Original Title: "Where Did Everyone Go at This Year's Bitcoin Asia?"
Original Author: Golem, Odaily Planet Daily
"Only those without any resources need to buy tickets," this phrase floated into my ears the night before the Bitcoin Asia conference at a dinner organized by Ave.ai called "One-Pot Chicken." Although it sounds a bit arrogant, it reflects the attitude of most people towards this year's Bitcoin Asia: indifference.
This attitude had been evident for some time. A few days before the conference, many project teams were running activities to collect likes for free tickets on social media, and there were numerous instances of Pro and whale tickets being sold at half price or lower in WeChat groups; the conference was scheduled closely after Japan's WebX conference, leading many attendees to choose the larger WebX instead; the enthusiasm for the Bitcoin ecosystem is not as high as last year…
As a result, the perception that this year's Bitcoin Asia conference would be quiet almost became a consensus.
Side Events Unrelated to Bitcoin Became Popular
The Bitcoin Asia conference was held on August 28 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, but many people arrived in Hong Kong on the morning of August 27 to attend the Hong Kong Blockchain Summit Forum organized by New Fire Technology. The forum featured guests including representatives from Hong Kong's regulatory bodies, academic experts, and participants from the crypto industry, but the topics discussed were unrelated to Bitcoin, focusing instead on stablecoins, RWA, publicly listed crypto companies, and Hong Kong's crypto regulatory trends.
The New Fire Technology press conference was packed, image source: official photography
At the same time, Binance founder CZ, who had just attended the WebX side event in Japan, also arrived in Hong Kong that afternoon to participate in the "Hong Kong Crypto Finance Forum" hosted by the University of Hong Kong. At the forum, CZ's discussion also centered on stablecoins, RWA, and the future of crypto in Hong Kong. Not only was the venue packed, but articles and video snippets such as "CZ's 7 Most Important Statements at the Bitcoin Conference," "CZ Criticized Hong Kong," and "CZ Reveals Future Wealth Opportunities" went viral online.
CZ at the Hong Kong Crypto Finance Forum, image source: Hong Kong Wang Fu Gui
Before Bitcoin Asia even started, everyone was already having a good time. In fact, CZ quietly arrived at the Bitcoin Asia venue on the afternoon of August 29, where he mainly expressed gratitude for the contributions of the Trump administration to the crypto industry and proclaimed that "Bitcoin will become the global reserve currency." However, this speech did not generate as much buzz as his remarks at the University of Hong Kong on August 27, and some attendees even failed to notice CZ's presence. This could be because CZ's attendance was not on the original agenda, or perhaps because Bitcoin Asia truly lacked attention…
On August 29, CZ at Bitcoin Asia
It's hard to blame attendees for their indifference towards Bitcoin Asia. Bitcoin's status in people's minds is indisputable, like an old friend everyone is familiar with, no need to check in daily; while this year's hot topics like stablecoins, RWA, and publicly listed crypto companies feel like new acquaintances, making them easier conversation starters. Opening the event platform Luma reveals that during the Bitcoin Asia conference, side events on stablecoins, RWA, DePIN, and publicly listed crypto companies were all fully booked.
For Hong Kong and most mainland attendees, Bitcoin Asia became a reason to go out and socialize rather than a destination: "Today is Bitcoin Asia, let's go out and talk about stablecoins," feels like a friend saying, "The weather is nice today, let's go out for a picnic."
Bitcoin Asia Became a Merchandise Fair and Eric Trump Meet-and-Greet
As a "merchandise collector," I always have to linger at each booth during conferences. Upon entering Bitcoin Asia, there was a large merchandise booth displaying tote bags, T-shirts, and books. When I excitedly approached to grab some, I was informed by the staff, "It's not free."
The organizers had more than one revenue-generating booth. Next to the Unisat booth was a large crypto art area, which served as both an Ordinals art display and a merchandise fair. Each exhibit had a QR code underneath, allowing attendees to participate in the auction for the artwork, with the highest bidder able to take home the "physical version" of the art piece, while the Ordinals artwork on-chain would also be sent to the user's address.
