• Breakthrough announcements by Yuma Group, peaq, Pulsar, Somnia, and Entravel set the tone at Proof of Talk 2025, where visionary discussions, like Silvio Micali’s tokenless Fiat Chain, pushed the boundaries of what’s next for AI and decentralized systems – from infrastructure to finance
• More than 3,000 leaders from policy, finance, and blockchain gather for powerful conversations, key announcements, and groundbreaking initiatives in the heart of Paris

Returning to the historic Louvre Paris, Proof of Talk 2025 delivered its most impactful edition yet, welcoming over 3,000 attendees from across the globe for two days of high-level dialogue, transformative insights, and real-world action across DeAI, DeFi, tokenization, and beyond.

Proof of Talk once again proved itself as the forum where traditional finance, frontier tech, and decentralized builders converge to shape the future of global systems, with Barry Silbert making a highly anticipated return to the public stage after nearly five years away. In a headline-making panel with Mosaic Venture Partners’ David Lawee and former Forbes Senior Reporter Michael del Castillo, Silbert announced that Yuma Group will launch an asset management business focused on alpha token strategies. The initiative marks Silbert’s entry into the rapidly growing Bittensor ecosystem and is designed to give institutional investors streamlined access to high-potential teams and projects building across its subnets, potentially signaling a pivotal moment in Bittensor’s evolution.

Bittensor also took center stage at Proof of Talk 2025, with Co-founder Jacob Steeves delivering a standout keynote, “Satanic to Sublime: Aligning Human Potential Through Open-Ownership Protocols.” The mainstage was packed to the last seat, with attendees standing to hear his powerful vision for decentralized AI and open-ownership systems.

Some other standout announcements include Somnia, detailing how Sparkball, backed by $2M and developed by industry veterans, will leverage Somnia’s Layer 1 network to introduce on-chain wager mechanics and prize tournaments and transform the esports landscape; and Entravel launching EntravelX, the world’s first Telegram-native hotel booking app, tailored for the growing wave of crypto-savvy travelers.

Unveiled live at Day 2 of Proof of Talk 2025, peaq, the Machine Economy computer, and Pulsar Group, a leading Emirati advisory firm in tech and blockchain, also announced the launch of the world’s first Machine Economy Free Zone (MEFZ), set to roll out in Abu Dhabi and Dubai while legendary MIT professor and Algorand founder Silvio Micali took the main stage to unveil a bold new vision for blockchain: the Fiat Chain, a public, decentralized ledger that operates without a native cryptocurrency.

Zohair Dehnadi, Co-Founder and CEO of Proof of Talk, said:

“Proof of Talk 2025 has marked a milestone in bringing together visionary leaders and groundbreaking projects in the blockchain space. With announcements like Somnia’s ecosystem expansion and deep discussions on finance and tokenization, it’s clear that this industry is moving beyond innovation to become a core part of our digital future. We’re excited to keep driving this momentum.”

Over 700 industry-leading Web3 companies were present at Proof of Talk 2025, showcasing their latest innovations and thought leadership across one of the space’s most influential and curated exhibitions. Title sponsors included MEXC Ventures, the investment arm of the global cryptocurrency exchange MEXC, Unit Network, a decentralized financial ecosystem enabling trading of real-world and digital assets through tokenization, Somnia, a pioneer in immersive metaverse infrastructure; CertiK, the premier blockchain security firm; and General Tao and Tao Ventures, builders and investors in decentralized AI infrastructure, both recognised as thought leaders within the Bittensor ecosystem.

Wrapping up an inspiring two days of conversations and innovation, Proof of Talk 2025 culminated with the launch of the Top 50 Women in Web3 & AI initiative, in partnership with CoinDesk and TON Foundation, celebrating leading female innovators in blockchain and AI. The winners were recognised at an exclusive gala dinner, honoring excellence, leadership, and the power of representation in tech. Among them were Daniela Amodei, Co-founder and President of Anthropic; Anima Anandkumar, Bren Professor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the California Institute of Technology; and Betsabe Botaitis, Chief Financial Officer of Hedera. The launch highlighted the vital need for greater representation and recognition of women in tech’s fastest-growing fields.

With event highlights such as the Investor Dinner and Proof of Pitch Startup Competition and over 140 VCs joining from a16z, Pantera Capital, Arrington, Borderless, Animoca Brands, and Haun Ventures, alongside institutional heavyweights such as BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, and Goldman Sachs, this years event made one thing clear: crypto is here to stay.

Following the success of the 2025 edition, Proof of Talk will return in 2026 with an expanded format and a continued commitment to hosting the most influential conversations in Web3 and beyond. For more information on future editions and partnership opportunities, visit: www.proofoftalk.io.

Crypto investor and billionaire Barry Silbert says there’s one digital asset play that he thinks will be the “next big investment theme” for the asset class.

In a new interview with Raoul Pal on the Real Vision YouTube channel, Silbert says that he’s created a new venture called Yuma, which exclusively focuses on Bittensor (TAO), a decentralized blockchain-based network built for a global, collaborative marketplace for artificial intelligence (AI).

Says the Digital Currency Group (DCG) CEO,

“I started looking across the whole decentralized AI space and started digging in on Bittensor, and I very quickly came to the conclusion that from a theme or era perspective, this was the next big era for crypto. You had the Bitcoin and the Ethereum and the NFTs (non-fungible tokens), and you had the layer 2s and DeFi (decentralized finance)…

I think this is the next big investment theme for crypto, and there are a number of projects that have launched. We’ve backed a number of them, but the one that over the past year or year and a half that has reached escape velocity is Bittensor, and so I decided last year, we’re going to do with Bittensor – try to do with Bittensor what we did with Bitcoin.

We’re going to invest in it, we’re going to build on it, we’re going to help educate, create awareness, create access. We launched a new business in the fall of last year call Yuma, that I’m putting my jersey back on, and I’m the CEO of Yuma – I’m still running DCG – but I’m back in the game and I’m now building this busines Yuma that’s focusing exclusively on this thing Bittensor.”

Bittensor’s ecosystem includes “subnets,” which are like independent segments dedicated to a certain AI task or service. Silbert says Yuma has focused on developing an “accelerator” to easily build new subnets on Bitensor.

He also says one of his investment goals is finding the “Coinbase,” “Bitgo,” or “Chainalysis” of the Bittensor ecosystem.

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