Breakpoint 2025 Conference Insights: Cryptocurrency Has Grown Up, We're Putting On Shirts Again

Editorial: Tim, PANews

PANews Editor’s Note: Solana Breakpoint 2025 will be held from December 11 to 13 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Developers, project teams, retail investors, and investors gather to discuss and exchange ideas on the development of the Solana ecosystem and the industry status. This article summarizes the impressions of three industry insiders attending the event, representing the perspectives of investors and entrepreneurs. Some feel confused, others optimistic, with varying sentiments.

Investor Jason Choi: The event was well-organized, but the atmosphere was very oppressive

Breakpoint 2025 was probably the most oppressive atmosphere I’ve felt at a crypto conference recently. It’s not that I have any issues with the event itself; it was well-organized. But in my conversations with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and traders, there was a common sense of weariness.

OGs are taking a laid-back approach, VC performance is poor, funds are experiencing record-breaking redemptions, and the net asset value of new projects is negative. Many entrepreneurs are merely maintaining inertia rather than passion, and the entire industry is permeated with a broad sense of stagnation.

This isn’t just a market trend issue. Even during periods of mediocre market performance in 2019, 2022, and early 2023, these industry conferences were still filled with enthusiasm. People genuinely believed that one day, crypto technology would take center stage, just as AI is viewed today.

But this atmosphere is rare now. Although discussions around DePIN and DeSci offered some novelty, these fields are still just a drop in the ocean in the current market.

Overall, the remaining enthusiasm seems to revolve only around innovative stablecoins and the continuous emergence of perpetual contract exchanges.

Marius, Co-founder of Kamino: A trillion-dollar market is not a fantasy; we just put on our shirts again

1. Traditional finance remains strong. I need to change my habits—put away my shorts and put on a shirt again.

2. This is the most practical conference I’ve attended so far. Everyone I spoke with has real needs and tangible benefits from blockchain technology, and the scale is huge.

3. Compared to other events, this is the least metaphysical or narrative-driven conference. It feels like people are just deciding to temporarily set aside the crypto sector, almost as if they’re fed up with the rhetoric.

4. Compared to five years ago, those once seemingly wild fantasies have now become reality. We have achieved 24/7 global tokenized trading of stocks, bonds, and funds, operating continuously on Solana. I think we need to pause together, reflect, and digest this huge leap.

5. The market is much larger than I imagined. Those who predicted a trillion-dollar scale are not just dreaming.

6. The vitality of the ecosystem stems from the top. If leadership lacks energy and is content with the status quo, such an active ecosystem cannot exist.

7. At the same time, I’ve met many behind-the-scenes heroes dedicated to tool development, infrastructure, policy research, marketing, and media—all playing vital roles in the ecosystem.

8. This is the fifth edition of Breakpoint. The Solana ecosystem has finally seen some OGs. It’s fantastic to meet a few of them.

9. The organizers of Breakpoint are getting better each year. It’s truly master-level.

It will only get better and better.

Sigil Fund Chief Investment Officer daddy fiskantes: Cryptocurrency is transforming into FinTech 2.0

1. Cryptocurrency is in the process of maturation. As it integrates with the broader financial system, it will develop into a financial technology infrastructure accessible to any enterprise.

2. Those who came for revolution—hoping crypto would overthrow nation-states, empower individual sovereignty, and realize cyberpunk ideals—probably feel disappointed.

3. Many are putting on a brave face on stage but are quietly withdrawing behind the scenes. Especially now, early-stage VCs find it difficult to find quality projects and founders with original products. The current stage’s stage has been dominated by a few mainstream narratives (RWA, stablecoins and payments, prediction markets, institutional products, etc.).

4. The early builders are gradually leaving, but fresh blood has not been replenished in time. Most projects on display have been operating for several years, and emerging projects are mostly transformations of existing crypto-native projects, not truly new forces.

5. The next wave of crypto products will manifest as existing companies and institutions adopting crypto technology or well-capitalized crypto firms expanding their scope.

6. Those who see crypto as a better underlying technology for consumer finance and capital markets are satisfied. It’s expected that next year’s London BP event will be more business-formal, with less hacker-style casual atmosphere.

7. The tokenization of equity markets will not be dominated by grassroots teams tinkering with smart contracts in garages or awkwardly dancing on stage.

8. The financial world is moving toward an on-chain era, but your holdings may not skyrocket overnight. As more new assets are tokenized across various chains, creating new liquidity and arbitrage opportunities, I am very optimistic about neutral strategies for the future market.

9. At the investor and trader level, conquerors initially coming to seize gold are being replaced by settlers reclaiming land. For example, the groups that once chased top-performing assets, hot narratives, and quick doubles are giving way to rational investors expecting reasonable returns and arbitrageurs skilled at exploiting systemic inefficiencies.

10. Crypto is shifting from stories of quick hundredfold gains to slower, more tangible efficiency improvements. The market is expected to undergo broader consolidation, with winners taking all, continuously swallowing losers, and expanding market share.

11. The last few opportunities in crypto with potential for hundredfold returns include DePIN and DeSci (some opinions also include privacy tracks).