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Cannes, the glitzy capital of film and French Riviera flair, is about to take on a new role: global crypto tourism hub.

The city announced plans to roll out crypto payment infrastructure across 90% of local merchants, thanks to a partnership with Web3 payment firm Lunu Pay.

By summer 2025, you might be able to grab a croissant, buy a bottle of champagne, or book a yacht – all using crypto.

What makes this different from previous ‘crypto city’ experiments – like El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach or Miami’s Bitcoin-branded city campaigns – is the level of coordination. Cannes isn’t just slapping QR codes in cafes.

The municipality is actively training shop owners and laying down Web3 infrastructure. That’s a big deal, because it makes crypto payments truly accessible to regular people – not just hardcore HODLers.

And when crypto becomes this real, certain projects stand to benefit more than others. Let’s look at some of the best altcoins riding this wave of mainstream adoption.

1. Best Wallet Token ($BEST) – Powering the Next Generation of Crypto Payments

As crypto payments go mainstream in cities like Cannes, one thing becomes clear: the wallet you use – and the token behind it – matters more than ever. That’s where Best Wallet Token ($BEST) steps in.

Priced at $0.02495 and with nearly $12M already raised in its presale, $BEST isn’t just another utility token. It’s the backbone of a radically modern, user-first crypto experience.

Best Wallet is positioning itself as the next evolution of Web3 wallets, outpacing clunky tools like MetaMask with a sleek, app-style interface, smarter security, and a host of exclusive features.

But it’s the $BEST token that unlocks the real perks.

Buying and holding $BEST gives users serious advantages. We’re talking reduced transaction fees, early access to hot new crypto projects, and even bonus rewards through Best Wallet’s iGaming partnerships.

That’s a far cry from tokens that just sit in your wallet looking pretty.

$BEST holders also gain access to ‘Upcoming Tokens,’ a built-in launchpad tool. It allows users to discover, vet, and invest in new tokens directly in-app – without hopping through shady mirror sites.

In short, $BEST isn’t just a token. It’s your all-access pass to the future of crypto payments, investments, and perks – all in your pocket.

2. SUBBD Token ($SUBBD) – The Future of Content Monetization Is AI-Powered and Instant

The way we pay for content is about to change forever – and SUBBD Token ($SUBBD) is leading the charge.

Built for the next generation of fans and digital platforms, $SUBBD is reimagining the $85B content subscription industry by blending AI, crypto, and premium fan experiences into one seamless ecosystem.

Currently priced at $0.0553, with over $300K raised in presale, $SUBBD powers an AI-driven content platform where users can subscribe, tip, and interact with creators using fast, low-fee crypto payments.

The platform offers tools like AI-generated photos and videos (approved by the original creators), a chatbot assistant for creators, and customizable staking perks.

Holding and staking $SUBBD unlocks exclusive content, early access to drops, and platform bonuses, all while earning up to 20% APY during presale.

Analysts predict the token could reach $0.301 by 2025, and possibly soar to $2.50 by 2030, making it one of the most promising projects in the content and AI space.

With $SUBBD, fans get more value, creators earn more directly, and the token at the center gets real-world utility.

3. Litecoin ($LTC) – The OG That Still Gets the Job Done

In a world of flashy new tokens and headline-chasing meme coins, Litecoin ($LTC) continues to quietly do what it does best – enable fast, cheap, and reliable payments.

Launched in 2011, it’s one of the oldest cryptocurrencies still thriving, and for good reason.

At a current price of $86.74, $LTC is more than just a legacy coin – it’s a practical, well-oiled machine built for real-world use.

It processes transactions four times faster than Bitcoin and with much lower fees, making it ideal for everyday purchases, especially in retail-heavy environments like Cannes.

With crypto payment terminals going live across 90% of the city’s merchants, Litecoin’s battle-tested speed and cost-efficiency could make it a natural fit.

Already accepted in crypto-forward cities like Miami and Lugano, Litecoin’s consistent performance and broad integration across wallets and payment platforms give it a major head start.

As crypto adoption spreads through tourism and local commerce, $LTC may just be the quiet workhorse powering your next seaside espresso.

4. Toncoin ($TON) – Turning Telegram Into a Global Crypto Powerhouse

Toncoin ($TON) is the native cryptocurrency of The Open Network (TON), a high-speed, scalable layer-1 blockchain originally developed by Telegram.

After regulatory setbacks paused Telegram’s direct involvement, the project was revived by an independent community and is now gaining serious momentum.

Priced at $3.18, Toncoin powers a range of blockchain functions – from staking and governance to paying for transaction fees.

What sets $TON apart is its deep integration with Telegram’s massive user base of over 900M people.

Through this partnership, users can send $TON directly in chats, use built-in wallets, and access decentralized services without ever leaving the app. It’s frictionless, fast, and tailor-made for mass adoption.

As cities like Cannes build crypto into everyday life, Toncoin’s seamless messaging-app integration could be a game changer.

Tourists and locals alike could one day send crypto payments with the same ease as sending a text – something $TON is already making possible.

Real-World Crypto Is Here – And These Projects Are Ready

As Cannes paves the way for real-world crypto adoption, a new era of usability is taking shape.

