Crypto’s movers and shakers are gathering in Singapore for one of their biggest conferences of the year as a Bitcoin-led rally revives hopes {that a} new bull market is taking form.
About 25,000 individuals are anticipated to converge on the city-state’s iconic Marina Bay Sands this week for Token2049.
Greater than 500 exhibitors and 300 audio system are slated for the Oct 7-8 occasion, together with Hyperliquid chief govt officer Jeff Yan, Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and World Liberty Monetary co-founder Eric Trump.
Bitcoin’s rally from US$58,000 at the finish of June to roughly US$85,000 on Oct 6 has spurred speak that the crypto winter is thawing, although the market has but to regain the momentum and confidence of earlier bull cycles.
Token2049 might supply insights into what crypto’s founders, builders, buyers and monetary establishments are betting on subsequent.
“I’ve been certainly one of the few attending Token2049 since the first one in 2018; wanting again highlights simply how far this asset class has matured,” mentioned Dovey Wan, founding accomplice of crypto funding agency Primitive Ventures. “By each increase and bust, staying in the sport with those that constructed from day one is what really issues.”
‘Not euphoria’
The business has weathered a protracted hunch since October 2025, when Bitcoin plunged from its record high above US$126,000. However a 43% advance in the three months via September gave the largest cryptocurrency its strongest quarter since the ultimate three months of 2024, when crypto-friendly US President Donald Trump gained re-election.
Considered one of the first keynote addresses of the conference is titled Crypto Spring Turning Into Full-Blown Bull Market by BitMine chairman Tom Lee.
Nonetheless, Bitcoin has struggled to interrupt above US$87,000 as rising Treasury yields weigh on speculative property.
The temper is healthier than it was in June, however it’s “positively not euphoria”, mentioned Haseeb Qureshi, managing accomplice at crypto-focused enterprise capital agency Dragonfly.
The market has absorbed setbacks akin to the US Senate’s failure to advance the Clarity Act, whereas rising institutional participation and the enlargement of stablecoin use have helped help confidence, he mentioned.
Converging worlds
One main theme at the conference can be how components of conventional finance are shifting onto blockchain networks, primarily placing property and monetary transactions on expertise initially developed for cryptocurrencies. Tokenised assets, stablecoins and around-the-clock buying and selling are more and more bringing the two worlds nearer collectively.
The worth of tokenised real-world property akin to bonds, commodities and equities has surged, reaching greater than US$38 billion at the finish of September, in response to RWA.xyz, whose tally excludes stablecoins.
The speaker line-up displays that rising convergence, with crypto-native executives showing alongside conventional monetary business leaders together with Nasdaq chair and CEO Adena Friedman and Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson.
Eric Trump, the US president’s second son and govt vice chairman of the Trump Organisation, will converse on The Future Of Finance, Constructed In America.
Different big-name audio system embody Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng and crypto billionaire Justin Solar, an early investor in the Trump household’s World Liberty Monetary who’s now embroiled in a dispute with it.
Reigning Formulation 1 champion Lando Norris, in city for this week’s Singapore Grand Prix, can also be talking at a session titled The Drive To Win.
Notably absent from this yr’s line-up are Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, who had been each key audio system in 2025.
Agentic funds
Synthetic intelligence can be one other main thread, significantly as the crypto business experiments with utilizing digital currencies and blockchain networks to allow funds between AI techniques.
Qureshi, who spends a lot of his time the intersection of crypto and AI, mentioned he’s significantly in “agentic funds”, the place AI brokers make funds on behalf of customers or transact with each other.
“It’s early, however it’s the place I see the smartest founders attempting out new concepts,” Qureshi mentioned.
Hacks and cybersecurity are additionally prone to be subjects of dialog following a spate of current assaults, together with the US$388 million heist at crypto exchange Bitget just two weeks ago.
Bitget CEO Gracy Chen mentioned that, for her, the worth of Token2049 lies much less in what occurs on stage than in the conversations off it. “It’s a helpful alternative to check what we’re seeing at Bitget with what the broader market is prioritising,” she mentioned.
Chen wish to see extra regulators and policymakers talking at the occasion, significantly as the business grapples with how stablecoins, tokenised property and crypto platforms ought to match into the wider monetary system.
A few of the most consequential questions “can’t be answered by the business alone”, she mentioned.
Singapore is cementing its standing as a significant digital-asset hub, with Chainalysis knowledge displaying US$284 billion (S$363 billion) of crypto exercise in the city-state between July 2025 and June 2026, up 55.4% from the earlier yr.
This week it should host a whole lot of aspect occasions round Token2049.
“Token2049 is certainly one of the key factors on the business calendar,” mentioned conference co-founder Alex Fiskum. “It’s a possibility to take inventory of the place the business stands, construct new partnerships and set the agenda for the yr forward.” BLOOMBERG
