest
ETH Cluj 2026 β recap from an incredible second edition
ETH Bucharest Γ Arbitrum Open House β official community partnership
Carpath Labs β Romania's new coordination hub for blockchain and AI
BIZZA DAY 2026 @ The Vintage Bucharest
π Friday, May 22 β 5:00 PM
π The Vintage Pub, Old Town, Bucharest
One of the biggest Bizza Days ever! Get ready to celebrate the most delicious deal in crypto history β back in 2010, 10,000 Bitcoins were traded for two pizzas. Today, that's worth over $943 million!
What's on the menu:
π Mouth-watering pizza & electric vibes
πΈ Drinks sponsored by Bitget
π Crazy merch and one-of-a-kind activities from Bitget
Guest Speakers & Panelists: Daniel Nita, Crypto Ace, Stefan Stoean, AB Crypto, Anna Mera, Alexandru Hobincu β moderated by Alex CΔrbunariu
Big names from the Romanian crypto scene, plus epic networking with blockchain builders, investors, enthusiasts, traders, and more.
Prizes, surprises & an unforgettable night! Whether you're new to crypto or a seasoned HOLDer, Bizza Day is your place to be. It's going to be a slice above the rest!
We're excited to announce that ETH Bucharest is an official community partner of Arbitrum Open House London 2026.
Arbitrum Open House is the ecosystem's flagship builder acceleration program β not a hackathon, not a conference, but a high-touch builder funnel combining capital, mentorship, and deep ecosystem integration to help founders go from idea to funded startup.
What's included:
Online Buildathon β May 25 to June 14, 2026
IRL Founder House, London β July 10 to 12, 2026
Structured mentorship, ecosystem access, investor introductions, and a Demo Day
Tracks: General, Agentic AI, and Robinhood Chain Prize pool: $300K in prizes & grants
Whether you're a technical founder deciding where to build, a Web3 engineer working across EVM ecosystems, or a Web2 developer making the move into crypto, this program was built for you.
Previous edition (Open House NYC, March 2026): 1,712 builders engaged Β· 177 projects submitted Β· $340,000 in prizes and grants awarded
Applications for the Online Buildathon close on May 25th.
π Interested? REGISTER HERE
A special note for ETH Bucharest Arbitrum track teams (2024 & 2025)
If you built on the Arbitrum track at ETH Bucharest (in either 2024 or 2025) we want to hear from you. You're exactly the kind of team this program was designed for, and we'd love to see you apply.
Interested in applying? REGISTER HERE
Applications for the Online Buildathon CLOSE May 25. The London Founder House runs July 10β12, 2026.
Just got back from Cluj after the 2nd edition of ETH Cluj, and what a time it was.
ETH Cluj is one of our favourite boutique events in the space β and the one we keep coming back to every year. Not your typical blink-blink conference. No side-quest chaos. Just real builders in a room actually talking to each other.
It genuinely feels more like a bootcamp than an event. Everyone there actually wants to be there. And the talks? Actually attended β because the speakers know their stuff and don't waste your time.
A few highlights that hit differently:
Simona Serban's opening ceremony
Sebastian Banescu's Drained Before any Code Exploit: The Non-Code Risks of Web3
Security panel w/ Sebastian, Dmytro, Riptide, Kryztof & Steffen
Filippo on next-gen DeFi Lending
The Agentic Layer of Smart Contract Security (Andrei Dobra)
Privacy panel w/ Roxana, Mike, Robert, Steffen & Gavin
Can small teams still build on Ethereum? β one of the best panels of the year
πΉ All recordings here.
Cluj itself is a vibe. History, nature, great coffee, even better food. The perfect place for authentic builder gatherings.
Huge shoutout to Simona Serban and the entire ETH Cluj team + volunteers, and to every sponsor who made it happen. See you next year frens. LFG π
Launched in April 2026, Carpath Labs is a new think tank and coordination layer for Romania's top blockchain and AI projects. It connects teams that already have working products and real traction, aiming to foster genuine collaboration, shared knowledge, and stronger global impact.
Rather than another accelerator or community, Carpath Labs focuses on practical coordination β helping Romanian builders move beyond isolation and hype toward collective growth.
Early Momentum
Within weeks, the initiative attracted over 10 founding members, including SmartSentinels, Adevar Labs, Quantorius, Humans.ai, and Pigli Network. The group is already active, with updates shared on X at @CarpathLabs.
Why It Matters
Romania has deep talent in software engineering, cybersecurity, and emerging tech. Carpath Labs aims to channel that potential into a cohesive ecosystem, helping the country become a notable player in decentralized AI and Web3. By uniting strong local projects, it turns individual efforts into something greater β positioning Romania as an innovation hub with real global ambitions.
That's all from us this month. A little late, but packed.
Stay connected, keep building, and we'll see you out there. As always, hit reply if you have questions, feedback, or just want to say hi.
Until then β build something worth talking about.
β The ETH Bucharest team