Top insights and thoughts from Token2049
There was a very massive event where crypto elites shared their opinions regarding the future of the market. All the most interesting insights below ⬇️
Here’s how things have evolved during both visits to this bear market:
🟣 There are more venture capitalists than founders attending the event, possibly due to high conference costs and the prolonged bear market.
🟣Mergers and acquisitions seem imminent, especially for founders with substantial IP, processes, and traction.
🟣 A widening gap exists between those with capital (from tokens or fundraising) and founders with strong products and communities.
🟣 Series A/B funding in equity-only rounds by token projects is a growing trend, potentially impacting token holders. The debate on its benefits continues.
🟣 Seed-stage startups face challenges, and it’s essential to focus on user-centric products and not confuse community with a viable business model.
🟣Comparisons between Dubai and Singapore reveal the latter’s advantage in talent and research. Dubai offers easier immigration but may lag behind in the long run.
In summary, Token2049 reveals a changing landscape with shifting dynamics between founders, investors, and the challenges they face in the crypto industry.
Next, we have provided reflections from important participants in the crypto market.
🔶IOSG Funder.
The crypto industry is experiencing a dual dynamic: on the one hand, growing participation in key events, on the other hand, the threat of many startups running out of finances. The bear market and regulatory pressure make it difficult to find funding, especially for VCs. New areas such as L2 and ZkEVM remain in focus, offering hope for innovation and raising capital. The adaptability and patience of teams stand in the balance.
🔶Co-founder Wintermute Eugene Gaevoy:
Approval of a spot BTC-ETF is inevitable, it will happen sooner or later. But even if the SEC approves all such products, it will still take time for them to appear on the market and work in full. It will take at least six months for money to start flowing into these products, and perhaps it will take a year or two. It’s hard to say how much of an impact this will have on the value of BTC, but when we see a real influx of funds, it will mean the industry will start to grow again.
🔶CZ:
OTC exchange of cryptocurrencies to national currencies is very important. Everyone is pulling the blanket on themselves. At the beginning of the year, many traditional institutions left the OTC market due to increased regulation. But at the same time, new institutions are emerging in the market. Our industry now has a few tens of millions of users and I believe the total number of users could reach a billion.
When a bank serves only one country, the number of users is severely limited. Cryptocurrencies can allow banks to deal with billions of users. This is a huge market. And many traditional financial institutions are interested in this. It is very important to be able to convert national currencies into cryptocurrencies and vice versa.
🔶 Temasek Pradyumna Agrawal Managing Director:
There is a general theory that every bull market has its own driving force. It is predicted that the next wave of growth will see massive institutional participation. There will be a need for some kind of bridge between these traditional companies and the digital world, which means if you want massive participation from institutional clients, you will need a robust infrastructure. All assets will have to be digital, will have to be tokenized. There is still a lot of work to be done to get more institutional participation.
🔶Justin Sun:
I believe that in the next 10 years, the largest everyday application of cryptocurrencies and blockchain will remain payment transactions using stablecoins. We recently saw the market size of the stablecoin market surpass $30 billion.Currently, the total market size is around $50 billion and daily transactions are over $12 billion.I predict that in the next 10 years, the transaction volume will be 100 times what it is now and eventually most people will be using stablecoins and blockchains without even understanding the technical details.
🔶Darryl Wang, founder of crypto venture club Tangent:
If you look at how the NFT market has evolved over the past 12 months, you’ll see that even the most dedicated holders were selling their NFTs. What we have seen in 2021 is the first step in creating more liquid assets. The concept of NFTs is simple enough for most people to understand. Most people trading watches, cars, etc. — it’s pretty firmly ingrained in human culture. Most of the NFTs are in the loya right now, and from a fundamental perspective there may be reasons for that. But when speculative enthusiasm returns again, then we can expect a recovery.
