Crypto Rave in the Desert 🐫 & Why Conferences Matter

500+ Token2049 side events, one of which is Arthur Hayes' party in the desert

Author

Crypto Nomads
April 18, 2025

GM Survivors 

In this issue: 

  • 🌎 Crypto has no HQ

  • 🇦🇪 Token2049 Dubai hot takes

  • 🏨 Crypto Retreats and Coliving

The argument for Conferences 

People move to large cities so they can repeatedly run into like-minded individuals and advance in their careers - Paris for fashion, SF for tech, LA for entertainment. Every industry has its undisputed capital.

In fact, this famous painter once moved from Germany to Italy during the Renaissance (!!) to pursue his art dreams: 

Albert Dürer, a German painter who moved to Italy for art

But crypto has no unanimous city equivalent.

  • Some argue it’s New York (where most crypto companies are based)

  • Others say it’s Dubai, Lisbon or Singapore (crypto-friendly policies)

  • Yet no one hesitates to call SF the tech capital of the world

In crypto, the only place we can reliably run into the same peers is at global conferences. Some may view conferencing as a waste of time, but for our industry, it’s the closest thing we have to a headquarters.

TLDR; Since crypto has no HQ, conferencing became essential.

From our partners:

Use code NOMADS10

  • 🇦🇪 Sui’s flagship conference is back (May 1-2). Expect keynotes from Mysten Labs and a very Dubai afterparty. Use code NOMADS10

  • 🇮🇹 ETHMilan is your excuse to visit Italy in June, get your tickets

  • 🇺🇸 Pond is hiring: The AI model layer of crypto is looking for an Ecosystem Growth Lead and a Growth Manager/Lead 

“Token2049 Dubai feels like crypto — it’s cool and fake at the same time.” - ETH Developer

15k crypto people are about to take over the Madinat Jumeirah resort, where every restaurant will turn into a side event venue

Our (not-so-hot) takes on this year’s Token2049 Dubai:

  1. “Everyone” is attending

… despite polarizing opinions about the city or the event.

Why do we think this? Last year, we tracked 288 side events; this year, we reached 500+ events and we’re still 10 days away.

  1. Solana Builder Events > ETH Builder Events

Solana Economic Zone is a two-week unconference with coworking and daily talks on policy, fundraising and other topics for everyone in the SOL ecosystem. There’s also Solana mixer, yacht party, workouts & dinner side events. 

ETHDubai: Unusually, developers must pay to attend ($200+), a rare move in a space where 99% of hackathons are free.

Also, Eigen layer is hosting a builder breakfast. 

…. And that’s about it when it comes to ETH builder events….

  1. We looked for out-of-the-box side events

In true Dubai nature, there are many KOL events, yacht parties (25 on our site so far), and token pump related events. These creative ones caught our eye:

  • Crypto Polo Cup with professional polo players by Luna PR Media Corp

  • Dubai Safari Day Tour by BTCC Japan (crypto exchange)

  • Desert Rave by Maelstrom Events, aka Arthur Hayes’ fund (just sign up - IYKYK)

  • Padel tournament by 1inch or Solana’s Superteam

Full list here.

Speaking of no Crypto HQ

Our new coliving page highlights longer-form crypto experiences that last beyond single events. They are multi-day hacker houses, retreats, pop up cities and more:

Some highlights:

  • 🇨🇭 Zuiterland, May 1-30: A Swiss Network State for ETH builders, part of the Zuzalu ecosystem

  • 🇲🇽 Offcript, June 11-15: For Web3 designers in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

  • 🇪🇸 Solana Sailing in Ibiza, Jun 28 - July 12: a week-long charter across the Balearic Islands

Community Wins

News from our private club

Who Are We?

  • We’re building cryptonomads.org—the platform to discover crypto events, companies, jobs, and professionals.

  • We also run a private club—a community of web3 founders and builders who meet at events worldwide.

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