Why was it said that Solana is no longer suitable for conferences?

By: blockbeats|2025/12/16 20:30:06
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Original Article Title: Solana Can't Host Conferences Anymore
Original Article Author: @abhitejxyz
Translation: Peggy, BlockBeats

Editor's Note: In December 2025, after Solana Breakpoint 2025 concluded in Abu Dhabi, Abhitej, an entrepreneur deeply involved in the Solana ecosystem as the co-founder of Filament Finance and now a core builder at Bento.fun, wrote this article. Drawing on his firsthand experience at Breakpoint multiple times, he reflects on whether builders are still truly at the center of the conference after it has transformed from an early developer-led gathering to a global event akin to the F1 Grand Prix and Bitcoin MENA, with institutions, capital, and grand narratives continuously flowing in.

Although the title may seem sharp, it is not a negation of the conference but rather a reminder from within the ecosystem: as Breakpoint evolved from a developer-centric meeting in the early days to a global event alongside the F1 Grand Prix and Bitcoin MENA, with institutions, capital, and grand narratives constantly pouring in, are the builders who truly "head down writing code" being diluted within it.

Unlike the macro judgments from an external perspective, Abhitej focuses on the qualitative factors that determine the direction of the ecosystem—whether the culture remains open, whether the stage still belongs to the builders, and whether participation is still low-barrier. The article does not attempt to provide a definitive answer, but it reminds us: Solana's vitality has never been above the stage and narrative, but rather on developers around the world who quietly, continuously, and authentically build products.

The following is the original text:

I attended the first Breakpoint held in Lisbon, and four years later, I came to Abu Dhabi for the latest edition. In between, industry giants fell, SOL's price completed more than one "roller-coaster" round-trip, and Memecoin mania repeatedly tested the resilience of the entire ecosystem.

But as the Solana ecosystem began to prepare for Breakpoint 2025, it had already established its position:

Leading in various core metrics such as transaction volume, app revenue, DEX trading volume, etc.

Having the most culturally aware and user-centric ecosystem atmosphere

Becoming the strongest, or at least one of the strongest, builder ecosystems

@joeljohn's article "Most used chain based on what?" also nicely pointed out Solana's recent dominance in multiple dimensions.

Why was it said that Solana is no longer suitable for conferences?

All of this unfolded against an extremely brutal backdrop for retail participants. Arbitrageurs squeezed out value to near limits, altcoins as a whole underperformed the market, and net developer inflow hit a low point. What this industry truly lacked was a spark of optimism, something to remind people: there is still beauty in the world of crypto.

I believe Breakpoint precisely lit that match.

As I walked into the Abu Dhabi Solana Breakpoint venue, the first thing I felt was not excitement but a sense of motion happening.
Not the loud, chaotic kind of excitement. More like an undercurrent. A force in flow.

This did not feel like walking into a conference. There was no tension, no deliberate social pressure, no anxiety of "I must be in the right room at the right time." It was more akin to a festival, a place where people had come not to "extract value from each other," but genuinely to celebrate "creation."

People were smiling, conversing, freely moving about. Developers, creators, founders, institutions, everyone found their place, and the whole did not feel imbalanced.

This sense of harmony was evident from the very beginning. No one group was disproportionately amplified: institutions did not dominate the narrative; creators were not treated as mascots; founders were not elevated to unattainable heights. Everyone seemed approachable.

And this, in itself, is quite rare.

The longer I stayed at Breakpoint, the more I sensed that all of this was not incidental but a deliberately crafted outcome.

The agenda was not a top-down information dump: five-minute lightning talks, debates, product demos, conversations. Brief, sharp, high information density. More people being seen, rather than a few repeatedly occupying the stage. You could distinctly feel that this was not a one-time stroke of inspiration, but the result of long-term iteration.

Breakpoint was not an overnight success but a gradual exploration over many years of "what truly works."

A brief interaction with Superteam India's @paarugsethi was enough to make me realize: how deeply Solana's ecosystem thinks about culture and founder community.

Disrupting Elitism

However, if we were to point out one way in which Solana has outperformed most ecosystems, it is this: it has successfully dismantled elitism.

