Kat

🦋

[Kat @the__katia]

Excited for an insightful session this week at @AgoraGBC, where we’ll discuss Web3 in the UAE: Building the World’s Most Forward-Thinking Blockchain Ecosystem with fellow speakers from DMCC and Innovation City (RAK)

[Kat @the__katia]

Gitex this year (2025) had a great variety of vendors and representatives from all over the world. I especially enjoyed the UAE government sector, so many impressive developments focused on national safety and operational efficiency.

[Kat @the__katia]

Just wrapped up an incredible week in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at @money2020 Middle East

🦋 Here are my key insights:

AI Opportunities:
Saudi presents unprecedented opportunities for AI companies through the landmark $100 billion Project Transcendence initiative. Saudi launched Humain in May 2025, a new AI company backed by the PIF, which is rapidly building out data centers and cloud services.
The importance of data management in KSA cannot be overstated, especially with data localization requirements mandating that personal data be stored and processed inside the Kingdom.

Blockchain Landscape:
Based on my conversations with SAMA officials, the regulatory environment is evolving rapidly.
Saudi Central Bank disclosed that it has invested and holds 25,656 shares in MicroStrategy Inc., the major Bitcoin holding company, signaling a notable shift in approach to digital assets.
At the same time, SAMA is actively exploring digital asset frameworks - including tokenized deposits, stablecoins, but mainly CBDC initiatives through Project Aber with the UAE Central Bank. However, cryptocurrency trading and exchanges remain heavily restricted, with licensing pathways still very limited despite recent investment signals.

Thank you to Dr. Laith Al Sulaiman, Advisor to SAMA, for the insightful discussions!

Blockchain presence at Money20/20 was limited - only saw Oumla had a booth, operating mostly as an infra gateway and partner to protocols like Avalanche and Ethereum.

Robust Startup Ecosystem:
The startup landscape has significantly strengthened with key players including: The Garage VC, KAUST Taqadam, Flat6Labs, Misk Hub, Plug and Play. Enhanced support pathways to the Entrepreneur License (MISA) endorsement continue to grow. The grants and subsidy programs by NTDP (https://t.co/9ZmJG5UDKv) are also expanding.

Critical Success Factors:
For companies looking to enter this market, critical success factors now include:
- Early regulatory sandbox engagement
- Strong local partnerships with government and industry leaders
- Vision 2030 alignment showing contribution to diversification goals
- Arabic language AI capabilities for competitive advantage
- Compliance with new PDPL data sovereignty rules
- Talent strategy - Saudi aims to train 1 million AI professionals by 2030

The Bottom Line:
Success requires a strategic approach, swift market entry, and the ability to leverage the Kingdom’s massive transformation investments under Vision 2030. The window of opportunity in 2026 is great. (if done right).

[Davide Crapis @DavideCrapis]

We’re starting a new AI Team at the Ethereum Foundation (the dAI Team).
Our mission: make Ethereum the preferred settlement and coordination layer for AIs and the machine economy.

The team will focus on two main areas:
- AI Economy on Ethereum = giving AI agents and robots ways to pay, coordinate, and follow rules without middlemen.
- Decentralized AI Stack = making sure the future of AI doesn’t rely only on a handful of entities but has open, verifiable censorship-resistant alternatives.

We believe Ethereum can be as useful for today’s AI developers as it will be for the sci-fi future. That’s why we’ll work closely with ecosystem projects to accelerate progress and push the boundaries of research and innovation at the intersection of AI and blockchains. Connecting two communities that have too often worked in parallel.

We’ll work side by side with both the Protocol and Ecosystem teams at the EF. Linking protocol improvements with the needs of AI builders, and funding innovative public goods that will make Ethereum the best home for AI.

Ethereum makes AI more trustworthy, and AI makes Ethereum more useful. The more intelligent agents transact, the more they need a neutral base layer for value and reputation. Ethereum benefits by becoming that layer and AI benefits by escaping lock-in to a few centralized platforms.

Acting with purpose and urgency, we’ll continue our recent work on ERC-8004—a standard for proving who an AI agent is and whether you can trust it— and continue to support new upgrades and standards. Inspired by the d/acc philosophy and Ethereum values, we’ll support projects that are leveraging Ethereum to build a more resilient and secure AI ecosystem where humans can flourish with AI.

