Binance Blockchain Week Dubai 2025: Day Two Ends with a Bang
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The second day of Binance Blockchain Week 2025 has come to an end, marking the festive conclusion of the year's biggest crypto event!
The second day of BBW featured exciting discussions about the future of the industry, as well as a highly anticipated debate between Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and renowned investor Peter Schiff on Bitcoin and tokenized gold.
If you missed this year’s conference, be sure to watch all the replays on Binance Square. See you next year!
Binance Blockchain Week 2025 has officially ended.
Thousands of builders, thinkers, policymakers, and creators gathered at the Coca-Cola Stadium in Dubai for two days of high-impact conversations, market insights, and groundbreaking ideas shaping the future of digital assets, payments, and Web3 infrastructure. From headline keynotes to in-depth technical sessions, this year’s agenda highlighted innovations that are accelerating industry maturity and driving real-world adoption, with implications expected to extend into 2026 and beyond.
Missed the next day? Here are the key highlights of today's big moments.
Raoul Parr's Alpha Theory – Finding the Hidden Edges of the 2026 Market
“In altcoin season, don’t chase other people’s returns.” — Raoul Parr, co-founder and CEO of Real Vision
Nick Parklin of Coin Bureau, who served as Raoul Parr's opponent at the opening session, began by posing the question everyone was whispering about: Are we sliding into a bear market? Raoul, one of the most popular macro investors in the digital asset space, didn't miss the opportunity: in his view, it's simply a correction within an ongoing bull market. The ensuing discussion was a macro journey, connecting liquidity fluctuations, demographic inflection points, and the accelerating adoption curve of crypto into a clear trajectory.
Parr analyzed the market impact of year-end bank funding dynamics, liquidity, a weak dollar, and massive fiscal stimulus. If these forces come into play, he expects January and February to be strong enough to signal the end of the stagnant four-year crypto cycle narrative.
In terms of positioning, Raoul likens altcoins to small-cap stocks: a high-risk curve with depth correlated to business cycles. Even with the hype surrounding AI stocks, he believes altcoins still offer the best asymmetric upside potential, historically outperforming blue-chip stocks. In the crypto space, he points to stablecoins and the well-performing L1, stating that L1 trading is the simplest form of trading.
His main warnings for 2026 are behavioral: avoid FOMO, ignore short-term trading illusions, hold quality assets, and stay away from leverage, which he calls "bankrupt bills." For those who understand the structure and psychology correctly, he believes 2026 will be "the year of the yellow fruit."
The future of on-chain markets and when will they be on-chain?
“Previously, obtaining quality inflation and real-economy data was extremely difficult for research firms. With the right incentives, collective intelligence is now constantly updating probabilities,” — Nicky Lee, Head of Research, Opinion Labs
The panel discussion explored how prediction markets, media, and decentralized finance can converge into a sharper, more participatory financial layer. Nikki Lee emphasized that real-world data, such as inflation or macroeconomic signals, that once required research firms weeks to compile, can now be presented instantly through on-chain prediction markets. With simplified incentive mechanisms, people are more willing to express their genuine opinions. Collective intelligence updates probabilities in real time, providing a natural way for people to monetize their insights while continuously refining market expectations.
Faroh Salmad points out that while content comes from creators and journalists, the audience's voice is missing—a gap that prediction markets can fill. He believes these markets are becoming part of the cultural cycle. On the infrastructure front, Chef Kids emphasizes the need for unified, decentralized financial liquidity, which is now a core focus of leading protocols.
Alex Swanevik, Benjamin Cowan, and Nicholas Wieman: A New Way of Trading, Optimizing AI and Data
“One of the best on-chain signals is seeing what smart money is doing,” — Alex Swanevik, CEO of Nansen
The minds of some of the industry's leading on-chain analytics firms gathered to discuss how data and AI are changing traders' focus and behavior. Alex Swanevik of Nansen emphasized that his team focuses on identifying thousands of addresses to watch and has spent considerable time this year analyzing perp activity on Hyperliquid. Benjamin Cowen of Into The Cryptoverse, on the other hand, doesn't rely on any single metric but rather combines and standardizes multiple on-chain metrics. The results suggest that the current environment is roughly in the "middle" of a cycle, similar to 2019, with Bitcoin leading the market and not yet experiencing much speculative euphoria.
