DFG’s TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 Recap & Insights: Asia’s Web3 Maturity from Hype to Institutional Infrastructure

Author: James Wo, Founder & CEO, Digital Finance Group

TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 marked a defining moment for Asia’s digital asset landscape. Held on October 1–2 at Marina Bay Sands, the conference drew over 25,000 attendees from 7,000 companies across 160 countries, reflecting a maturing ecosystem now driven by institutional capital, real-world use cases, and cross-border compliance. The atmosphere amplified by Formula 1 race week felt less like a speculative carnival and more like an industry summit of serious builders, regulators, and capital allocators. Conversations revolved around integration, scalability, and sustainability, underscoring Asia’s $2.3 trillion share of the global crypto market as both a growth engine and testing ground for mainstream adoption.

Institutional Adoption as the Catalyst for Market Maturity

The most palpable theme at TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 was institutional adoption. It’s no longer a forecast, but a present reality taking shape across asset classes and jurisdictions. Major financial institutions are not merely observing. They’re building, integrating, and deploying. Executives from exchanges, custodians, and asset managers emphasized that digital assets are evolving from an “emerging experiment” into core financial infrastructure. Stablecoins linked to global payment rails were highlighted as a trillion-dollar opportunity, alongside tokenized treasuries and cross-border settlements now being implemented under clearer regulatory frameworks. The focus has shifted from speculative upside to operational trust, where custodial assurance, audited proof-of-reserves, and programmable self-custody redefine how institutions perceive counterparty risk.

Within this institutional wave, Amber Group, one of DFG’s portfolio companies that went public on Nasdaq earlier this year, stood out as a key catalyst. Through its licensed entities, custody integrations, and liquidity provision for global institutions, Amber has been instrumental in bridging the gap between traditional finance and digital asset infrastructure.

This changes everything. The next generation of winners will not be measured by hype cycles or community metrics, but by their ability to interface seamlessly with regulated entities, structure compliant yield products, and scale institutional trust through transparency and resilience. The builders who understand governance as deeply as they understand code will define the next era of finance.

Liquidity as Architecture, Not Afterthought

Another standout topic at TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 was the evolution of liquidity — and the accelerating convergence between TradFi precision and Web3 velocity. Across panels and private sessions, liquidity was redefined not merely as capital efficiency but as an architecture of interoperability. Markets are now entering a liquid phase: tokenized equities, real-world debt instruments, and on-chain derivatives trade continuously across multiple venues, blurring the line between traditional and decentralized markets. Perpetual DEXs, once viewed as retail playgrounds, are now reaching institutional scale — Mode Network, one of DFG’s portfolio companies, exemplifies this shift as it pivots toward a perp DEX model to capture the surging demand for decentralized leverage and continuous liquidity.

A major structural theme emerging this year is the rise of Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs), fund-level infrastructures enabling on-chain capital deployment, yield optimization, and real-time transparency across both centralized and decentralized venues. DATs are fast becoming a new standard for programmable and compliant liquidity management, bridging the operational divide between Web3 and traditional finance. DFG is closely monitoring this trend as it reshapes how institutions think about treasury efficiency and governance in the digital era.

Ultimately, liquidity is no longer a passive market condition. It’s a strategic design principle. The protocols and funds succeeding today are embedding TradFi primitives like credit risk modeling, compliance automation, and audited reporting directly into token networks. For founders, this means architecting systems where capital flows frictionlessly between off-chain and on-chain rails: tokenized treasuries, cross-margin infrastructure, and interoperable KYC layers that institutions can confidently plug into. In this new era, liquidity is both the product and the moat, defining the next frontier of sustainable market infrastructure.

VC Outlook and the Return of Disciplined Capital

The VC outlook at TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 was refreshingly sober yet grounded in optimism. The days of FOMO-driven pre-seed splurges and speculative rounds are fading, replaced by longer investment horizons, disciplined underwriting, and concentrated conviction. Investors are demanding verifiable traction like clear product–market fit, defensible revenue models, and sustainable tokenomics tied to real-world utility rather than transient narratives. Across panels, the conversation focused less on hype and more on execution, governance, and capital stewardship.

