TOKEN2049 Singapore has sold out ahead of its October 7–8 return to Marina Bay Sands, where organizers expect 25,000 attendees from 160 countries for a program spanning 250 speakers, six stages and more than 500 exhibitors.
The conference is set to occupy all five floors of the Marina Bay Sands venue, reflecting the scale TOKEN2049 has built around its Singapore edition. Alongside keynote sessions and panels, the event will include dedicated lounges, co-working hubs and networking areas designed to keep business meetings and project discussions running beyond the stage schedule.
Organizers have positioned this year’s agenda around the increasingly intertwined worlds of trading infrastructure, tokenized finance, venture capital and consumer-facing crypto products. The speaker roster includes Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan, Hyperliquid Labs co-founder Jeff Yan, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji Srinivasan, Nasdaq President Tal Cohen, Franklin Templeton Digital Assets President Jenny Johnson, Maelstrom Chief Investment Officer Arthur Hayes, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee and Real Vision co-founder Raoul Pal.
The program also lists members of the Trump family, though organizers’ announcement did not specify their planned sessions or subjects. Formula One drivers Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Jenson Button are also listed, tying the conference week to Singapore’s annual Grand Prix period and the city’s broader calendar of international events.
Private institutional gathering joins the main conference
A separate TOKEN2049 institutional gathering is scheduled for October 8, bringing together 250 senior figures from traditional finance and digital assets in a private setting. Organizers said expected participants include representatives from Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, the Solana Foundation and Franklin Templeton.
The closed-door format distinguishes the institutional program from the main conference’s large public-facing exhibition and stage schedule. It gives asset managers, banks, blockchain foundations and service providers a venue for discussions that are often less suited to a convention floor, including fund structures, custody arrangements, tokenized products and market infrastructure.
Franklin Templeton’s presence reflects a trend already visible across the asset-management industry: large financial firms are building products and operational systems around public blockchains while maintaining the compliance and risk controls expected by traditional clients. BlackRock and other major managers have also expanded their digital-asset offerings in recent years, making institutional access a central theme in the industry’s competition for capital and customers.
TOKEN2049’s institutional session does not itself establish new commitments from the firms named in the program. Its value lies in the concentration of decision-makers at a time when crypto companies are seeking distribution partnerships, regulated market access and deeper links with established financial institutions.
Dubai pavilion brings regulators and developers onto the floor
The conference will introduce a city pavilion for the first time, led by Dubai. The Dubai pavilion is expected to host 10 exhibitors, including the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, developer OMNIYAT, Emaar and Prima Luxury.
The pavilion places a government tourism body and a dedicated virtual-assets regulator alongside private-sector companies, presenting Dubai’s crypto strategy as part of a wider effort to attract technology firms, wealth and property businesses. VARA has become one of the more visible specialist regulators in the digital-asset sector, and its presence at a major Asian conference gives the emirate direct access to founders, service providers and capital allocators attending the event.
Singapore and Dubai have both sought to establish themselves as major hubs for digital-asset businesses, though their approaches differ. Singapore’s framework has emphasized licensing standards and consumer protections, while Dubai has pursued an industry-specific regulatory structure designed to draw virtual-asset firms into the emirate. Bringing Dubai’s public and private organizations together in one pavilion turns that competition for companies into a visible feature of the conference floor.
Startup competition offers $400,000 in prizes
Early-stage builders will compete for a combined $400,000 through the Nexus startup competition and the TOKEN2049 Origins Hackathon. Nexus will award $250,000, while the 36-hour Origins Hackathon carries a $150,000 prize pool.
Judges for the startup competition are expected from venture firms Dragonfly, Multicoin Capital and Maelstrom. Their involvement gives participating teams direct exposure to funds that have been active across decentralized finance, blockchain infrastructure and crypto applications, although prize competitions do not guarantee subsequent investment.
The hackathon format favors teams able to produce working prototypes under time pressure. Such events often focus attention on the technical layers that support crypto applications, including wallets, identity systems, onchain trading tools, payment rails and developer software. The size of the prize pool is likely to intensify competition among early-stage teams looking to secure attention before approaching venture firms or strategic partners.
Side events extend the conference across Singapore
TOKEN2049 Week will include hundreds of affiliated events across Singapore, according to organizers. These gatherings traditionally range from private dinners and product demonstrations to developer workshops and community meetups, spreading activity beyond Marina Bay Sands and making access to meetings as valuable as access to the main stages.
Title sponsors listed for this year’s event are OKX, Sui, BloFin, Mesh, BingX, TRON and Solana. Their involvement gives trading platforms, blockchain networks and payments-focused companies prominent visibility before an audience that includes developers, founders, fund managers and service providers.
With the conference sold out, the event’s practical challenge will be converting its scale into useful connections rather than simply adding more panels and branded spaces. The institutional program, Dubai pavilion and startup competitions suggest organizers are trying to divide that large audience into clearer commercial and technical tracks, from regulated finance and venture funding to developer talent and blockchain infrastructure.
Planning for TOKEN2049? Deepen your understanding of this flagship event with our guide: learn more about TOKEN2049 here.
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