Reflections on Breakpoint 2025: Crypto has grown up, and we're putting our shirts back on.

Compiled by: Tim, PANews

PANews Editor's Note: Solana Breakpoint 2025 was held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, from December 11th to 13th. Developers, project teams, retail investors, and other stakeholders gathered to discuss and exchange ideas on the development of the Solana ecosystem and the current state of the industry. This article compiles the reflections of three industry professionals who attended the conference, representing the observations of investors and entrepreneurs. Some are confused, some are optimistic, and the feelings are varied.

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

Breakpoint 2025 was probably the most oppressive atmosphere I've experienced at any recent crypto conference. It wasn't that I had anything wrong with the event itself—it was very well organized. But in my conversations with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and traders, there was a pervasive sense of weariness.

OGs are adopting a passive, laissez-faire approach, venture capital performance is poor, funds are experiencing a record wave of redemptions, and new projects are showing negative net asset values. Many entrepreneurs are staying afloat out of inertia rather than passion, and the entire industry is mired in widespread stagnation.

This isn't just a matter of market conditions. Even during periods of lackluster market performance like 2019, 2022, and early 2023, these industry conferences remained vibrant and passionate. People genuinely believed that one day encryption would take center stage, just as artificial intelligence is viewed today.

This atmosphere is quite rare this time. Although the discussions about DePIN and DeSci offered some new insights, these areas are still just a drop in the ocean in the current market.

Overall, the remaining enthusiasm seems to revolve around the ever-evolving stablecoins and the proliferation of perpetual contract exchanges.

Kamino co-founder Marius: The trillion-dollar market is not an illusion; we've just put our shirts back on.

1. Traditional finance is still powerful. I need to change my habits, put away my shorts, and put my shirt back on.

2. The most practical conference to date, where I spoke with people who had a real need for and practical interests in blockchain technology, and the scale of the group was enormous.

3. In contrast, this was the least metaphysical/narrative-driven conference, and it felt like people had simply decided to put this part of the crypto space on hold for the time being, almost as if they had had enough of 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 uninterruptedly on Solana. I believe we need to pause together to reflect on and digest this tremendous leap forward.

5. The market is much, much bigger than I imagined. It turns out that those who predicted a market size of trillions of dollars weren't just daydreaming.

6. The vitality of an ecosystem originates from the top. If the leadership lacks dynamism and is complacent, there will be no such vibrant ecosystem.

7. At the same time, we also encountered many unsung heroes who are dedicated to tool development, infrastructure construction, policy research, marketing and media communication, all of whom play an important role in the ecosystem.

8. This is the fifth Breakpoint conference, and the Solana ecosystem has finally produced some OGs. It was great to see a few of them.

9. The people who organize Breakpoint are getting better and better every year. They're truly masters.

It will only get better and better.

Sigil Fund Chief Investment Officer Daddy Fiskantes: Cryptocurrency is transforming into Fintech 2.0

1. Cryptocurrencies are in the process of maturing, and as they integrate with the broader financial system, they will evolve into a fintech infrastructure that any business can use.

2. Those who came for revolution, those who expected cryptocurrency to overthrow nation-states, empower individual sovereignty, and realize cypherpunk ideals, and those who came in search of novel and amazing ideas, are probably all disappointed.

3. Many people put on a show on stage, but are slowly withdrawing in private. In particular, early-stage venture capitalists are finding it difficult to find high-quality projects and founders with original products at this stage. The current stage is dominated by several 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 of the projects currently being showcased have been operating for several years, while most emerging projects are transformed from existing crypto-native projects, rather than truly new forces.

5. The next wave of cryptocurrency products will be characterized by existing businesses and institutions adopting crypto technology, or by well-capitalized crypto companies expanding their business scope.

6. Those who see cryptocurrency as a superior underlying technology for consumer finance and capital markets are pleased with this. Next year's BP event in London is expected to be more business-like and formal, with a less overtly hacker-style atmosphere.

7. The tokenization process of the equity market will not be led by grassroots teams tinkering with smart contracts in garages or awkwardly dancing on stage.

8. The financial world is moving towards an on-chain era, but your holdings may not see explosive growth. As more and more new assets are tokenized on various chains, creating new liquidity and arbitrage opportunities, I am very optimistic about a neutral strategy for the future market.

9. At the investor and trader level, the conquerors who initially came to seize gold are being replaced by settlers who come to cultivate and establish new lands. For example, the group that once chased the best-performing assets, popular narratives, and rapid doubling of profits is giving way to rational investors who expect reasonable returns, and arbitrageurs who are adept at exploiting systemic inefficiencies.

10. Cryptocurrency is shifting from a narrative of getting rich quick with hundreds of times the initial investment to a slower, more tangible improvement in efficiency. The market is expected to undergo broader consolidation, with winners taking all and continuously absorbing losers to expand market share.

11. The last few opportunities in the crypto space that could potentially yield 100x returns include DePIN and DeSCI (some argue that the privacy sector is also included).