Everything World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival. The biggest web3 ecosystem collab.

2 hours ago
11 min read

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to

VOSTAD for granting the naming rights.

TheBlock. for the logistics facilitation and co-hosting support.

UDM Ur Dream Media for the cinematic visual production of the official pop-up event experiences of the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival.

HORNO Network for the onsite activations: registration desk team, terrace flags, Ping Pong Table tent , and 25 Jump Street festival flags.

Tripy for the first for the events industry AI concierge, event intelligence and travel operation (Best event website ever built).

VESA and Dubai Blockchain Center for the Art Cars activation and display across One Central district (TheBlock. Street and 25h hotel).

Dubai International Art Centre DIAC for hosting their 50th Anniversary exhibition with the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival at 25h hotel.

House Music Legend Jerry Ropero for headlining the festival, Deejay Pico for signing up his single "Dubai Stay Safe" as the official sound track of the summit and festival, and Harry Bailey for spinning the records on stage.

TFIN DAO The Future Is Now for premiering their 5th year anniversary trailer of the new film "Beyond Web3: Why Are You Here" at the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival and documenting the summit & festival in the film.

House of Pops for all day free ice creams at the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival.

Phosty for the photo printing machine for the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival delegates and attendees.

Red Bull Gaming for the gaming activation as well as Red Bull stage energy drinks, and stage hydration with VOSS drinking water.

Villa Cinar, Marco Polo Experience Magazine, and Art & Investments Magazine for hosting the summit and festival's Opening Jazz Night, Private VIP Dinner, After Hours Late Night Gathering respectively.

The news sensation the big boys bought into, and the reality check that materialised on the ground .

Amid regional conflict news in the GCC. TOKEN 2049 announced the cancellation of their event in Dubai on the 29th and 30th of April, 2026. The announcement was made on the 13th of March, 2026 in a tensioned situation. Everybody in the Web3, Blockchain and digital assets space was anticipating the acclaimed world biggest crypto event.

Almost everybody in the sector was prepared for their sponsorships and side events during the anticipated TOKEN 2049. But now its cancelled and a lot have already booked their travel tickets and hotel stays in Dubai for the dates. A confusing and frustrating situation. Some call the decision stupid. The news is fueling panic, all eyes on the UAE and Dubai at that moment. The crypto capital of the world, the city with unprecedented growth in history that defies economics and comes out of every global recession and crisis with stellar growth while every where else plunges.

What would such a universal city and country with inverted demographics and a population of more than 80% to 90% expats at any given point in time from 200 nationalities do in such a situation?.

The world's largest crypto event is cancelled for the year in the city. The government-organised Dubai Fintech Summit and Dubai AI Festival are postponed from April and May, 2026 to October and November, 2026 respectively with dates subject to change.

Is that it?

Voices are skeptic, decisions are trembling and hesitating, nobody is certain on anything or any move.

In the middle of all of this, DSRPTD host is reading through the comments in community chat groups and decides to pull off the World Token Summit in a third edition to replace TOKEN 2049.

The owner of the naming rights; VOSTAD the organiser and conceptualiser of the first and second editions where DSRPTD spinned off the ignition and the powering lineup and partnerships to kickstart the brand back in 2023 agrees to lend the brand fully to DSRPTD to organise and manage the third edition.

Two weeks later after tentatively provisioning a dozen of prominent speakers and a handful of dozens of media and community partners under DSRPTD's belt. On the 26th of March DSRPTD sends VOSTAD the layout of the World Token Summit 3.0 and here is where a conversation goes:

VOSTAD's CEO: I swear you are a master in making things look greater than life... Haha
VOSTAD's CEO: brooo hahaha you already got the domain haha.. ok lets talk in few hours [about] everything..
DSRPTD' CEO: No time to waste
VOSTAD's CEO: I checked ... It is already on fire bro!!
DSRPTD's CEO: What do you think?
VOSTAD's CEO: Brooo damn!!! I love it

And the discussion continues on the venue where the summit will be held and agreeing on the final hotel that will host the summit.

The excitement begins

On the 28th of March, 2026 DSRPTD published it's press release "World Token Summit to replace TOKEN 2049 in Dubai this April".

Some called the news provocative and harsh, others called it BS and not gonna happen. While at the same time DSRPTD has finalised what will be announced later in the news as the first AI concierge experience for the events industry with Tripy; the agentic AI operating system for events and travel.

On the 29th of March. TheBlock. the virtual assets ecosystem at One Central District reads the news and decides to reach out to DSRPTD to propose hosting the event at their TheBlock. Street and making it bigger with their partnership with 25h hotel and 25 Jump Street and propose DSRPTD to make a visit to the venue.

DSRPTD replies the next day with their confirmation on taking this partnership further. After visiting TheBlock. the next day DSRPTD agrees on shifting the venue to TheBlock. Street and announce the partnership officially.