Regarding AI, host Nicholas Wieman inquired whether human interpretation remains as important as it once was. Benjamin shared that Into The Cryptoverse is building an AI bot so users can directly query data instead of navigating through thousands of charts. Nicholas explained that Bubblemaps combines advanced clustering heuristics with AI to help users understand what each cluster represents: an exchange, an airdrop, or someone “trying to sneak around.” Alex added that Nansen has launched a mobile app with a proxy interface that allows users to “monitor” on-chain transactions across all major L1 blockchains and also enables in-app transactions, tightly integrating data, insights, and execution.
Mastercard, Ripple, TON, and next-generation payment networks
“Mobile payments were new 10 years ago, but now they’re the standard; digital assets are becoming relevant to the next generation. It’s world-changing, and we need to adapt.” — Christian Law, Senior Vice President of Digital Assets and Blockchain at Mastercard
Leaders from Mastercard, Ripple, and TON discussed how blockchain and stablecoins can modernize payments without compromising compliance or user security. Christian Law explained that Mastercard has evolved from plastic cards to smartphones and now to blockchain-enabled networks, partnering with companies like Circle and Ripple because stablecoins can resolve many existing frictions. He emphasized that they are proceeding cautiously in developing the technology and economic models to avoid undermining compliance or consumer protection.
From a crypto-native perspective, Ripple's Rhys Merrick highlighted the dramatic shift in attitude: his early conversations in Europe about crypto or stablecoins were unsettling, while today having a digital asset strategy has become a basic requirement for banks and institutions. Nicola Plakas, representing TON—a blockchain serving retail and business users within the Telegram ecosystem—pointed out that in the blockchain payments space, market volume and transactions are growing at 20-30% annually, growth rates unimaginable just a few years ago. He emphasized that users are adopting these technologies for practicality, and stablecoins already provide a significant portion of practicality in everyday payments and transfers.
Tom Lee: Ethereum, the Beacon of the Market
“The real story here is tokenization. The best years for growth are still ahead: 200x adoption in the future.” — Tom Lee, Chairman of BitMine
BitMine Chairman Tom Lee believes the traditional four-year crypto cycle is about to be broken, and the market will enter a structurally different mechanism. He observes that copper, gold, and ISM manufacturing no longer follow their usual four-year cycles—Bitcoin may also break its own cyclical pattern.
Li objects to the idea that tokenization is simply "digitizing assets," calling it an oversimplified understanding of larger unlocks. He points out that despite strong fundamentals in the crypto space in 2025, price action has been "poor." This obscures what he believes is the real story: tokenization and its impact on market structure. According to Li, crypto prices, including ETH, have bottomed out, and the best years for growth in the coming years are still ahead, potentially reaching 200x adoption.
He predicts Bitcoin will hit a new high in January, targeting 250K “in the next few months.” For Ethereum, he sees 2025 as its “1971 moment”—a structural breakout similar to the end of the gold standard—as tokenized products are consolidating on the network, despite its price having fluctuated within a range for years. At around 3K, he calls ETH “severely undervalued” and believes tokenization, particularly fractional ownership combined with prediction markets, is the catalyst for Ethereum’s next major unlocking as a market beacon.
Safe Haven: Crypto Security and Compliance
“Education is key to long-term trust: we want people to understand what they buy and how to protect their assets,” said Major Faisal Al Yaqobi, Head of the Virtual Assets Department at the UAE Ministry of Interior.
This panel discussion, featuring Major Faisal Al Yaqubi from the UAE Ministry of Interior and Pyr Patel from Circle, and moderated by Eleanor Hughes, Chief Legal Counsel at Binance, focused on building a secure and compliant digital asset ecosystem—and how the UAE can help set global standards. Major Faisal emphasized that consumer protection is paramount, prevention is better than cure, and education is the foundation of long-term trust. People must understand what they buy and how to protect their assets; once educated, they become partners in ensuring security, not passive victims. He stressed the importance of open communication with the industry for effective collaboration, noting that the internet and crime know no borders, and called for similar standards across jurisdictions so that criminals have nowhere to hide and regulators and industry can work together as a team.