Skateboards for sale at Bitcoin Asia
"If sold, the organizers and the artists should split it 60/40," the salesperson told me. If you linger long enough in this area, staff would come to introduce the artworks and how to participate in the auction. When the salesperson was promoting "The Consensus" to me, I took the opportunity to ask about the commission the organizers could receive.
The Consensus
The Consensus piece is composed of 410 negative comments about Bitcoin from the financial, tech, and academic sectors throughout history. Attendees can scan to purchase a physical version on-site, and after payment, the corresponding Ordinals artwork will be sent to the payer's address. "Currently, Trump's negative comments about Bitcoin haven't been bought yet; are you considering it?" the salesperson continued to persuade me as I gradually stepped back.
Besides the merchandise fair, Bitcoin Asia was also a meet-and-greet with Eric Trump. Many attendees were specifically there for Eric Trump, after all, it's not every day you get to meet the son of a sitting U.S. president.
Eric Trump was surrounded by a crowd when he took the stage
The organizers were well aware of marketing strategies; before entering the free main venue, Eric was scheduled for an interview in the whale area, where tickets were priced at $4,999 each. During Eric's interview, the entrance to the whale area was packed, and some audience members even staged a line against the wall to hear what Eric was saying.
"He is definitely not this popular in Europe and America," a colleague who has been based in Europe and America for many years remarked when I relayed the first-hand information back to the company.
However, Eric Trump's speech was indeed very stirring. In a short 20-minute discussion, Eric repeatedly proclaimed, "Bitcoin will reach $1 million each in the future," "The best time to buy Bitcoin is now," and "We are changing modern banking," eliciting cheers from the audience.
With Trump’s signature fight moves before entering and exiting, Eric Trump's meet-and-greet concluded perfectly.
Eric at the Bitcoin Asia conference "fighting"
Aside from Eric, it seems there were no other exciting moments during the two-day Bitcoin Asia. Perhaps to avoid any controversy with Trump’s son, Eric Yip from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and Legislative Council member Johnny Ng, who had previously announced their attendance, also withdrew from Bitcoin Asia at the last minute. Without the participation of Hong Kong political figures, Bitcoin Asia attendees turned their focus back to side events centered on RWA and stablecoins.
"Bitcoin Asia was the least valuable event during this Bitcoin Asia," a friend complained to me before leaving Hong Kong. Aside from carefully listening to Eric's speech, I spent most of my time at the venue taking photos of the promotional models hired by the organizers.
The Unremarkable Bitcoin Ecosystem Still Has Builders
A colleague, TC, who attended the first Bitcoin Asia last year, also expressed, "Bitcoin Asia was the first industry summit I attended after returning to the crypto space. Although Bitcoin was only $60,000 at that time, the main venue and the Bitcoin ecosystem's side events were much livelier than this year, with Bitcoin arcade machines, NFTs, inscriptions, mining machines, and so on all flourishing. This year, it took less than half an hour to walk through the main venue."
Where did the Bitcoin ecosystem go this year? They haven't disappeared; they just aren't as noticeable anymore.
UniSat's booth at Bitcoin Asia was still very prominent, located on the right side upon entering, being the largest project booth aside from Metaplane. However, UniSat's "grandeur" still couldn't hide the overall desolation of the Bitcoin ecosystem at the venue. The project booths at the venue were mainly occupied by mining companies and Bitcoin reserve companies, with various mining machines buzzing away, as the Bitcoin conference returned to an era of dominance by the mining sector.
A mining machine displayed by a vendor at Bitcoin Asia
Among the few Bitcoin ecosystem project booths, the position of ODIN•FUN was the most eye-catching. On one side of the booth, two foreign friends were actively distributing merchandise, while on the other side, a group of Chinese individuals was passionately promoting, "**We are the *** community, we are building the * coin, my teacher is amazing, he made 200 million RMB in the Bitcoin ecosystem," said a lady from Yichang, Hubei, gesturing excitedly.
