TOKEN2049 Singapore (October 1–2, 2025) reaffirmed its status as one of the most influential events in the crypto industry. Following the spotlight on TOKEN2049 Dubai earlier this year, the Singapore edition once again underscored Asia’s central role in the growth of Web3.
The event drew more than 25,000 attendees from 160 countries, over 500 exhibitors, and 300 speakers. Beyond its scale, TOKEN2049 became a stage for major announcements in tokenization, stablecoins, decentralized AI (DeAI), and zero-knowledge (ZK) privacy technologies.
The conference generated over $1 billion in economic activity for Singapore, highlighting the city-state’s growing significance as a global crypto hub.
Justin Sun launches SunPerp after the “Crypto Roast” at TOKEN2049
TRON DAO served as the title sponsor of TOKEN2049 Singapore. TRON founder Justin Sun took part in the debut “Crypto Roast,” which drew a large audience. He later delivered a keynote announcing SunPerp, TRON’s decentralized perpetuals platform.
TRON also hosted a networking lounge and a major community event. The sponsorship spotlighted stablecoin flows across the TRON ecosystem, network growth, and the bridge between developer discussions and broader community engagement.
Stablecoins at the center of adoption
Stablecoins were a key theme at TOKEN2049. During the event, Base by the Coinbase crypto exchange announced upcoming support for Singapore dollar and Australian dollar stablecoins, expanding on current support for emerging-market currencies. Base lead Jesse Pollak stressed the importance of non-USD stablecoins for real-world use cases.
Donald Trump Jr. called for the development of the USD1 stablecoin, which can be paired with tokenized commodities like oil, gas, and cotton. He compared the hurdles faced by crypto companies (e.g., debanking) to those of traditional institutions and said regulatory clarity is removing those barriers.
MEXC Ventures added $66 million to Ethena’s stablecoin ecosystem — USDe and ENA — reinforcing its thesis on stablecoins. In parallel, Circle’s Heath Tarbert outlined how stablecoins already function as both compliant and programmable financial tools.
This momentum shows stablecoins are no longer an “experiment” in finance — they are rapidly becoming foundational infrastructure for global payments, trading, and investing.
Stablecoins surpass a $302 billion market cap
During TOKEN2049 week, stablecoins hit a historic milestone. According to DefiLlama, on October 5, 2025, the total market capitalization of stablecoins exceeded $302 billion — up 47% since the start of the year. The rise paves the way for broader access amid a surge in new issuances and applications.
Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDC retain the largest market shares. Meanwhile, yield-bearing Ethena USDe became the fastest-growing, with supply rising from $6 billion in January to nearly $15 billion by October.
Analysts noted that the $300 billion threshold is more than symbolic. Industry leaders see it as a sign of maturity. The outlook: $500 billion before full mainstream adoption and $1 trillion by the end of the decade.
The next frontier: tokenization and real-world assets (RWA)
Tokenization drew major interest as a bridge between traditional assets and blockchain. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev called tokenization an “unstoppable freight train,” adding it’s “inevitable that all equities, commodities, and even real estate will trade on-chain.”
PSA:
— Vlad Tenev (@vladtenev) October 2, 2025
Tokenization will eat the entire global financial system
Thank you for listening https://t.co/POpqrs7J74
He later posted: “PSA: Tokenization will eat finance,” reinforcing the idea that traditional markets won’t resist tokenization. Robinhood has already launched tokenized equities in Europe (including SpaceX shares) and is expanding its lineup.
Alpaca introduced the Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) for 24/7 minting and redemption of tokenized U.S. equities, with a focus on in-kind settlement and reducing friction among brokers and market makers.
Real-world asset tokenization was another strong thread: Celo launched XAUt0 — access to tokenized gold within its ecosystem; GEMtrust DiCom unveiled gem-backed tokens; and Ju.com expanded xBrokers — a liquidity hub for tokenized RWAs.
XAUt gave the world digital accessible, physically redeemable gold.
— USDT0 (@USDT0_to) October 3, 2025
XAUt0 takes the next step by making this tokenized gold truly borderless.
Your XAUt, anywhere.
Get started ↓https://t.co/l7WmsPum5m
Artificial intelligence and DeAI
AI was not just a panel topic — it was at the core of product releases. Kava Labs leveraged BNB Chain to launch kava AI, offering AI-driven portfolio management, yield optimization, and cross-chain capabilities.
