CoinPasar had the pleasure of attending the largest yearly crypto event in town. What are some of the Day 1 Highlights Of TOKEN2049?
TOKEN2049, one of the largest crypto events in Singapore, is back in town again with leading visionaries in the Web3 and crypto space coming together to share their insights and expertise on the crypto industry.
Taking place from 13th till 14th September, the event also featured different protocols and projects that are constantly innovating and building to create a better Web3 ecosystem, and it also brought together the crypto community, including enterprising entrepreneurs, skilled developers, passionate industry enthusiasts, and influential media outlets.
With an exciting lineup of events, we summarise some of the Day 1 Highlights of TOKEN2049 this year.
The State of Algorand
Algorand Foundation, the core team behind the Algorand blockchain which aims to enable an inclusive, decentralised economy based around the Algorand ecosystem, was one of the Day 1 Highlights of TOKEN2049. The team started off with an introduction of new developments that have been taking place behind the scenes by Chief Technology Officer, John Woods.
Woods’ biggest focus right now is on opening up the ecosystem to all developers, whether they are new or experienced, by integrating Python language. Users of the coding language will be able to build on the blockchain with the Algokit 2.0 upgrade, which currently uses the Teal language. The current choice of coding language is harder to build, debug, and learn; with the inclusion of a more widely used language like Python, Woods hopes to make infrastructure more inclusive, and less costly to build.
Moreover, blockchain development will move towards having a higher throughput and greater decentralisation. This means moving away from using relays to transmit data; instead, the team will build a peer-to-peer gossip network that decentralises the flow of data. At the same time, the upgrades will start incentivising consensus validation. Currently, the Algorand blockchain does not have similar rewards like other blockchains for network stakers, and the team will seek to emulate the token issuance to reward stakers that secure the network.
Woods’ next focus is to tackle the quantum security issue of quantum bit computers. Quantum machines are predicted to be able to break the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) which are used for public keys, and he propose that the use of State Proofs could be key to overcoming the problem.
Identifying The Next Wave Of Generational Crypto Projects
The finance-focused panel is another Day 1 highlights of TOKEN2049,brings together key Venture Capital firms to debate the current state of decentralised finance (DeFi), and the requirements of each speaker in identifying projects that have potential in the next bull run. The panel brought together speakers from Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, Hack VC, and Ethereal Ventures.
What are the crucial trends which could spark renewed interest in the DeFi space? Joey Krug, Partner of Founders Fund, feels that AI is the way to go in the next trending wave. Specifically with regards to AI agents, these automated bots would be essential to scaling up the speed at which transactions and on-chain deliveries are conducted, and they will enable scalability by validating transactions at a faster pace.
On the other hand, Paul Veradittakit, Managing Partner at Pantera Capital, prefers to look towards longstanding issues that still plagues traditional finance such as cross-border payments. Current methods of wiring money is expensive, and the infrastructure is still convoluted with many intermediaries in the pipeline. The trend would move back towards Web3 solving such issues in the near future, and allow people to be banked by tapping on stablecoins and established treasuries.
Alex Pack, co-founder of Hack VC, believes that privacy will be the next big idea that new projects will trend towards. With new DeFi applications seeking to replicate every aspect of current TradFi systems, the need to ensure user privacy when transferring assets on protocols become ever increasingly important as real world applications come into play.
And as for Min Teo, Managing Partner at Ethereal Ventures, a distinction between DeFi products and DeFi protocols need to be established as the DeFi ecosystem matures and replaces TradFi roles and responsibilities. With protocols, higher scalability and improved latency needs to be implemented before it becomes fully usable, and products need to be bundled in an efficient manner that caters to users who are still in the unbanked minority.
As veterans in the crypto VC space, what are their parting advice for builders in the TOKEN2049 audience? The panel agrees that placing emphasis on creating products that are a good market fit to different geographical regions, along with being focused on the long-term goal and taking advantage of growth hacks, is key to building through the bear market.
Innovation and Regulation. East vs West
With the SEC vs XRP ruling and Europe’s recent MiCA regulations fresh on the minds of the crypto community, the question on everyone’s minds now is, would regulations give Web3 innovation a powerful boost, or would it remain a stumbling block to the development of the ecosystem especially in an eastern or western context?
Matthew Graham, CEO of Ryze Labs, aims to bring the audience up to speed by touching on the current status quo of cryptocurrency-based regulations and laws, both in the USA and China. With cryptocurrencies being a new asset class that does not fall neatly into the current USA SEC regulations, this has caused a regulatory disruption between rule makers and crypto businesses.
The former attempts to use a set of legislative frameworks that does not address the full potential and concerns of the digital assets, which in turn brings unnecessary due stress to the latter. This plays into the innovator’s dilemma where there is disruption of current systems in place, and the struggle to understand how regulators should group the new asset class before encouraging further innovation.
Regulations in the East, especially that of China’s, sometimes fare no better. With China’s restrictions and terms on its yuan currency, it is highly regulated and makes for an asset with less conversion value since it is not readily converted to other fiat currencies. That said, smaller, more flexible countries that have a mature financial system and are willing to innovate, are taking advantage of this propensity to drive innovation further with proper regulations that opens up the potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Graham ends his session by leaving the audience with some key points for investors to check off before attempting to invest time and money on crypto endeavours within a country. This includes disruption to the status quo, it’s potential dilemma regarding current regulations, and whether the current financial regulators have an incentive to adopt it.
Transforming Telegram To Web3 With Toncoin
Don’t be surprised if you spot a new ‘wallet’ tab on your Telegram application after 13th September. That was the text messaging application’s way of announcing its formal integration with the TON blockchain to drive further use cases, and to bring onboard its 800 million active users onboard to the exciting world of Web3.
Another key Day 1 Highlights of TOKEN2049, Steve Yun, the President of The Open Network (TON) Foundation, and its Chief Investment Officer, John Hyman, took to the stage shortly after the wallet integration on the app to introduce the TON blockchain and its ecosystem to the audience at TOKEN2049. The network has been growing steadily since the start of 2023 and has recently reached its 3 million user mark.
What is next on the development roadmap for TON? In the short term, services such as the TON Space, which allows TON users to own their assets and identity, will be made available alongside Telegram priority advertisements for TON-based projects. In the long term, the integration of Telegram into the TON network will allow more users to enter the Web3 space, and the goal is to onboard 500 million users in the next 3 to 5 years.
With the wrap-up of the Day 1 Highlights of TOKEN2049, Day 2 of the event is set to bring another exciting lineup of speakers and discussion topics for the attending crypto community.