Whether it’s paying for coffee with $LTC, unlocking premium features with $SUBBD, securing your assets and the best crypto presales through $BEST, or sending instant payments through Telegram with $TON, these projects are built for the kind of everyday crypto usage that’s finally becoming a reality.

As more cities follow Cannes’ lead, projects like these are poised to lead the charge.

Before you invest, always do your own research (DYOR), as this article is for informational purposes only and doesn’t constitute financial advice.

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The following is a guest post by Matthew Niemerg, Co-founder of Aleph Zero.

In the grand halls of Florence’s Palazzo Medici, during the Renaissance, the legendary banking family conducted their affairs with an intricate dance of transparency and secrecy. While their ledgers tracked every florin with meticulous precision, access to these records was guarded as carefully as the gold in their vaults. This delicate balance between accountability and confidentiality wasn’t just good business—it was essential for survival in the complex web of Renaissance politics and commerce.

Five centuries later, as blockchains are innovating both finance and business, we appear at risk of forgetting that fundamental lesson. The idea that all transactions should be permanently visible on public ledgers isn’t just naive—it’s catastrophic for business adoption.

Businesses Take Privacy for Granted

Consider a modern manufacturer negotiating with suppliers. In traditional banking, while transactions are verified and recorded, the details remain confidential—known only to the parties involved and their financial institutions. Now, imagine conducting these same negotiations on a public blockchain where every payment, every contract term, and every business relationship is visible to competitors, customers, and market manipulators. It’s equivalent to forcing businesses to publish their entire accounts payable and receivable in real-time, complete with transaction amounts and counterparty identities.

Transparency should mean verifying that transactions follow agreed-upon rules, not exposing every business decision to public scrutiny. Just as Netscape’s introduction of SSL in the 1990s made e-commerce viable by securing online transactions, blockchain networks need robust privacy mechanisms to achieve mainstream business adoption.

In a 2020 McKinsey survey, healthcare and financial services achieved the highest score for trust from consumers. Both industries are also two of the key adopters of blockchain. Without secure and confidential infrastructure, these sectors risk eroding the very trust they’ve spent decades building. A doctor’s prescription, a patient’s treatment plan, or a company’s financial restructuring can’t be broadcast to the world on a public ledger—no matter how secure the verification mechanism might be.

The stakes are even higher today. As businesses consider moving more operations on-chain—from supply chain management to intellectual property licensing—the need for confidentiality becomes acute. A pharmaceutical company developing a breakthrough drug can’t risk exposing its research investments through transparent blockchain transactions. A retail chain shouldn’t broadcast its inventory management strategies to competitors through visible smart contracts.

The Permanently Readable Public Ledger

Moreover, the permanent nature of blockchain records amplifies privacy concerns. In traditional systems, historical transaction data eventually becomes less accessible. But on public blockchains, every transaction remains visible forever—creating an indelible record that could reveal business strategies, pricing patterns, and relationship networks to future competitors or adversaries.

The solution isn’t to abandon blockchain technology’s promise of improved verification and automation. Instead, we must embed privacy into these systems from the ground up. Zero-knowledge cryptography offers a pathway, allowing transactions to be verified without revealing their contents. This technology could enable businesses to leverage blockchain’s benefits while maintaining essential confidentiality.

Some blockchain purists might protest that this approach contradicts the technology’s founding principles of transparency. But they misread history. Bitcoin’s innovation wasn’t in making all transactions public—it was in solving the double-spending problem without requiring trust in a central authority. Privacy-preserving technologies can maintain this trustless verification while protecting sensitive business information. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Merging Trust and Confidentiality

The history of banking privacy, from ancient temples to modern Swiss banks, demonstrates that confidentiality isn’t antithetical to trust—it’s essential for it. Temples’ religious role gave them a reputation for integrity and discretion. Likewise, the Medicis didn’t survive and thrive for centuries by broadcasting their clients’ financial affairs to all of Florence. They succeeded by innovating a double-entry bookkeeping system that kept client information accurate and private, ensuring trust through discretion.

As we architect the future of business on blockchain networks, we must learn from this history. The next generation of blockchain protocols must incorporate privacy as a fundamental feature, not an afterthought. Zero-knowledge proofs, confidential smart contracts, and private transaction pools aren’t just technical innovations—they’re essential building blocks for practical business adoption. 

The stakes extend beyond individual privacy concerns to the very architecture of our future financial systems. Without robust privacy solutions, public blockchains risk pushing enterprises toward private, permissioned networks—a trend we’re already seeing. JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform and the Hyperledger-based networks used by Walmart and Maersk for supply chain management demonstrate how major corporations are choosing controlled environments over public infrastructure. While these private networks serve immediate business needs, they fragment the blockchain ecosystem and limit the network effects that make public chains so powerful.

Much like how corporate intranets in the early internet era eventually gave way to the public web once security measures matured, public blockchains need privacy-preserving technologies to avoid being sidelined by enterprise-specific solutions.

Thankfully, this remains a limited trend, as major corporations like Ubisoft, BlackRock, and Warner Music Group continue to use public blockchains for their business use cases. However, this progress could reverse unless chains build confidentiality into their core infrastructure.

The Renaissance bankers understood that privacy wasn’t about hiding misdeeds—it was about creating the trust and security necessary for commerce to flourish. As value increasingly moves onchain, we would do well to remember their wisdom. 

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