London’s position in crypto conferences is diminishing, with organizers announcing canceling two significant events scheduled for 2023. Blockworks and Token2049 Virtual Assets Summit, which boasted attendance from more than two thousand five hundred participants and six hundred institutions in the previous year, have opted out of returning to London for their upcoming events.
According to a statement made to The Block by Token2049 organizers, the Singapore event will be the only one they will host this year, but they still need to disclose the reason behind their decision not to hold the conference in London.
On the other hand, Blockworks has chosen to relocate its Virtual Currency Summit from London and New York to Washington. In a recent tweet thread, Blockworks explained the reasoning behind relocating its Virtual Currency Summit to Washington.
They stated, “The goal is straightforward. We want to bring the most brilliant minds, regulators, and policymakers in the crypto sector altogether in one venue, communicating in a similar language.
DAS will not be held at all and will debut in its new venue in March next year. Last year, both DAS and Token2049 conferences were held toward completing the summit season, with Token2049 taking place in November and DAS in October.
Bitcoin and Crypto Markets Struggle as Bear Market Takes Hold
Director of Operations for CryptoUK, Su Carpenter, a trade association group, stated in a press release, “Although it is disappointing to witness the absence of two significant company events in the United Kingdom, we are confident that this is a temporary pause, and we hope to see these conferences return in the coming years.
She added, “When companies need to regard their resources towards operational expenses to ascertain regulatory compliance, budgets may be allocated separately than in past years. Additional spending on operations such as attendance and sponsorship to high-cost events will likely be of lower priority.
Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment and a bearish cryptocurrency market that has adversely affected corporate balance sheets and led to widespread layoffs, many experts within the industry had anticipated conference organizers to downsize this year.
However, event organizers had indicated to The Block in the previous year that they planned to proceed with their events in 2023. Despite this, the UK is losing out as some of the most prominent achievements in the industry are taking place all over the English Network, such as Paris Blockchain Week and NFT Paris.
During Blockchain Week, the parties and events were held in remarkable venues such as the Louvre art gallery, where a VIP meeting was hosted, and along River Seine, where degen boat events were held in a complete bull-market design.
Keynote speeches were also given by prominent figures such as Pierre Gasly, a Formula One Contestant, and Tim Draper, a legendary cryptocurrency investor. According to Michael Amar, General Member at V3ntures and Chairman of Blockchain Week, the event held last week attracted approximately eight thousand five hundred individuals.
Although organizers were targeting about ten thousand individuals, they predicted that attendance would be affected somewhat by the bear economy and the strikes taking place in the region during the conference. Nonetheless, it was still a significant turnout compared to last year, when approximately six thousand individuals attended.