The Haven1 team spent last week at Token2049 in Dubai, one of the most important events on the crypto industry calendar.

Last year’s event stood out for torrential rain and floods which wreaked havoc, but this year attendees were blessed with blazing sunshine and an industry that’s heating up in its own way. Not only is the US embracing the crypto industry like never before, but we launched the Haven1 mainnet last month.

Let’s dive into our highlights from the week, which included our CEO Jeff on stage, an in-person meeting of Haven1’s validator partners and much, much more.

Key Haven1 Highlights

Crypto events are not just about the main stage at the show, you can expect a carnival week and that means that side events are key.

“Web3 Security: Why Do We Still Keep Getting Hacked?”

A key focus of Haven1  is our ‘REKT resistance’ which comes from auditing smart contracts and KYC (know-your-customer) checks. That made Jeff an ideal participant in this panel session at the VCC & CoinferenceX Demo Day; one of the largest side events of the week which drew over 2,000 attendees.

Joined by Dyma Budorin (Hacken), Jock Haslam (Hashlock), and Preetam Rao (QuillAudits), he explained into how Haven1 is building safeguards into the core infrastructure, rather than bolting on patches or responding after things go wrong.

“Without any sort of accountability, and with security treated not just as optional but often prohibitively expensive, developers are often more incentivized to prioritize growth over user protection. AI-supported security can help, but only if wallet and network infrastructure adopt it from the ground up,” he said of the approach to audit smart contracts and verify all developers that build on Haven1.

‍The inaugural validator lunch

We formally announced our validator council in March and we held an inaugural in-person summit of members around Token2049.

Representatives from validators including Bitcoin Suisse, NTT Digital discussed mainnet milestones, partnership momentum, and confidential strategies for the road ahead.

Key investors and strategic partners were present in the first major stakeholder meeting since the Haven1 mainnet was launched in April. We’re avidly looking forward to our next validator meeting.

‍On the Ground: Mainstream Momentum Builds

Events like Token2049 are essential for any serious companies in the crypto industry. Our industry is unique for the way that it functions on a distributed and global basis, but there’s no substitute for meeting investors, validators, new partners, builders and others face-to-face.

The start of 2025 has been a challenging one for crypto following the highs and expectations that build up at the tail end of last year. But we are now beginning to see more sustained momentum building with developments across the world, particularly in the US with the launch of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a less hostile SEC.

Our conversations around the show reflected that these foundations are encouraging builders to build again—and for the long-term. RWA, DePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure networks) and other areas previously considered ambitious are now a core part of the conversation for all major infrastructure players in Web3. 

‍Institutions Are In—and They’re Staying

The growth in institutional involvement in crypto—first catalyzed through the launch of ETFs in the US—is also deepening, particularly around stablecoins, which are among the next areas where the US government is prioritizing regulatory clarity.

Haven1 is ideally positioned to support this evolution as these themes continue to gain traction both within the Web3 industry and, more crucially, among institutions, consumers and other newcomers to our space.

For one, we have plans to introduce lending services on the Haven1 network as well as an NFT marketplace. With our focus on developing a safe environment for retail and institutional partners, we firmly believe we can move the needle and bring DeFi and RWA into the mainstream

What we saw—and felt—in Dubai reinforces our belief. The journey is only just starting for DeFi 2.0.