There is no invisible hierarchy here where "only a few voices matter." As long as you have truly created something valuable, even if on a small scale, you can get a platform to showcase it.

This openness has changed everything: it reduces fear, invites more people to participate, and ultimately generates momentum. And momentum, will continue to compound.

After talking to more and more people, another characteristic has become clear: within the Solana ecosystem, there is a shared sense of direction. It is not a dogmatic consensus, but a state of "everyone moving forward together." There are leaders here, there are sources of signals, and there are individuals seen by others as directional coordinates. It is because of this that the ecosystem does not easily fracture.

In many ecosystems, people fight their own battles, their narratives conflict, the gaps widen, and everyone endlessly debates on "how things should be," yet they are reluctant to accept "what is working."

Solana's approach is different. If something is effective, it is accepted. If it aligns with the behavior of the new internet generation, it is studied, not ridiculed. There is no moral superiority here, no whitewashing. Even a memecoin, despite its chaotic and predatory phase, is seen as an acceleration experiment, a stress test for the internet capital market.

The system has crashed, some have taken advantage of the situation, and the lessons have been truly absorbed. Solana does not pretend that none of this ever happened but distills cognition in a way that encompasses the "entire ecosystem." This acceptance, in turn, has made room for innovation rather than accumulating resentment.

The most prominent feeling this year is Breakpoint's extreme Builder-first approach. The market has cooled down, the prices are no longer soaring, and the crowd that used to see "100x overnight" gains has significantly decreased. But it is precisely at this time that the true builders begin to shine.

DeFi appears more mature; infrastructure discussions return to reality: the predictability of block space, latency optimization, how to make application execution cheaper and more reliable.

You can see this change in specific products: Kalshi chooses Solana as its tokenization infrastructure; Phantom supports consumer-facing interface experiences; Phoenix with perpetual contracts, Prop AMM, new market designs; experiments in AI, robotics, privacy directions; hackathons, Superteam projects, those still rough but authentic early ideas that exist. People come to listen and share to learn, not to ask "how is this token pumping."

This kind of energy transformation is extremely important. It makes the entire conference feel solid, honest, and product-centric.

If we must point out one discomfort, it is this: there still exists some narrow-mindedness in the ecosystem — "if it's not Solana-only, it's not worth paying attention to."

This mindset is not unique to Solana, but it shrinks the pie. The real opportunity is not to win a single chain war but to reshape the entire tech stack. And that can only be achieved through collaboration, not posturing.

Ironically, Solana doesn't need to boast loudly. Anyone who walks into Breakpoint can feel it directly. This ecosystem doesn't need online mockery. The product, culture, builders, and momentum are already loud enough.

A "Festival"

This also brings me back to the initial conclusion: Solana is no longer suited for "holding conferences." Conferences are one-way, static, and bounded. What Solana is doing aligns more with the native form of the new internet, a festival, a celebration for builders. A space where culture, capital, experimental spirit, and belief collide.

And these "festivals" will only continue to grow: more vibrant, more immersive, more diverse. Every corner is adding a new flavor to this evolving internet.

Breakpoint 2025 is one of the best conferences I have attended so far and clearly shows where Solana is heading.

P.S.: In my view, choosing Abu Dhabi as the venue is one of the key reasons that make Breakpoint 2025 so special.

[Original Article Link]

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China's Central Bank and Eight Other Departments' Latest Regulatory Focus: Key Attention to RWA Tokenized Asset Risk


Foreword: Today, the People's Bank of China's website published the "Notice of the People's Bank of China, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, State Administration for Market Regulation, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Further Preventing and Dealing with Risks Related to Virtual Currency and Others (Yinfa [2026] No. 42)", the latest regulatory requirements from the eight departments including the central bank, which are basically consistent with the regulatory requirements of recent years. The main focus of the regulation is on speculative activities such as virtual currency trading, exchanges, ICOs, overseas platform services, and this time, regulatory oversight of RWA has been added, explicitly prohibiting RWA tokenization, stablecoins (especially those pegged to the RMB). The following is the full text:


To the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:


  Recently, there have been speculative activities related to virtual currency and Real-World Assets (RWA) tokenization, disrupting the economic and financial order and jeopardizing the property security of the people. In order to further prevent and address the risks related to virtual currency and Real-World Assets tokenization, effectively safeguard national security and social stability, in accordance with the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the People's Bank of China," "Law of the People's Republic of China on Commercial Banks," "Securities Law of the People's Republic of China," "Law of the People's Republic of China on Securities Investment Funds," "Law of the People's Republic of China on Futures and Derivatives," "Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China," "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Renminbi," "Regulations on Prevention and Disposal of Illegal Fundraising," "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Foreign Exchange Administration," "Telecommunications Regulations of the People's Republic of China," and other provisions, after reaching consensus with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and with the approval of the State Council, the relevant matters are notified as follows:


  I. Clarify the essential attributes of virtual currency, Real-World Assets tokenization, and related business activities


  (I) Virtual currency does not possess the legal status equivalent to fiat currency. Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, Tether, etc., have the main characteristics of being issued by non-monetary authorities, using encryption technology and distributed ledger or similar technology, existing in digital form, etc. They do not have legal tender status, should not and cannot be circulated and used as currency in the market.


  The business activities related to virtual currency are classified as illegal financial activities. The exchange of fiat currency and virtual currency within the territory, exchange of virtual currencies, acting as a central counterparty in buying and selling virtual currencies, providing information intermediary and pricing services for virtual currency transactions, token issuance financing, and trading of virtual currency-related financial products, etc., fall under illegal financial activities, such as suspected illegal issuance of token vouchers, unauthorized public issuance of securities, illegal operation of securities and futures business, illegal fundraising, etc., are strictly prohibited across the board and resolutely banned in accordance with the law. Overseas entities and individuals are not allowed to provide virtual currency-related services to domestic entities in any form.


  A stablecoin pegged to a fiat currency indirectly fulfills some functions of the fiat currency in circulation. Without the consent of relevant authorities in accordance with the law and regulations, any domestic or foreign entity or individual is not allowed to issue a RMB-pegged stablecoin overseas.


(II)Tokenization of Real-World Assets refers to the use of encryption technology and distributed ledger or similar technologies to transform ownership rights, income rights, etc., of assets into tokens (tokens) or other interests or bond certificates with token (token) characteristics, and carry out issuance and trading activities.


  Engaging in the tokenization of real-world assets domestically, as well as providing related intermediary, information technology services, etc., which are suspected of illegal issuance of token vouchers, unauthorized public offering of securities, illegal operation of securities and futures business, illegal fundraising, and other illegal financial activities, shall be prohibited; except for relevant business activities carried out with the approval of the competent authorities in accordance with the law and regulations and relying on specific financial infrastructures. Overseas entities and individuals are not allowed to illegally provide services related to the tokenization of real-world assets to domestic entities in any form.


  II. Sound Work Mechanism


  (III) Inter-agency Coordination. The People's Bank of China, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and other departments, will improve the work mechanism, strengthen coordination with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, coordinate efforts, and overall guide regions to carry out risk prevention and disposal of virtual currency-related illegal financial activities.


  The China Securities Regulatory Commission, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and other departments, will improve the work mechanism, strengthen coordination with the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, coordinate efforts, and overall guide regions to carry out risk prevention and disposal of illegal financial activities related to the tokenization of real-world assets.


  (IV) Strengthening Local Implementation. The people's governments at the provincial level are overall responsible for the prevention and disposal of risks related to virtual currencies and the tokenization of real-world assets in their respective administrative regions. The specific leading department is the local financial regulatory department, with participation from branches and dispatched institutions of the State Council's financial regulatory department, telecommunications regulators, public security, market supervision, and other departments, in coordination with cyberspace departments, courts, and procuratorates, to improve the normalization of the work mechanism, effectively connect with the relevant work mechanisms of central departments, form a cooperative and coordinated working pattern between central and local governments, effectively prevent and properly handle risks related to virtual currencies and the tokenization of real-world assets, and maintain economic and financial order and social stability.