The news starts raining with Tripy named the official travel and experience partner of World Token Summit 3.0 providing end to end experience planner. From visa requirements, eSIMs, to booking flights and hotels, summit navigation and side events discovery to interactive agenda management to experiences across the city with text and voice chat capabilities with the summit's website AI agent to recommend the most relevant sessions to attend to who you should meet with and starting chat with such matching delegates and attendees on the platform, to pulling information on speakers and brands present at the summit.

Followed was the announcement of World Token Summit nomination of partner and sponsoring projects for three global and international business awards.

The massive media partnership coalition in the biggest media and PR campaign in the space to date reaching 25 media partners and 12 global top tier affiliated news channels.

The One Central District Takeover with more than 25 satellite events around the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival

VESA Art Cars by Dubai Blockchain Center in public display across One Central at TheBlock. Street and 25h hotel.

Dubai International Art Centre's 50th Anniversary Exhibition in conjunction with the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival

Deejay Pico's single "Dubai Stay Safe" as the official soundtrack of the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival. The track reached 16K streams in the first 24 hours, and 600K streams in the 5 weeks up to the summit. It also made it to the top 50 chart, more than 280 global playlists, and more than 40 radio stations.

And voila. The news is talking about how DSRPTD created the what will be called the Blockonomics; how the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival has transformed a Dubai district takeover into the biggest virtual assets carnival in town.

The trend is set and the community is talking about it. Messages starts coming in from some industry leaders:

"You guys are brave to pull this off" - Hadi Malaeb, CEO, Agora Group

"You really created a buzz" - Saqr Ereiqat, D2A2 Secretary General

But still. The skepticism is there wether the summit is still on, as some are expecting that the summit is not gonna happen or will be cancelled.

20 days to go and everything is building up.

The star-bang that unfolded into an orbiting universe

A lineup of many satellite events and summits are orbiting the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival with some hosting their curated panels and presentations as official agenda content at the summit and festival such as Solana, BitArt, Arts DAO, and HyperLiquid. Notable summits and meetups such as ZIGChain Summit, RWA Summit, DMCC Coffee & Tech Meetup, and REAL - The Rountdtables.

The stars aligning in action

5 days to go. The whole summit and festival with the official popup events, art exhibition, phygital art cars, and jazz night are in the making.

Tino Copollo from Globo Vibes flies to Dubai to oversee the stage and equipment for the festival. Solas the festival production company produces the technical layout of the stage buildup and sound & light.

The phone started ringing, ringing, ringing,...and ringing. No answer...

Then a message notification pops up:

"Bro what have you done!!!

You said you will make it big!!! You made it mega!!!!!!

You really have made the best out of nothing!!!

...if you can make this happen in these times with nothing, you can do anything!!!"

These were VOSATD's CEO words freaking out of the unfolding of the summit and festival in it's shape and form.

HORNO Network hosts a community workshop at TheBlock. Street on the 27th of April followed by Bitcoin Mondays weekly meetup at Scandal Club Sheraton Grand Dubai as the official kickoff meetup of the Wold Token Summit 3.0 TheBlock. Festival MCed by Gordon Einstein for the first time.

iMOS joins the coalition hosting their iMOS DUBAI within the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival as Day 0. TheBlock. curates a fourth day of the summit and festival as Day 3 extending 2 more days for the summit and festival from 29 April - 30 April to 28 April - 1 May.

Dubai International Art Centre arranging the artworks of select Emirati artists for the display and exhibition during the summit and festival.

Dubai Blockchain Center agrees on placing VESA Art Cars for the whole 4 days of the summit and festival.

Dubai Tech Tuesdays No. 95 on the 28th of April at Belcanto Dubai Opera the official pre-opening event of the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. festival

DSRPTD RADIO and the Global Music Festival hosts the official opening Jazz Night Night by CINAR with a studded lineup of live performances of singers and musicians on the night of the 28th of April.

The Talk of the Town, and the Show goes on

The summit gathered 105 speakers over the 4 days discussing the ecosystem and the future trend settings of the virtual assets and web3 industry topics. From Real World Assets Tokenisation and the regulatory frameworks to ecosystem building and market structures & capital. The summit had TheBlock. Street main stage featuring:

Day 0: iMOS DUBAI by The Variant and Investor Media

Hosted by:

Hutch Azcarraga, CEO, The Variant
Xavier Caloc'h, CEO, Investor Media

Moderator:

Cindy Anton, CEO, 3Beez

Panelists:

Suleiman Al Nasari, VIP & Institutional Manager, Binance
Brenden Mckittrick, CEO, IOA Internet Of Aviation
Arno Krimmer, CEO, Ascending Global Group

Days 1, 2, and 3 featured on TheBlock. Main Stage the curated programme and agenda of the Wold Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival MCed by Adel Burton and with speakers, presenters, and panelists such as:

Mohamed Al Hashemi, Chairman of the UAE FMA for the opening remarks of day 1
Dr. Eesa Al Bastaki, President, University of Dubai for the opening session of day 1
Adel Burton MCing the summit.
Ralf Glabschnig, Partner at Inacta Ventures, and Co-Founder of Crypto Valley & Crypto Oasis for the keynote speech of the summit.
Paul Dawalibi, CEO, Innovation City for day 2 keynote address on the free zone of the future.
Dr. Ayeshah Bin Lootah, AVP, VARA Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority on the Real estate Tokenisation session with Prypco and Tribe.
Rashid Iqbal, Director of Finance at Climate Institute (Washington D.C. UN Mandated), and Partner at CICCEX Climate Institute Carbon Credit Exchange
Dr. Adam Fenech, Head of Research at CUD Canadian University Dubai
Adeel Choudry, Head of Trading, CICCEX Climate Institute Carbon Credit Exchange
Bilal Ahmad, Division Chair, Higher Colleges of Technology
Saqr Ereiqat, Secretary General, D2A2 Dubai Digital Assets Association
Baiba Broka, Ad-Honorem and Governing Council Member, UNIDROIT International Institute for the Unification of Private Law
Ahmed Refaie, Host, DSRPTD, Organiser & Producer, World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival
Farbod Sadeghian, Chairman, TheBlock.
Danosch Zahedi, CEO, TheBlock.
Mohammed Ashraf, CEO, Tripy
Vincenzo Picciuolo, CEO, HORNO Network
Elias Ahonen, Bitcoin Historian, and Journalist, Cointelegraph
Jerry Ropero, Multi Platinum DJ & Producer
Nazen Carneiro, CEO, NZPR, and Editor in Chief, DJ Mag Brasil
Myrtle Anne-Ramos, CEO and Founder, Block Tides and Tone Temple
Jessica Walker, Global Media & Content Lead, Binance
Gaurav Dubey, CEO, TD Group
Rahim Mahtab, CEO & President, Arts DAO

Among many more prominent speakers

Gordon Einstein the host of Dubai Tech Tuesdays setting up an official World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock Festival official popup "Gordon Einstein Interviews + Margaritas" at Esco-Bar on the 29th of April.

HORNO Network the platinum and activation sponsor of the summit and festival hosting a community workshop at DARK DOOR Speciality Coffee at the 30th of April

Bitcoin Network, Cryptonite and EcoX hosting Bitcoin Thursdays Official Popup of the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival on the 30th of April at Le Trottoir de Paloma,

The summit featured the world premier of the 5th anniversary trailer of the Bitcoin NFT Film Why Are You Here by TFIN DAO The Future Is Now presented by Miguel Francis-Santiago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHCAcCGF4jw

The rolling display of VESA's Art Cars with Dubai Blockchain Center on the Signal Stage Screen at TheBlock. Street for the whole duration of the summit and festival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgiGQN2Mg6k

Day 2 concluded with "I Messed Up" Show featuring the content creator and comedian Shawn Chidiak before kicking off the music festival on the open stage at 25 Jump Street headlined by Latin House Legend and Multi Platinum DJ & Producer Jerry Ropero who opened the music night party with Deejay Pico playing his new single "Dubai Stay Safe" which was signed as the official soundtrack of the summit and festival shifting the tunes from Latin House to Techno music with his new release Warehouse. playing it for the first time at the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival. The rhythms and vibes were continued with Harry Bailey who brought the house music vibes back to the stage.

On Day 3 the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival concluded it's last day followed by Marco Polo Experience Magazine hosting a farewell VIP dinner for the summit and festival on the 1st of May followed by a private gathering by Art & Investments Magazine.

The euphoria taking over

Feedbacks and testimonials started coming in about the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival:

"I swear you are a hero. It's 7:30PM and people don't wanna go home"

"Major FOMO" - Saqr Ereiqat, Secretary General, D2A2, Dubai Digital Assets Association

"You absolute legend" - Aksel Brooks, Partner, Grand Stream

"World Token Summit was a show of resilience and force in bringing together the Dubai & UAE blockchain community in the city's financial heart." - Elias Ahonen, Bitcoin Historian, and Journalist, Cointelegraph

"Even if TOKEN2049 would have happened. This would still be the best event in town"

"World Token Summit together with TheBlock. organized by DSRPTD was truly a come back Dubai needed in time of regional uncertainty. It actually did "replace" TOKEN2049 for 2026, and brought both local tech community + incoming visitors who decided to keep their Dubai trip instead of cancelling it, together to discuss the future of Web3, AI, Fintech, and even Robotics in the heart of the UAE at One Central. TFIN DAO as the summit's media partner documented the journey and made it a part of our #TheFutureIsNowFilm documentary series. Looking forward to the next!" - Miguel Francis Santiago, CEO TFIN DAO and LunarBase

Concluding what is considered Dubai's most important summit in the virtual assets and tokenisation. World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival was a success beyond the organisers and producers' expectations let alone the web3 and virtual assets ecosystem locally, regionally and globally.

Discover the full scale and spectrum of the World Token Summit 3.0 X TheBlock. Festival spanning over 100 speakers, more than 100 partners and sponsors, more than 25 media partners, and more than 25 satellite events and summits on the official website: WorldTokenSummit.net

And relive the summit and festival's programme experience on their channel on DSRPTD TV

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