From ice baths to yacht parties, crypto bros descend on Dubai

In case you missed it, the UAE just hosted one of the world’s biggest crypto events – Token2049.

Alternating twice-yearly between Dubai and Singapore, the crypto conference takes its name from the sci-fi movie Blade Runner 2049.

The first Token2049 of the year drew a record 15,000 attendees to Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah, packing out the venue.

Of course, despite its obvious appeal to industry players, the world of crypto has taken a well publicised reputational battering from scams, price volatility, money laundering and “pump-and-dump” meme coins. 

But inside the industry, the mood music is far more positive. Token2049 was abuzz with high-fives and chest-thumping among the crypto clan. After all, it is boom time for the sector as it welcomes new users and enjoys rapid growth.

By hosting major events like Token2049, attracting a wide array of digital asset companies and spearheading developments such as Crypto Tower and Solana City, the emirate is making a strong bid to become the world’s crypto capital.

Virtually everyone I spoke to at the event dubbed the UAE the “centre of the universe” in terms of crypto.

Speakers and panellists didn’t need much encouragement to praise the UAE’s crypto-friendly stance and the infrastructure. Even the event’s star attraction Eric Trump – Donald Trump’s second son – was aglow about Dubai, while simultaneously promoting his father’s “Make America Great Again” mantra.

Big bank balances, bigger egos

Crypto tends to attract its fair share of alpha males – musclebound, tanned and tattooed young men kitted out with flashy cars, tight trousers and sunglasses (worn indoors, of course).

Token2049 welcomed these ‘flashinistas’ in droves. Some worked for the many crypto exchanges and platforms sponsoring the event, others were opinion leaders (KOLs) and influencers making money for the exchanges.

For them, Token2049 is a great networking platform, a place to show off the Lamborghini and, of course, to have fun. And there was no shortage of side events happening all week across the city to choose from.

Yacht parties were a popular way to let one’s hair down, along with driving supercars in the desert and beach runs before breakfast. At the event, a zipline was set up, replete with ice baths and IV drips. The perfect playground for a crypto bro. 

Reuters/Federico Maccioni

While Dubai conferences generally don’t get going until around 10am, it was around lunchtime before Token2049 really got busy. I put it down to all the late-night partying.

In the opening panel on day two, titled ‘The UAE’s Rise as a Global Crypto Leader’, panellists were asked ‘what one thing they’d like to see the crypto community do more’. Faisal Al Hammadi, managing partner at Further Ventures, said: “Party less.” That sums it up perfectly.

Playing the Trump card

The poster children for crypto used to be geniuses like Vitalik Buterin (founder of Ethereum) and the pseudonymous bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto. I fear they have now been replaced with slick crypto influencers on social media and the Trump clan. 

If Eric Trump’s raucous reception at Token2049 is anything to go by, then he is deemed top of the crypto food chain.

Speaking at the event, Eric did a great PR job for crypto, as well as waxing lyrical about his father, Trump Tower, their golf course and his family’s own crypto projects. 

But he was smart enough to praise the UAE, which made him a hit with the crowd. “I always say that the rest of the world has to be careful of the UAE. For one reason, they always arrive at the word ‘yes’, which is a beautiful thing, and they do it quickly, right?” 

Eric Trump believes that both the UAE and the US are major crypto hubs, but perhaps privately, he’d like America to be the real number one. After all, President Trump has promised to make America “the world’s bitcoin superpower and the planet’s crypto capital”. 

But whatever Eric really thinks, the crypto bros lapped up his speech almost as enthusiastically as the sundowners and exotic cocktails that awaited them later in the day.

Justin Harper is an award-winning business journalist and editor with more than 20 years of experience in London, Singapore and Dubai