LIVE at @Token2049: Kava AI launches on @BNBCHAIN 🚀
— Kava (@KAVA_CHAIN) October 1, 2025
Millions of @Binance users now get direct access to AI-driven:
⚡ Portfolio management
⚡ On-chain inference
Details 👉 https://t.co/c0EKDcpxJD pic.twitter.com/Pm0ZzEpUCz
Robo.ai showcased a practical AI + blockchain use case with Roboy339, enabling vehicles to transact with each other. Panels also focused on decentralized AI (DeAI), highlighting the value of deploying AI on-chain for transparency and censorship resistance.
The takeaway: AI is becoming integral to Web3 infrastructure, and decentralized deployment ensures financial applications remain verifiable and accessible.
Privacy technologies
Celo introduced EY Nightfall — the first deployment of a ZK privacy layer for enterprise payments on a payments-focused blockchain. Nightfall enables B2B transactions that are both confidential and auditable, meeting compliance requirements while preserving privacy.
ZK proofs are 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 a niche tech.
— zk V e r i f y @ Token2049 (@ZKVProtocol) October 2, 2025
They’re 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 global security, AI, and the 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 of finance.@HorizenLabs CEO, @robviglione joins @APompliano to unpack where this is all heading↴ https://t.co/vVeTwjcThD
Many speakers emphasized that zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are becoming essential for enterprise blockchain adoption. ZKPs allow organizations to prove data correctness without revealing the underlying data.
This is critical for industries where privacy, compliance, and transparency must coexist. By keeping sensitive financial transactions private while maintaining auditability and reporting, ZKPs give enterprises both security and accountability.
Regulatory leadership
Indonesia’s Crypto Asset Futures Exchange (CFX) outlined the strategic direction behind its growing crypto market. As of July 2025, Indonesia had over 16.5 million registered users and a three-pillar model (exchange, clearing, custodian), illustrating regulatory development across Southeast Asia.
Indonesia has emerged as a regulatory leader, rising from 20th place in global crypto adoption in 2022 to 7th in 2025. The structure has already boosted domestic adoption by 25% this year. The model demonstrates how collaborative regulation can spur innovation while protecting investors.
“Within this trusted framework, Indonesia is ready to serve the next wave of crypto products — from stablecoins and tokenized RWAs to crypto financing,” said CFX CEO Jeth Soetoyo.
At the same time, sovereign involvement is growing: Kazakhstan’s approach to crypto reserves and the rise of digital investments in corporate treasuries indicate that governments and institutions are integrating crypto into long-term strategies.
OKX roadmap and developer incentives
The founder of the OKX crypto exchange, Star Xu, presented the roadmap for the X Layer network, which includes:
- Launching the USDG stablecoin
- Integrating leading DeFi protocols such as Aave and Uniswap
- A $100 million developer fund for DeFi and memecoin projects
The focus is on liquidity, safety, and composability. It signals OKX’s ambition to build an ecosystem for both retail and institutional investors.
Pi Network
Pi Network co-founder Dr. Chengdiao Fan announced new blockchain features. The tools target payments and identity use cases, with mainnet access scheduled after testing. The project also concluded a “.pi” domain auction, generating over 200,000 bids and millions of Pi tokens in value. These steps support Pi’s strategy of moving beyond speculation to practical Web3 applications.
Conference takeaways
Speakers at TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 stressed that the digital asset industry is no longer evolving in isolation from traditional finance — they are converging into a hybrid system. Institutional flows are hitting records. Governments are taking direct action. Financial infrastructure is being tokenized, and stablecoins are integrating further. AI and ZK are laying the groundwork for innovation that balances compliance and utility.
Crypto is not trying to replace traditional finance; it is integrating with it. TradFi brings governance, compliance, and scale; DeFi contributes programmability, speed, and innovation. Together they are building a global financial system rooted in verifiable trust.
TOKEN2049 is more than a wave of announcements for investors, developers, and institutions — it’s a roadmap to a programmable, transparent, and global financial future.
TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 showcased Asia’s leadership in Web3 and DeFi. Stablecoins surpassed $300 billion, tokenization is accelerating — get started with the crypto market today via a trusted platform in our exchange ratings featuring vetted companies.
