Proof of Talk 2025 took place June 10-11 at the iconic Musée des Arts Décoratifs inside the Louvre Palace in Paris. The Web3 networking event attracted thousands of attendees and featured hundreds of speakers from around the world.
While a variety of panel discussions were featured at Proof of Talk, this year’s event focused heavily on drawing institutions into the Web3 sector. The maturation of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), stablecoin growth, and crypto initial public offerings (IPOs) were primary discussion points.
Source: Proof of Talk
The Current Role of Stablecoins For Transactions
A panel focused on the role of stablecoins in today’s digital world was one of the first discussions presented at Proof of Talk 2025.
The panel featured Reeve Collins, former co-founder of Tether; Sam Broner, partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z); Christian Rau, SVP of blockchain and digital assets at Mastercard; and Diogo Monica, general partner at Haun Ventures.
As stablecoins continue to enter the mainstream, Broner pointed out that these digital assets will eventually be upgraded to feature traditional payment functionalities.
For instance, Broner explained that stablecoins may soon be integrated into enterprise resource planning and tax software systems. He added that Mastercard is currently supporting this by having cards backed by crypto wallets to make stablecoins spendable.
On May 15, Mastercard announced a partnership with Web3 payments platform MoonPay to allow consumers and businesses to pay and be paid using stablecoins across global markets.
Rau elaborated on this, noting that Mastercard views stablecoins as a “forty-second or so fiat currency.”
“The transaction stays the same, and we don’t know much about the customers, but we know that someone wants to buy something, and we need to move money,” Rau stated. “All of this is aggregated in clearing and settlement files, and then a consumer’s bank card issues the move into the Mastercard system. That money then moves to the acquiring party.”
According to Rau, this process is more efficient when using stablecoins and doesn’t change privacy measures associated with traditional payments.
Stablecoins are currently valued at a market cap of $250 billion. Stablecoin issuer Circle’s recent IPO further proves that stablecoins are here to stay.
Monica touched on this topic, stating, “Circle’s IPO shows that crypto is on the path to becoming a mainstream initiative.”
The Future of Stablecoins
Following the stablecoin panel, Collins told Cryptonews that he believes stablecoins are the killer app for blockchain technology. He further explained that stablecoins are entering a new growth era.
Collins believes that users will soon be able to mint stablecoins to retain yield generated from tokenized assets. Collins shared that his new project, “stbl.com” (formerly Pi Protocol), will allow users to issue different tokenized RWAs, like on-chain treasuries, and then stake those assets on the stbl protocol.
“Stbl will provide two different tokens for users. One will represent yield from the asset and then the other will be the stbl stablecoin called ‘USST,’” he explained. “Now a user has a token representing yield that is a security, but the stbl stablecoin is the principle and can be freely traded.”
Collins noted that this model allows users to retain yield from a stablecoin even after a token is sold. Currently, yield-bearing stablecoins only generate yield when they remain on-chain.
Stbl will first be leveraged by crypto exchanges and institutions. Retail investors will then have access to the product once everything has been properly tested.
IPOs Help Crypto Companies Mature
Aside from tokenization and stablecoins, a panel dedicated to crypto IPOs was heavily attended during Proof of Talk. The discussion featured Stephan Lutz, CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, alongside Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO and co-founder of CoinShares.
Source: Proof of Talk
Lutz kicked the panel off by explaining the differences and similarities between IPOs and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
“An ICO usually is something a crypto company does to try to raise funds to build a product,” he said. “The company takes future expected revenues and redistributes this later on to the users who are also usually funding the project.”
Lutz mentioned that an IPO works best if a company has a business model to scale dramatically that is also capital intensive. He added that the investors are often not the users.
“An IPO is a better route to take if this is the case,” he said.
Circle is the most recent example of a crypto company undergoing a successful IPO. The stablecoin issuer has more than tripled its stock price since it debuted about a week ago, going from $31 to about $107 at the time of writing.
However, Lutz warned that crypto companies should not consider an IPO if they don’t plan to be around long-term. “If you list, you need to have a plan to survive the next 10 years.”
Lutz further stated that BitMEX has considered an IPO, but mentioned that the company must first have enough capital needs that can dilute its investor base.
Mognetti explained that CoinShares launched an IPO in Sweden in 2021 and described how it has shaped the digital asset manager.
“Coinshares was born as a trading house and was running a community hedge fund,” Mognetti said. “The IPO changed the mindset to move from a trading opportunity background to a business governed by proper policies and governance. The IPO has helped with long-term growth, and CoinShares is now running in a mature way for a crypto company.”
Tokenized RWAs Attract Institutions and Investors
Another major topic of discussion at Proof of Talk was tokenized RWAs. RWA tokenization is predicted to reach $30 trillion by 2030. Proof of Talk’s panel titled, “Roadmap for the Tokenisation of Financial Assets,” went in-depth on why tokenized RWAs are growing so quickly.
For instance, Elliot Hentov—head of macro policy research at State Street—stated during the panel that tokenization helps issuers bring products to market, while also expanding supply.
“Tokenization makes the barriers to entry a lot easier when thinking of capital markets broadly,” he said. “Especially when things don’t work well already—this is where the sector will have the biggest impact.”
Elaborating on this, Dotun Rominiyi—director of emerging technology at London Stock Exchange—explained that from a service provider’s perspective, he views tokenization in three ways.
He mentioned that tokenization provides accessibility to financial assets, like real estate funds. “You can now fractionalize these holdings and redistribute them to provide access to small investors,” he stated.
In terms of scaling efficiency, Rominiyi explained that tokenization helps this area greatly. Finally, he noted that tokenization is helping market structure to evolve.
“Tokenization is a blue ocean opportunity,” said Raj Brahmbhatt, co-founder and CEO of tokenization platform Blockridge. “Decentralized finance will also expand with lending and borrowing use cases using tokenization.”
Challenges To Consider as Industry Matures
Overall, Proof of Talk 2025 demonstrated how the Web3 and crypto sector has advanced, drawing institutional interest globally. However, a number of challenges remain that may hamper adoption.
For instance, privacy around stablecoins still needs to advance before institutions start to widely use these assets. Monica brought up this point during the stablecoin panel, noting that technology like zero-knowledge proofs are there, but that this must be implemented into stablecoins to keep transactions private.
Additionally, clear regulations around stablecoins and tokenized RWAs are still needed in many jurisdictions. A number of attendees at Proof of Talk were discussing the state of the GENIUS Act, which is intended to regulate stablecoins in the U.S. Officially titled the “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act,” the GENIUS Act proposes strict rules for stablecoin issuers.
It would require all stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or similarly liquid assets.
While it’s predicted that many more crypto IPOs will soon follow in Circle’s footsteps, Lutz emphasized that it only makes sense for capital-intensive companies with a long-term plan to consider an IPO.
“The moment a crypto company is looking into serving the institutional space and bridge the gap between crypto and TradFi, then an IPO is an opportunity to consider,” he said. “The current IPOs in the U.S. in particular are trying to bridge traditional finance and crypto, and an IPO offers the ability for capital increases and secondary offerings.”
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