  III. Strengthened Risk Monitoring, Prevention, and Disposal


  (5) Enhanced Risk Monitoring. The People's Bank of China, China Securities Regulatory Commission, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Public Security, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Cyberspace Administration of China, and other departments continue to improve monitoring techniques and system support, enhance cross-departmental data analysis and sharing, establish sound information sharing and cross-validation mechanisms, promptly grasp the risk situation of activities related to virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization. Local governments at all levels give full play to the role of local monitoring and early warning mechanisms. Local financial regulatory authorities, together with branches and agencies of the State Council's financial regulatory authorities, as well as departments of cyberspace and public security, ensure effective connection between online monitoring, offline investigation, and fund tracking, efficiently and accurately identify activities related to virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization, promptly share risk information, improve early warning information dissemination, verification, and rapid response mechanisms.


  (6) Strengthened Oversight of Financial Institutions, Intermediaries, and Technology Service Providers. Financial institutions (including non-bank payment institutions) are prohibited from providing account opening, fund transfer, and clearing services for virtual currency-related business activities, issuing and selling financial products related to virtual currency, including virtual currency and related financial products in the scope of collateral, conducting insurance business related to virtual currency, or including virtual currency in the scope of insurance liability. Financial institutions (including non-bank payment institutions) are prohibited from providing custody, clearing, and settlement services for unauthorized real-world asset tokenization-related business and related financial products. Relevant intermediary institutions and information technology service providers are prohibited from providing intermediary, technical, or other services for unauthorized real-world asset tokenization-related businesses and related financial products.


  (7) Enhanced Management of Internet Information Content and Access. Internet enterprises are prohibited from providing online business venues, commercial displays, marketing, advertising, or paid traffic diversion services for virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization-related business activities. Upon discovering clues of illegal activities, they should promptly report to relevant departments and provide technical support and assistance for related investigations and inquiries. Based on the clues transferred by the financial regulatory authorities, the cyberspace administration, telecommunications authorities, and public security departments should promptly close and deal with websites, mobile applications (including mini-programs), and public accounts engaged in virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization-related business activities in accordance with the law.


  (8) Strengthened Entity Registration and Advertisement Management. Market supervision departments strengthen entity registration and management, and enterprise and individual business registrations must not contain terms such as "virtual currency," "virtual asset," "cryptocurrency," "crypto asset," "stablecoin," "real-world asset tokenization," or "RWA" in their names or business scopes. Market supervision departments, together with financial regulatory authorities, legally enhance the supervision of advertisements related to virtual currency and real-world asset tokenization, promptly investigating and handling relevant illegal advertisements.


  (IX) Continued Rectification of Virtual Currency Mining Activities. The National Development and Reform Commission, together with relevant departments, strictly controls virtual currency mining activities, continuously promotes the rectification of virtual currency mining activities. The people's governments of various provinces take overall responsibility for the rectification of "mining" within their respective administrative regions. In accordance with the requirements of the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments in the "Notice on the Rectification of Virtual Currency Mining Activities" (NDRC Energy-saving Building [2021] No. 1283) and the provisions of the "Guidance Catalog for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 Edition)," a comprehensive review, investigation, and closure of existing virtual currency mining projects are conducted, new mining projects are strictly prohibited, and mining machine production enterprises are strictly prohibited from providing mining machine sales and other services within the country.


  (X) Severe Crackdown on Related Illegal Financial Activities. Upon discovering clues to illegal financial activities related to virtual currency and the tokenization of real-world assets, local financial regulatory authorities, branches of the State Council's financial regulatory authorities, and other relevant departments promptly investigate, determine, and properly handle the issues in accordance with the law, and seriously hold the relevant entities and individuals legally responsible. Those suspected of crimes are transferred to the judicial authorities for processing according to the law.


 (XI) Severe Crackdown on Related Illegal and Criminal Activities. The Ministry of Public Security, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, as well as judicial and procuratorial organs, in accordance with their respective responsibilities, rigorously crack down on illegal and criminal activities related to virtual currency, the tokenization of real-world assets, such as fraud, money laundering, illegal business operations, pyramid schemes, illegal fundraising, and other illegal and criminal activities carried out under the guise of virtual currency, the tokenization of real-world assets, etc.


