PANews essay examines why crypto professionals keep flying to conferences
PANews published an opinion essay by Yuki (Liu Yuqing) that looks at the culture of conference-hopping in crypto and fintech. Drawing on her experience attending Bitcoin Asia, Token2049, Money20/20, FinTech Week and Consensus, as well as hosting three side events, she asks a simple question: why do people keep showing up? The piece does not offer a single answer. Instead, it maps out several motives described by people she met along the way. For some, conferences are still work: exhibiting, meeting clients, talking to investors and trying to close partnerships. For others, the point is simply to be present, let people know where they are, reconnect with friends, or gather teams that usually work remotely across time zones. In that setting, the main stage often matters less than hotel lobbies, dinners and side events. Yuki also argues that conferences remain places where information gaps circulate, even if the old hunt for easy “wealth codes” has cooled. Her broader takeaway is that global competition has become flatter, with more Chinese companies appearing on the same stage as firms from the US, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. Still, she writes, what has flattened is the competitive arena, not social class. The article closes without a firm conclusion, framing the entire discussion as personal observation rather than investment or business advice.
