There are maybe three crypto conferences left worth attending and @proofoftalk is one of them.
Some observations from day 1:
- @CantonNetwork is the place to build or migrate. They have aspirations to dominate retail payments as well, not just institutional. The main retail perk is privacy, main institutional perks are liquidity, strong existing partnerships, and the technical ability to control which nodes can see or run your deployments. To watch here: @tryMinted@Noves_fi
- AI cybersecurity threats break the assumptions that monolithic centralized systems have scaled on over the past 20+ years. Decentralized networks, identity verification, and key management all play a role in the solution. A surprising number of family offices investing in Bittensor $TAO
- Adjacent to this, turning AI usage into “useful proof of work” to secure a chain is gaining traction and solving a problem as old as Bitcoin itself @prlnet
- Everyone is trying to OTC sell $LAB. No bids at 80% discount.
- Also saw more people in suits than any other crypto native conference I’ve been to, not counting “digital asset class” style events. The institutions are not going anywhere.
Overall my second time to a crypto event in Paris. Generally tend to be smaller events, but higher signal. A lot of activity and energy.
Photo borrowed from @proofoftalk since I once again walked out without taking one.
SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic's private valuations exceed the val of every dot com bubble IPO combined, even after adjusting for inflation.
No wonder private markets secondary activity is at all time highs. Wealth is created pre IPO.
How to ragebait a VC
- Which podcast gave you that opinion?
- How would you add value if you found a way to be valuable?
- You look like you make all of the 2 but none of the 20.
- Sorry, we aren't raising from you right now.
- Which AI model did you use to vibe code your firm's website?
- What startup role would you take if they'd have you?
@RupertLowe10 Half the hit pieces just state things like "Restore wants to deport all foreign violent criminals" as if it's a bad thing.
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Transparency is the most critical pre-requisite for efficient capital markets, and precisely the one most tokenized assets lack.
Happy to support this initiative and be a member of the Transparency Alliance at @legiondotcc
Introducing the Transparency Alliance.
An industry-led alliance establishing the Token Transparency Framework as the standard for token market disclosures.
What to do with the leverage:
• Co-invest sleeves at zero fee on the deal
• Bigger GP commits in new fund LPAs
• Fee offsets that wouldn't have flown in 2021
• DPI receipts to go with the TVPI marks
GPs will say yes right now. Be loud.
LPs hold the cards right now - this is the moment to be picky.
Every GP raising capital right now needs your check more than you need theirs.
GPs used to sell you an IRR story. Now they have to sell you cash back. If they can't, they can't raise. That shift is LP's leverage 🧵
91.7% of every PE fund that closed in Q1 raised more than its predecessor. Median step-up: 50.9%, up from 46.3% in 2025.
You're writing bigger checks to fewer GPs. That's what price-setting power looks like when LPs hold it.