At DFG, we share this evolution in mindset. Our focus is shifting toward strategic later-stage investments — companies valued above $100 million with credible paths to profitability and potential IPO readiness, reflecting a belief that long-term value now lies in scaling proven models rather than speculative bets. We continue to double down on teams that demonstrate measurable impact, recurring income, and genuine ecosystem alignment.

We’re backing fewer founders, but we’re committing deeper by helping them design for capital efficiency, regulatory readiness, and on-chain liquidity from inception to exit. With market maturity comes a richer opportunity set for investors who view Web3 not as an ideology to evangelize, but as infrastructure to institutionalize.

DFG at TOKEN2049

This year at TOKEN2049 Singapore, we curated two exclusive experiences that reflected DFG’s focus on meaningful connection and ecosystem collaboration — a bee experience at Sentosa in partnership with Bee Amazed Garden, and a private brunch co-hosted with NEAR at Marina Bay Sands. These intimate gatherings fostered deeper dialogue and strengthened our relationships with portfolio founders, institutional partners, and long-time friends across the Web3 community.

Against the lush backdrop of Sentosa Pavilion on October 2nd, DFG hosted a private afternoon event, “From Bees to Blockchain: Sweet Lessons in Collaboration,” gathering an intimate circle of partners, KOLs, founders, and ecosystem builders for an experience that seamlessly blended nature, innovation, and shared purpose.

From close encounters with bees to thought-provoking discussions on value creation, collaboration, and sustainability, the bee event offered a fresh perspective on how natural ecosystems can inspire human and technological innovation. The afternoon not only strengthened bonds within the DFG network but also reaffirmed our shared commitment to building resilient, purpose-driven communities and creating long-term value for the Web3 ecosystem.

On September 30th, we co-hosted a private brunch, “Fork That,” together with our portfolio company NEAR. Unlike the larger Founders & VCs gathering we hosted with them at ETHDenver, this edition was an intimate event reserved for close partners, peer investors, and institutional collaborators. Over exceptional Japanese cuisine and even better conversations, guests exchanged ideas on the evolving landscape of decentralized infrastructure, capital efficiency, and ecosystem growth. We’re grateful to everyone who joined and contributed to such thoughtful conversations.

Over the past year, DFG has participated in a lot of judging opportunities, connecting with early stage innovators. DFG Head of Research Geng Kai joined the judge panel at the TOKEN2049 Builders Showcase organized by our event partner AKINDO on October 2nd. Another great event featuring innovative projects, including a showcase prediction market!

Conclusion

As the TOKEN2049 week concluded, TOKEN2049 Singapore 2025 reaffirmed that Asia is no longer just a fast-growing crypto hub. It is the proving ground for institutional-grade Web3 infrastructure. The discussions around compliance, scalability, and real-world adoption pointed to a future where digital assets are woven seamlessly into global finance. For DFG, the experience extended beyond panels and showcases. From our “From Bees to Blockchain” event at Sentosa to the “Fork That” brunch with NEAR, we sought to create spaces where genuine connection and collaboration could thrive. These moments of exchange reminded us that the next phase of Web3 will be built not only on technology, but on trust, partnership, and purpose. As we look ahead, DFG remains committed to backing visionary founders and bridging traditional and decentralized finance, building together the foundation of the next financial era.

About DFG

Digital Finance Group (DFG) is a leading global Web3 investment and venture firm, established in 2015. With assets under management exceeding $1 billion, DFG’s investments span across diverse sectors within the blockchain ecosystem. Our portfolio boasts investments in pioneering projects such as Circle, Ledger, Coinlist, Near, Solana, Render Network, ZetaChain, and over 100 others.

At DFG, we are committed to generating value for our portfolio companies through market research, strategic consult, and sharing of our vast resources globally. We are actively working with the most transformative and promising blockchain and Web 3.0 projects poised to revolutionize the industry.

DFG Website: https://dfg.group
DFG Twitter: @DFG__Official
DFG LinkedIn: DFG