Kadena Hosts Chainweb EVM Workshop With $50M Builder Grant Program At ETHVietnam

In Brief

Kadena showcased the Chainweb EVM and its $50 million Builder Grant Program at ETHVietnam, guiding developers through Solidity deployments, testnet exercises, and hands-on workshops while supporting EVM-native and Pact-focused projects.

Scalable proof-of-work Layer 1 platform Kadena, which operates the Chainweb EVM, held a side event during ETHVietnam at SUCI Hub in Ho Chi Minh City. The gathering followed the recent launch of the Chainweb EVM testnet—introduced at EthCC[8] alongside more than fifty projects—and centered on demonstrating the deployment of Solidity-based smart contracts within Kadena’s ecosystem while outlining participation opportunities in the network’s $50 million Builder Grant Program

The program was structured into two cohorts of approximately thirty participants, one composed mainly of students experimenting with initial deployments and the other featuring developers already familiar with EVM who examined performance considerations, tooling options, and migration strategies. The agenda, running from 11:00 to 18:00 on Sunday, August 10th, combined technical instruction, dedicated build sessions, and a concluding showcase

The event emphasized the reasoning behind Kadena’s transition from Chainweb to the Chainweb EVM Testnet, guided attendees through the developer portal, and enabled practical deployment exercises. Presenters highlighted the role of Kadena’s braided parallel-chain proof-of-work architecture in delivering low-cost transactions and horizontally scalable functionality for EVM developers.

Solidity Meets Pact With Safety At The Core

Workshop sessions were led by mentors including the Head of Developer Relations, a Senior Solidity Engineer, and a Product Manager, who guided participants through the process of deploying to the Chainweb EVM Testnet with the newly released open-source Scaffold Kadena framework. The walkthrough covered the entire workflow from setting up and funding a MetaMask wallet to local deployment on devnet and ultimately publishing to testnet, showing that the full sequence can be reliably completed in around 15 to 20 minutes

The audience engaged heavily on technical topics, with developers raising questions about the operational mechanics of Chainweb EVM and researchers focusing on Pact, Kadena’s human-readable smart contract language, particularly its safety features in relation to Chainweb consensus as EVM integration expands. The discussions, spanning Solidity and Pact, underscored the intent of the series to support EVM-native development teams while also introducing builders to Pact’s security-focused design as a parallel element of Kadena’s ecosystem.

“Vietnam’s developer energy is real,” said C.J. Freeman, Head of Developer Relations at Kadena, in a written statement. “I’m humbled by the amazing response we’ve received. Developers here are massively passionate about Web3, so it’s a pleasure to talk with them about deploying on Kadena. The hands-on format lets us ship to Chainweb EVM testnet in minutes and meet future Developer Advocates who will help us scale education locally,” he added.

Why Chainweb EVM: Delivering Low Fees And Parallel Throughput

The workshop was positioned in connection with ETHVietnam activities and supported by local ecosystem partners, with SUCI extending outreach to student communities and early-stage founders in Ho Chi Minh City. Most participants were younger developers aiming to explore practical applications for their ideas while gaining exposure to emerging opportunities. For those considering development, Chainweb EVM enables Solidity-based smart contract deployment within Kadena’s braided proof-of-work architecture, which emphasizes horizontal scalability and low transaction costs

Entry points include Chainweb EVM documentation, quick-start resources, and sample repositories accessible through the developer portal, before moving into testnet deployment using standard EVM workflows. Broader regional momentum also contributes to the environment: in June 2025, Vietnam enacted legislation recognizing crypto assets, set to take effect on January 1st, 2026, and policymakers have signaled progress toward a pilot digital-asset exchange. This combination of regulatory clarity and strong grassroots adoption creates conditions where early teams can establish footholds in underdeveloped market segments.

The $50 million Builder Grant Program, introduced in May, is structured to back initiatives on Chainweb EVM as well as projects in areas such as real-world asset tokenization and blockchain applications involving AI. It offers equity-free financial support in combination with mentorship and market entry guidance, with applications accepted on a continuous basis and evaluated through rolling reviews, creating a pathway for workshop ideas to move from early prototypes toward production-ready deployments. Kadena’s involvement at ETHVietnam highlighted a focus on supporting builders in the Asia-Pacific region, reflected in the presence of mentors and an agenda designed to emphasize efficient and repeatable development cycles.