  (XII) Strengthen Industry Self-discipline. Relevant industry associations should enhance membership management and policy advocacy, based on their own responsibilities, advocate and urge member units to resist illegal financial activities related to virtual currency and the tokenization of real-world assets. Member units that violate regulatory policies and industry self-discipline rules are to be disciplined in accordance with relevant self-regulatory management regulations. By leveraging various industry infrastructure, conduct risk monitoring related to virtual currency, the tokenization of real-world assets, and promptly transfer issue clues to relevant departments.


  IV. Strict Supervision of Domestic Entities Engaging in Overseas Business Activities


(XIII) Without the approval of relevant departments in accordance with the law and regulations, domestic entities and foreign entities controlled by them may not issue virtual currency overseas.


  (XIV) Domestic entities engaging directly or indirectly in overseas external debt-based tokenization of real-world assets, or conducting asset securitization activities abroad based on domestic ownership rights, income rights, etc. (hereinafter referred to as domestic equity), should be strictly regulated in accordance with the principles of "same business, same risk, same rules." The National Development and Reform Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and other relevant departments regulate it according to their respective responsibilities. For other forms of overseas real-world asset tokenization activities based on domestic equity by domestic entities, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, together with relevant departments, supervise according to their division of responsibilities. Without the consent and filing of relevant departments, no unit or individual may engage in the above-mentioned business.


  (15) Overseas subsidiaries and branches of domestic financial institutions providing Real World Asset Tokenization-related services overseas shall do so legally and prudently. They shall have professional personnel and systems in place to effectively mitigate business risks, strictly implement customer onboarding, suitability management, anti-money laundering requirements, and incorporate them into the domestic financial institutions' compliance and risk management system. Intermediaries and information technology service providers offering Real World Asset Tokenization services abroad based on domestic equity or conducting Real World Asset Tokenization business in the form of overseas debt for domestic entities directly or indirectly venturing abroad must strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations. They should establish and improve relevant compliance and internal control systems in accordance with relevant normative requirements, strengthen business and risk control, and report the business developments to the relevant regulatory authorities for approval or filing.


  V. Strengthen Organizational Implementation


  (16) Strengthen organizational leadership and overall coordination. All departments and regions should attach great importance to the prevention of risks related to virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization, strengthen organizational leadership, clarify work responsibilities, form a long-term effective working mechanism with centralized coordination, local implementation, and shared responsibilities, maintain high pressure, dynamically monitor risks, effectively prevent and mitigate risks in an orderly and efficient manner, legally protect the property security of the people, and make every effort to maintain economic and financial order and social stability.


  (17) Widely carry out publicity and education. All departments, regions, and industry associations should make full use of various media and other communication channels to disseminate information through legal and policy interpretation, analysis of typical cases, and education on investment risks, etc. They should promote the illegality and harm of virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization-related businesses and their manifestations, fully alert to potential risks and hidden dangers, and enhance public awareness and identification capabilities for risk prevention.


  VI. Legal Responsibility


  (18) Engaging in illegal financial activities related to virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization in violation of this notice, as well as providing services for virtual currencies and Real World Asset Tokenization-related businesses, shall be punished in accordance with relevant regulations. If it constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued according to the law. For domestic entities and individuals who knowingly or should have known that overseas entities illegally provided virtual currency or Real World Asset Tokenization-related services to domestic entities and still assisted them, relevant responsibilities shall be pursued according to the law. If it constitutes a crime, criminal liability shall be pursued according to the law.


  (19) If any unit or individual invests in virtual currencies, Real World Asset Tokens, and related financial products against public order and good customs, the relevant civil legal actions shall be invalid, and any resulting losses shall be borne by them. If there are suspicions of disrupting financial order and jeopardizing financial security, the relevant departments shall deal with them according to the law.


  This notice shall enter into force upon the date of its issuance. The People's Bank of China and ten other departments' "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risks of Virtual Currency Trading Speculation" (Yinfa [2021] No. 237) is hereby repealed.


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