I traveled to the two largest digital asset conferences in the US over the last several weeks and wanted to share key takeaways. While the mainstream narrative has shifted from digital assets to AI, there is still strong institutional and retail interest in the space — both events had 10,000+ attendees — and innovation continues to progress.
Consensus 2023
I had the opportunity to participate in an invite-only allocator track. The roundtable included approximately 30 individuals representing organizations such as Dragonfly, BCG, McKinsey, Franklin Templeton, Albourne Partners, Wellington, Citadel, and Texas Teachers Retirement.
Key themes: Regulatory uncertainty dominated the conversation. The challenging US regulatory environment and whether token projects will be deemed securities by the SEC was the most talked-about topic. If most projects are, as the SEC states, effectively unregistered securities, the US digital asset market would be severely negatively impacted. Relatedly, tougher US regulations are pushing blockchain innovation outside the US. Countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, and the EU — through MiCA regulation — are attracting talent and projects by introducing regulatory clarity.
On tokenization: there is significant interest and demand, but sentiment was skeptical around current models. Tokenization currently often costs more than traditional infrastructure rather than less — the efficiency gains that have been promised have not yet materialized at scale.
Bitcoin 2023
Bitcoin 2023 is the largest Bitcoin conference of the year. I attended their industry day with 15+ entrepreneur pitches and institutional discussions.
The through-line from both conferences: the distinction between Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto ecosystem has never been clearer. Bitcoin’s commodity status, fixed supply, and decentralized architecture put it in a separate category from the regulatory, structural, and incentive challenges facing the broader token ecosystem.