Ethereum + AI is about making sure humans keep agency and AI can reach its potential. Neutral, verifiable, censorship-resistant infrastructure means AI works for the people, all of us.

The team starts with myself as lead, and we’re just getting started. Explore our job postings and resources below, and join us in building the future of decentralized AI on Ethereum.

[Kat @the__katia]

Congrats to the https://t.co/boEQs2Wvgu team on the new partnership with Emirates - payments integration. Enjoyed chatting with Thomas, Head of French Operations, at &
&
@RaiseSummit

[Proof of Talk @proofoftalk]

Sponsor Spotlight: @theunitnetwork is a Diamond Sponsor at Proof of Talk 2025 💎

@theunitnetwork is empowering individuals, communities, and businesses through tokenization, promoting shared ownership and inclusive growth with decentralized solutions.

Catch them in Paris this June! 🌍

📍 June 10–11 | 🎟️ https://t.co/DAgrndeszO

[Kat @the__katia]

A few years back, I never imagined speaking in front of crowds about blockchain and AI. I just knew I wanted to find my voice and share insights.
Now, with a goal of 100 sessions, I'm excited to see how it grows.

This time at the Expo in Dubai, I spoke on the convergence of AI and Web3, and tokenization’s role in creating new financial systems and unlocking liquidity.

Tokenizing purely digital businesses, pre-IPO companies, and building operating systems for AI is the next frontier. The merge is inevitable. I'm excited to see autonomous systems generate and trade value, and create their own ecosystems. 🌹

[Kat @the__katia]

@0bretenov Not going to Consensus this year, but love that energy. Will definitely plan something special next time I am there! Let’s build something beautiful together. 🦋

[Kat @the__katia]

Great hosting a private investors & founders lunch during
#Token2049

Grateful to everyone who joined and shared where the real momentum is moving in Web3, investing, and beyond.

A special thank you to our co-host @Rarible for making it even more special.

When you’ve been in the space for years, you come to truly value real conversations, genuine support, and meaningful friendships.

Real change ignites when we build from the heart - rooted in trust, shared values, and collaboration, when everything is in flow.

Thank you to the brilliant minds representing: BFF | Animoca Brands | ViaBTC Capital | Amber Group | Avenir Group | Hercules Ventures | Well Fund | CreditScend | 42P Ventures from the Yildiz Family Office | Asva Capital | Interop Ventures | Fabric Ventures | Mindfulness Capital & others.

[Kat @the__katia]

@Kristian_Kho @theunitnetwork Thank you! 💫

[Kat @the__katia]

Major milestone achieved! @theunitnetwork has successfully secured $18 million funding round, backed by prominent investors.

Unit Network's consumer-focused L1 blockchain is founded on three core pillars: financial inclusion through a leading decentralized stock exchange, a multi-faceted crowdfunding tool, and decentralized banking.

Our mission is to revolutionize financial accessibility by providing innovative tools for businesses, corporations, and communities to launch, manage, and trade tokenized assets.

We're making a major push to expand our initiatives across key industries such as AI, Digital Commerce, SMEs, and RWAs 2.0, democratizing access to ownership and investments. #UNITCOIN #UNITNETWORK

[Kat @the__katia]

Stripe launched stablecoins in 100+ countries
Ramp dropped stablecoin cards
Superstate put equities on-chain
Robinhood is building a crypto platform
Coinbase x Deribit - biggest crypto acquisition ever
Meta is back in the stablecoin game
Ethereum shipped a major upgrade
Bitcoin smashed through $100K

Internet capital markets are going live right now.

Who’s putting pre-IPO companies on-chain next? 👀

[Kat @the__katia]

@miaferrariii 🚀🧨

[Kat @the__katia]

Great chat with @itzjoshuajake at the CoinW office - thanks for the invite! Loved sharing what we’re building at @theunitnetwork & unit vc: unlocking new economic systems on chain.

[Kat @the__katia]

GM 🌹 Let’s connect if you’re at #Token2049Dubai

Hosting private lunch for investors & friends on May 1st>> https://t.co/sFb2Fxj0nz

[Kat @the__katia]

Great start of the #token2049 week

[Kat @the__katia]

Got info that one of Ethereum’s co-founders is working with the UAE gov in Dubai on real estate tokenization.

Once the framework lands, it’s game over - this unlocks a trillion+ market.
Web3 infra is going nation-state level.

[Kat @the__katia]

Happy Easter 🌹 much love