Next Steps For ReFi Summit: Join Us At Island DAO
Several people have asked me whether we are organizing another ReFi Summit in 2024. For now, the answer is “no.” One big reason is that the cryptocurrency and financial markets have shifted, making it far more challenging to raise funding, sponsorships and investments. The disruption over the last 2 years due to high interest rates, various crypto meltdowns (FTX, Luna, Celsius, 3AC) have harmed the crypto ecosystem. Before ReFi can really “Come back” I believe some of this damage needs to get healed in the market.
The original ReFi Summit had the objective of being the place where all the online ReFi builders can meet in person after COVID. I think we did that. There were also plenty of other places for ReFi builders to go. So ReFi Summit is on pause, for the time being.
In the meantime, we are seeing tremendous changes in terms of which ecosystems in crypto seem poised to move forwards in terms of growth and innovation. I personally recently joined the Solana ecosystem to lead Solana Core Engineering Developer Relations at Anza, a new spinout composed of the former Solana Labs core engineering team.
One of the things Solana has done well is consistently sponsor and organize a network of global hacker houses and retreats. In particular, a new event called “Island DAO” which is a 1 month retreat organized on the island of Crete from May 17th - June 14th (https://island-dao.com/).
My proposal is as follows:
If you are a builder or ReFi organizer who has interest, register for Island DAO and join the event
Lets set up a Telegram group perhaps and maybe put some materials together
Solana has a dedicated ReFi lead as well as a ReFi telegram channel: https://t.me/+ULoZuM2dUZcxMzA0
Perhaps organizing one or more side events or activities at Island DAO would be a good fit to restart any discussion around ReFi Summit, Network States or other
Either way, feel free to join and register, I believe we will see more projects choosing Solana in the near future. Might as well make use of the space / time in Crete to have this discussion.