CryptoAI Summit 2025 concludes successfully: TradFi x Crypto high-energy clash, igniting Wall Street

On May 10, 2025, the CryptoAI Summit 2025, hosted by Bitpush and co-organized by TCFA, successfully concluded in New York.

The summit focused on "The Integration of AI and Cryptography" and invited nearly 30 experts from top institutions such as Coinbase, Citigroup, Cantor Fitzgerald, MSCI, Columbia, and Solana Foundation to discuss cutting-edge topics such as digital assets, artificial intelligence, regulatory trends, Web3 infrastructure, and the investment and financing ecosystem.

This is a high-density clash of ideas connecting tradition and the future, capital and technology, with a full day of valuable content and a vibrant atmosphere on site.

Opening speech

The summit opened with a joint speech by May Liu, Managing Editor of Bitpush, and Joy Zhang, Chairman of TCFA, emphasizing the necessity and urgency of "cross-border dialogue" and encouraging the financial and innovation sectors to "break boundaries and move towards integration."

Keynote Speech: Global Trading in the Era of Digital Assets

Keynote speech delivered by John D’Agostino, Head of Institutional Strategy at Coinbase, with Joy Zhang as the host.

John delved into how institutional funds are adapting to the structural changes of the crypto era. He interpreted the entry logic and risk preferences of traditional institutions under the trend of AI and crypto integration from multiple dimensions such as macro policies, institutional fund flows, and market structure evolution. He shared the transformation of strategies from Wall Street to crypto institutions and pointed out that the gradual clarification of regulations is a prerequisite for large-scale institutional entry.

John pointed out that in the coming years, stablecoins, on-chain settlement, and AI-driven trading systems will become major focuses of the capital markets.

Panel 1: Regulation and Deregulation - The Crypto Challenges of the Trump Era

Hosted by Wilfred Daye (CEO of Sylvanus), the guests include Ivan Zhang, co-founder of PennyWorks, Jue Wang, Legal Director of BitMart, Hao Wu, CEO of Clouder Power, and Winston Ma, co-founder of Dragon AI.

The discussion involves legislation on stablecoins, state-level Bitcoin reserve policies in the US, trends in sovereign fund investments, and the prospects for the legalization of DeFi. The guest pointed out that "the US has an onion structure for crypto regulation - multi-layered and intertwined, but with a clear direction: institutionalization."

Fireside Chat: Reconstructing the World View of AI + Crypto

A remote conversation between Maggie Wang, Managing Director of Citigroup and TCFA President-Elect, and Kathryn Zhao, Global Head of Electronic Trading at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Kathryn analyzes the bidirectional relationship of "how AI helps enhance the user experience in Crypto, and how Crypto feeds back into the trust mechanism of AI models" from the perspectives of trading practices, cross-asset arbitrage, and AI-Agent applications. Her concept of "AI Agents + Blockchain Authentication" has attracted widespread attention.

Panel 2: Crossing the AI Frontier - Innovation Trends and Real-World Challenges

Hosted by Maggie Wang, the guests include Columbia Professor Zhou (Jo) Yu, former Senior Director of Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Ally Dr. Tao Cheng, DistributedApps.ai CEO Ken Huang, and NBW CTO Dr. Jay Zou.

The guest looked ahead to the democratization path of AI from the perspectives of "large model construction," "decentralized computing networks," and "privacy data training mechanisms." Jo Yu emphasized that "next-generation AI tools should be shaped collaboratively by developers and the community, rather than being monopolistically dominated."

Panel 3: Ethereum VS Solana - The Performance Battle of Web3

Hosted by Lincoln Murr, Head of Coinbase AI Products, a technical exchange took place with Han Liu, founder of BitFi, Chaz, Founding Engineer of Solayer, and Jiani Chen, Head of Growth at the Solana Foundation.

From TPS to developer ecology, Solana emphasizes "performance and cost," while the Ethereum camp highlights "stability and security." Guests believe that whoever can integrate the strongest liquidity will win the long-term favor of developers. The on-site opinions were sharp, making it the most technically intense dialogue of the event.

Panel 4: Finding the Next Hundredfold Coin - The Art of Speculation

Hosted by MetaEra CEO Jessica Y, the guests include Third Eye Co-CIO Tian Zeng, AscendEX Chairman George Cao, and OORT CTO Sichao Yang.

Everyone admits that "speculation is not the original sin, but cognitive and information gaps are the core alpha." In an era where narratives drive the market, institutions prefer to allocate high-volatility assets through structured products, while retail investors need to focus on position management; how to "invest early", "invest correctly", and "hold on" has become a common topic for both retail investors and institutions.

Panel 5: Venture Capital in the Era of AI and Crypto

Hosted by renowned entrepreneur and investor Bianca Chen, SNZ Capital partner Keith Chen, Palm Drive Capital founding partner Seamon Chan, and Satoshi Lab founder Elaine Yang shared their investment experiences.

Guests unanimously pointed out that today's VCs need to understand AI model structures, on-chain incentive mechanisms, and human nature. The integration of AI and Crypto is reshaping the rhythm of investment and financing as well as the logic of project evaluation. In addition, sovereign funds from the Middle East and Asia are returning to the Web3 investment chain, with particular attention to AI Infra and Layer1 protocols.

Panel 6: AI Agents + Meme Coins - The New Generation of Market Makers?

Hosted by Stephen Wang, founder and CEO of Abel AI, the guests include NYU professor Xi Chen, SOON Network CEO Joanna Zeng, Protego Trust CIO Weiyee In, and UCSD professor and Abel.ai CTO Biwei Huang.

Meme culture × AI trading agents have become the new narrative focus. Discussions cover "Can AI become an assistant for on-chain users?" "Can memes evolve into cultural assets?" "Do intelligent agents change market microstructure?" Beyond the main topics, guests also engaged in in-depth discussions on AI model security, data abuse, and AI credibility verification mechanisms. The guests unanimously agreed that transparency of AI agents, verifiability of behavior, regulation, and data traceability are key to the future integration of AI and finance.