"Isn't ODIN•FUN's leader ODINDOG?" I took the opportunity to ask.
"It used to be, but now we are mainly building this coin; I still have ODINDOG," the lady replied, then opened her wallet to show me all her assets. Such a sincere and genuine action instantly moved me. It is said that the Runes Asia 2025 event held on August 27 was also surrounded by such simple, sincere, and happy people, filling me with warmth.
While young people have retreated from the runes battlefield, the older generation continues to uphold the banner of the Runes Chinese community.
Uncles and aunts at Runes Asia 2025, image source: official event
Does the Bitcoin ecosystem still have significance?
But Babylon was not so fortunate. At the Bitcoin Night event held on the afternoon of August 28, when Babylon Labs' CTO Fisher introduced Babylon's latest product—a trustless BTC vault—only a few scattered attendees were present, with some standing in the back and not intending to sit down. A staff member told me that Babylon mainly wanted to invite some BTCFi builders, but although over 800 people registered on Luma, only about twenty or thirty showed up in the afternoon.
For a leading BTCFi project and pioneer of the Bitcoin re-staking ecosystem, with a valuation exceeding $800 million, it was truly disheartening to see such a sparse turnout at Babylon's offline event in Hong Kong.
Scene from the Bitcoin Night event hosted by Babylon Labs
If the low attendance at the Babylon event could be attributed to its distance from the main Bitcoin Asia venue, then there was no excuse for the Bitcoin Summit held in the same venue on August 29. On that day, while people gathered at Bitcoin Asia to cheer for Eric Trump, who proclaimed, "Bitcoin will reach $1 million in the future," the adjacent Bitcoin Summit venue was eerily quiet, with only a few industry professionals walking back and forth in the hallway.
Scene from the Bitcoin Summit event
Now, as the world embraces and reserves Bitcoin, a group of suit-wearing, golf-loving individuals is gradually taking over Bitcoin, yet the Bitcoin ecosystem has become increasingly neglected and niche. No one dares to proclaim, "The Bitcoin ecosystem is a market with a capacity of hundreds of billions of dollars," and the remaining Bitcoin ecosystem followers still focus on speculation.
This sense of disparity makes me question again: does the Bitcoin ecosystem still have significance? I posed this question to Bitcoin ecosystem builders I met at the event.
"For Bitcoin, which has a long history, the Bitcoin ecosystem is indeed insignificant," said Lorenzo, founder of UniSat. "But it is not entirely inconsequential; perhaps it will take 5 to 10 years of growth for the Bitcoin ecosystem to bring some better added value to Bitcoin, just like gold has its industrial and jewelry uses." Lorenzo also gave a speech at Bitcoin Asia; although the audience was small, he remained passionate and eloquent.
Lorenzo announced at Bitcoin Asia that UniHexa will be publicly launched in Q4
In response to this question, the founder of DotSwap was even more straightforward, "Centralized exchanges have a daily Bitcoin trading volume of about $30 billion, and UniSwap's on-chain DEX can account for 1% of that, which is $300 million. Such trading volume is enough to create a decent market space. Moreover, Bitcoin's market share in crypto remains above 60%, dominating the main liquidity in the crypto market. If we want to create liquidity for other ecosystems, it should also be born for Bitcoin first." DotSwap does not claim to be a Bitcoin ecosystem company; rather, the Bitcoin ecosystem is their first batch of seed users. "Our technology and products can fully expand to serve other ecosystems in the future."
The unremarkable Bitcoin ecosystem still has builders working quietly. "Build high walls and accumulate grain" is the common strategy for Bitcoin ecosystem projects at this stage. They do not deny that this is a difficult period, but they have not decided to give up.
This reminds me of a marathon; spectators usually gather at the finish line to celebrate the finishers, while the sweat, hardships, and struggles along the way go largely unnoticed.
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