On the industry front, Pyle addressed some misconceptions about stablecoins. She argued that the idea that "all stablecoins are the same" is like putting baby food and rat poison on the same shelf. She believes that digital assets still face public relations challenges, and the goal should be to create a world where using cryptocurrency is as simple and familiar as using Apple Pay or taking the subway—while ensuring users truly understand where they are putting their money and the risks they are taking.
Stablecoin Economy
“Once you start using stablecoins for payments, you'll never want to go back to the traditional way. I believe that within two years, stablecoins will no longer be a niche product.” — Marcelo Saccomori, CEO of Braza Bank S.A.
The banking sector and Braza Bank brought a solid regulatory perspective to the panel, arguing that stablecoins are becoming an essential part of financial infrastructure. Marcelo outlined three pain points they addressed in today's forex trading: every forex transaction in Brazil must be registered with the central bank (and the system isn't 24/7), forex trading desks must meet stringent standards, spreads are large, and speeds remain stuck in the SWIFT era—even transfers from Friday to Tuesday can go wrong.
Daniel spearheaded the discussion, pointing out that settlement will fundamentally change once assets are tokenized. On-chain, you need atomic settlements because there are no counterparties, and the traditional concept of "monetary unity" doesn't apply. He emphasized that the real challenge is ensuring minting-burning efficiency and 24/7 redemption, even if the issuer collapses.
From TRON's perspective, Sam points to Latin America and Africa, where high fees and weak banking access drive users to low-cost chains. There, stablecoins are not speculative; they are practical.
When the moderator asked the panel about liquidity, security, and utility, the answers were implied in the conversation: without trust, liquidity fails; without 24/7 redemption, security fails; without cross-border availability, utility fails. Marcelo added that Brazil's domestic PIX system has demonstrated what fast, fee-free payments look like—but stops at the border. Stablecoins, he said, are the bridge.
The key point is that stablecoins have gone from being a source of curiosity to becoming core infrastructure, now driving remittances, payments, and treasury flows—and soon they will no longer be a niche market.
Vision Nation: Digital Evolution
“Blockchain isn’t really a good fit for any existing sector in most countries. We need someone in government to make a clear decision to move it forward.” — Xin Yan, CEO of Sign
Crypto policy is no longer dominated by superpowers: emerging markets are shaping the digital regulatory order. Emerging digital nations and regulators worldwide are discussing national strategies, echoing global trends toward permission clarity and digital asset sandboxes. Unsurprisingly, the UAE is frequently cited as a reference model.
The Great Debate: CZ vs. Peter Schiff – Bitcoin and Tokenized Gold
"If hundreds of millions of people use something and build on it, you can't just think of it as a casino." —CZ
The debate pits Peter Schiff's high-energy gold extremism against CZ's rational, use-case-based defense of Bitcoin. Schiff argues that tokenized gold upgrades a scarce, industrially useful metal with a digital orbit, maintaining its role as a store of eternal value while improving its monetary attributes: ownership can change hands instantly, while gold bars remain in vaults. In his view, Bitcoin is ultimately just another unsecured asset whose price depends on confidence, while gold's value is based on real-world utility and thousands of years of monetary history.
CZ countered by emphasizing that many parts of today's economy already operate on virtual records, arguing that Bitcoin's value stems from its trustless design, global community, and real-world use, from people in Africa paying bills in minutes to millions spending via crypto cards. He stressed that tokenized gold still requires trust in issuers and vaults, while Bitcoin does not. The two have never agreed on what "sound money" should be—Schiff grounds his views in physical scarcity and industrial demand, while CZ grounds his in networking, openness, and censorship resistance—but their clash clearly reveals a core disagreement emerging in the future monetary debate.
The debate highlighted the shift in narrative: gold extremism now sounds defensive, while digital scarcity feels inevitable. CZ concluded by winking at the audience: "I think gold will perform well, but Bitcoin will be even better."
