Token2049: A circus of crypto and commerce

If I should describe Token2049 in a word, it would be “extravagance.”

Walking along the conference halls of Marina Bay Sands, one is bombarded by several DJs spinning at the same time, audaciously-dressed women from traditional marketing agencies shoving flyers at attendees and the occasional absurdly-costumed mascot you can’t help but stare at.

Token2049 Singapore is arguably the crypto industry’s largest business-driven event, and its ostentatious presentation leaves no room for moderation.

Step into the exhibition areas and you’re greeted by a plethora of circus-like entertainment options between booths: retro arcade gaming machines, punching bags, a Spanish-style bullfighting ring and even an 18-foot rock climbing wall.

You’d be forgiven for almost forgetting you were here for work.

Stepping out for a breather? There’s even a Bitvavo-sponsored massage room, but expect at least a 30-minute wait (I, sadly, had to pass).

One major crypto company told me that the glitz and glamor was all a bit too “excessive,” and it’s hard to disagree.

Based on the official Token2049 site, the event was being attended by at least 7000 companies and 20,000 attendees — numbers that exceed the daily active users of even L1/L2 chains.

With nearly 800 side events — and that’s not counting the probably hundreds more private events — it’s a stark contrast to the more sober and low-key developer-focused crypto events of the west.

Spotted at the ARC Community side event: internet meme sensation “Hide the Pain Harold” with Mandopop star JJ Lin; Photo credit: ARC Community

I recall a prominent running gag from previous Token2049s that pointed out how the conference was overrun by venture and hedge funds, while suffering from a dearth of builders.

The same could definitely not be said for the vibe this year. DeFi-centric builders like Aave, Uniswap, Matcha, Sky (previously Maker), EigenLayer, Ethena and Ether.Fi populated the conference and side events this year.

Brand names I expected to see more of — like Cosmos and Cardano — had a relatively muted presence, though I did spot a jubilant Charles Hoskinson being trailed by his entourage.

Notably missing in conference action, and the side events too, were the horde of GameFi and NFT projects that dominated past Token2049s. 

“Conferences like ETH Denver or Devcon are tech-focused, as opposed to Token2049 which is more commercial,” Synthetix and Infinex co-founder Kain Warwick told me. 

Read more: ETHDenver showed good vibes are back in crypto, but questions remain

“The nice thing about Token2049 this year is you have both the cracked-out zk engineers running around, but you also have tons of VCs and TradFi companies. It’s a really good mix, and more representative of the whole industry rather than just siloing off tech or commercial alone,” Warwick said. 

Solana Breakpoint 2024

But to call it “Token2049 week” would be a misnomer.

Right after Token2049 was also of course Solana’s flagship annual event, Breakpoint.

In terms of event size and attendance, Breakpoint was but a mere fraction of Token2049. But what it lacked in opulence, Breakpoint made up for in a highly engaged and application-focused conference.

Perhaps the biggest announcement came from Jump Trading’s chief scientist Kevin Bowers, who announced Firedancer, the long-awaited Solana validator client poised to solve most of the L1’s existing problems.

Lamborghini by Drift Protocol outside the Breakpoint convention area

The Solana team also unveiled a new “Solana Seeker” Web3 phone, together with the Play Solana Gen1 (PSG1), a new Web3 gaming device that resembles the nostalgic Nintendo Game Boy of the past.

In Solana DeFi news, the liquid staking platform Marinade announced its v2 platform, Jupiter Exchange acquired Cosmos DEX aggregator Coinhall and the SolanaFM block explorer, and both Sky (previously Maker) and Coinbase are bringing their respective USDS stablecoin and tokenized bitcoin cbBTC to Solana. Also, Zeta Markets announced Solana’s first layer-2 solution Bullet, and Iggy Azalea is launching “Motherland,” an online gaming casino for her MOTHER memecoin.

Of course, there was a Bonk-themed boxing ring

Coming to Solana on the TradFi side of things, Franklin Templeton announced plans for a money market fund, the tokenization platform Securitize is partnering with Wormhole to integrate its tokenized assets from EVM chains and French bank Societe Generale is taking its EURCV euro-pegged stablecoin to Solana.

F1 Singapore Grand Prix, Ethereum Singapore

Straddling Token2049 and Breakpoint was also a slew of other events, including Ethereum Singapore, Balaji Srinivasan’s Network State conference and the F1 Singapore Grand Prix event that brought most roads in Singapore’s central business district to a close.

Vitalik Buterin speaking at Ethereum Singapore

Down in the F1 pits, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri and OKX Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique unveiled their new “Legend Reborn” MCL38 car, co-designed with OKX.

That very car was piloted by Norris and Piastri to first and third place, respectively, at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Source: OKX

The joint partnership of OKX and McLaren is a union of two heritage brands, Rafique told me amid a throng of screaming teen fans and the occasional high-pitch screech of cars zipping by. 

“OKX has been around longer than Coinbase, Binance or Bybit, and we wanted people to learn what OKX stands for, which is resilience. We looked for a partner that could match that resilience, and that’s why we chose McLaren.”

As the week of Token2049 comes to a close, one thing has become clear to me: Token2049 is not a “crypto conference.” Rather, it’s more accurately a conference dedicated to the intersection of the blockchain and traditional industries.

Many of the booth names at Token2049 would be foreign to most crypto-natives. With thousands of companies attending, that is somewhat to be expected.

“There’s a strong [business developer] focus,” Aave founder Stani Kulechov told me. “What’s interesting about Token2049 is it’s in Singapore, which really connects all parts of the world, so you have a lot of people coming from Europe, the US and APAC, which makes it really unique.”

Yet, with full-day summits and side events for every niche sector of crypto you could possibly think of — including DePIN, crypto & AI, DeSci (decentralized science), market making and more — there was truly something for everyone.

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