Author: Crypto Curiosity Player
Source: Crypto Curiosity Player
This was my first time attending the Token2049 event. As a Web3 enthusiast (yes, I’ve always felt that this identity suits me best), I had two goals for attending:
1. To experience the atmosphere of Web3 up close. In Web3, the atmosphere is something that can’t be clearly defined but is particularly emphasized.
2. To understand the cutting-edge topics and narratives being discussed in the industry, which is especially important in a rapidly changing field.
The main conference of Token2049 took place over two days on April 18-19, but there were various side events, smaller activities, and parties starting from April 15. As someone who has previously worked in Web2 internet companies, the atmosphere of attending such a conference was completely different. Overall, Web3 events are conferences, but they feel more like parties where you can listen to speakers sharing their insights and casually engage with people from different countries and regions while holding a drink. And of course, if you have time in the evening, there are various parties organized by different entities where you can make new friends with just a beer in hand. The casual and free atmosphere pervades throughout the entire Web3 event.
Apart from the casual and free atmosphere, when it comes to the impressions of Dubai as a city and the discussions at Token2049, I think a few keywords can summarize it: Keyword one: Heavy rain.
If you are a participant in this industry, you must have seen the news about the rare heavy rain in Dubai on social media or your friends’ circle. On April 16, Dubai experienced the heaviest rainfall in a single day since 1949. Numerous luxury cars were submerged in water, and the public transportation system came to a halt.
Dubai has always been known for its luxury and prosperity. However, until April 18, the entire city was still partially or completely paralyzed in terms of public functions. The heavy rain tested the drainage system of this city that gathers human material wealth and exposed the vulnerability of affluent cities.
If we extend this to the Web3 industry, this heavy rain is also very inspiring:
1. A sound system needs to consider and prepare for low-probability risks, even if the probability is really low. For example, when we are working on a DeFi project, do we have the consciousness to recognize a very low-probability risk, but choose to turn a blind eye because of its low probability, holding a lucky mentality?
2. A sound system also needs to be prepared for black swan events at any time. We are currently in a bull market, and the overall atmosphere and sentiment tend to be optimistic. However, we need to remain vigilant because in this industry, we cannot determine when and in what form a black swan event will occur. Cautious optimism is always better than blind optimism. Keyword two: Regulation and compliance.
Regulation and compliance were the most frequently mentioned terms I heard in Dubai. The first panel discussion at the main conference on April 18 was about regulation and compliance. Guests such as CEO of Binance Richard Teng and co-founder of Bloq Matthew Roszak discussed their views on global regulation in the crypto industry. Additionally, in my conversations with different project teams, I also felt their emphasis on industry regulation and compliance. For project teams, they generally have concerns such as: 1. Which countries/regions have friendly regulatory and compliance policies? 2. How to obtain the corresponding compliance licenses in these countries/regions?
My impression is that there is a consensus among everyone in this industry regarding the need for regulation and compliance. The differences in discussions mainly lie in the methods and pace of regulation, as regulatory policies vary from country to country.
At the same time, it made me think of a question: Is there a contradiction between achieving high returns and increasing compliance in the industry? For example, in the early stages of blockchain, due to the lag in regulation and compliance, many projects and individuals have gained substantial returns. Will there still be individuals or projects that can quickly create wealth like in the past as the industry becomes more regulated and standardized? Keyword three: AI
In addition to regulation and compliance, AI was another hot topic I heard at the Token2049 event. At the main conference of Token2049, guests such as co-founder of Near Protocol IIIia Polosukhin and founder of io.net Ahmad Shadid discussed the possibilities of combining AI and Web3 in decentralized intelligence. Likewise, in some of the projects I discussed with at the venue and parties, about half of them were related to AI, including distributed storage and computing for AI, decentralized GPUs, intent-based AI applications, AI social networks, and creator economy. The popularity of the narrative of AI+Web3 is evident.
An interesting discovery is that in the past, when discussing Web3 mass adoption, people usually placed their hopes on GameFi and SocialFi. But this time, I felt that people now believe that AI has a greater potential for mass adoption of Web3. Keyword four: Chinese discourse power.
The Token2049 event took place close to the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival Summit. The comparison between the two events has become an interesting topic. After communicating with some Chinese practitioners, I found two common perceptions: 1. The concentration of Chinese participants at the Token2049 event is not as high as that of the Hong Kong Carnival event (which is understandable, considering the distance between Dubai and Greater China). 2. There are differences in the focus of the discussions. For example, the topic of the Bitcoin ecosystem was highly prominent at the Hong Kong Carnival event, but the discussion on this topic was relatively less intense at the Token2049 event.
Everyone is curious, is this like two different worlds?
This question is difficult to answer, and it cannot be conclusively determined at this time. My view is that Chinese participants in Web3 will definitely have their own discourse system.
On one hand, many Chinese project entrepreneurs and investors now have good backgrounds, fluency in English, global thinking due to studying and working abroad, and the “dare to venture” gene inherent in Chinese people. Therefore, in the next decade, I believe there will be more and more Chinese people active on the global stage of technological competition.
On the other hand, there are already many Chinese entrepreneurs in the Bitcoin ecosystem, which itself is an effort and proof of building a discourse system.
From the perspective of vision, I think the Web3 industry should not be divided by country/region, skin color, or background. Because this industry emphasizes consensus, when there is consensus, we are like-minded people, and we should not restrict each other based on where we come from, our skin color, educational/work backgrounds, etc. So from this perspective, whether Chinese or non-Chinese, we should downplay the differences in identities, as the emergence of new things like Bitcoin itself breaks the barriers of traditional sovereign boundaries.
These are the strong impressions I had from attending the Token2049 event this time. It should be noted that these are only my personal perceptions and may have subjective judgments, so they cannot represent the thoughts of every attendee. Furthermore, there were many other topics discussed fervently at the Token2049 event, such as DeFi, RWA, Bitcoin ETFs, restaking, etc. My above impressions cannot cover all these topics individually. But overall, events like Token2049 can serve as a compass reflecting the current hot topics and narratives in the Web3 industry. Regardless of each person’s subjective feelings, I believe that attending such events can form a common judgment on industry hotspots and narratives.
