Encryption Brothers Culture Makes a Comeback: Singapore Becomes the Global Focus

In 2024, Singapore hosted the world's largest cryptocurrency conference Token2049, attracting a large number of participants. This reflects the recovery of the cryptocurrency industry from multiple collapses in 2022, including major events such as FTX and Three Arrows Capital.

The cryptocurrency subculture blends idealism and opportunism, attracting a young, tech-savvy demographic, but it also faces fraud and scams. As regulations tighten and institutional interest grows, cryptocurrency is gradually gaining legitimacy, attracting talent from traditional finance and technology sectors. However, some industry insiders worry that this may lead the crypto sector to lose its original core spirit.

In 2022, the encryption industry experienced a series of shocking collapse events. One of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, FTX, filed for bankruptcy, and the Singaporean crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital went bankrupt, owing creditors over $3 billion. The values of the cryptocurrencies TerraUSD and Luna plummeted, with a total evaporation of $45 billion in market value. Cryptocurrency prices dropped significantly, leading to layoffs sweeping across the industry, and many observers predicted that a crypto winter was approaching.

Three years have passed, and the atmosphere in the industry has changed. Driven by the friendly encryption policies of U.S. President Trump and the gradual adoption of encryption by large financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Singapore's DBS Bank, the value of Bitcoin has soared to an all-time high, breaking the $100,000 barrier and reaching a peak of $140,000 this January.

The world's largest encryption conference, Token2049, is expected to welcome 25,000 participants in October in Singapore. In 2022, when Token2049 was first held in Singapore, it attracted only about 7,000 attendees, with the event venue occupying just one floor of the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. By 2025, the scale of this conference will expand to five floors, highlighting the rapid growth and increasing influence of the encryption industry.

The practitioners in the encryption circle are making a strong comeback. Among the 15 interviewed, the overall sentiment is optimistic, even filled with a celebratory atmosphere.

"After Trump was elected, the encryption industry has been booming," said 29-year-old Kaushik Swaminathan, the strategic head of Web3 security company Zellic. Web3 is the term used in the industry to describe the new generation of the internet driven by blockchain technology.

"When prices rise, people feel wealthy. When people feel wealthy, they tend to do some extravagant things," said the Yale-NUS College graduate. "Despite the broader tech market possibly experiencing contraction or hiring slowdowns, the encryption industry seems to be doing just the opposite."

He mentioned that the recent EthCC encryption conference held in Cannes attracted 6,400 attendees. This city in the south of France is known for attracting the wealthy and celebrities, and during June it was "occupied" by "people from the encryption circle", with event venues including yachts, castles, and Michelin-starred restaurants.

"If you are attending a 'work meeting' on the French Riviera in the summer, it suggests that things might be going well," he remarked. "The confidence in the encryption circle has never really disappeared, and when the trading price of Bitcoin exceeds $100,000, people are more willing to participate in such luxurious activities."

The encryption brotherhood culture is gradually penetrating mainstream society. Despite being mired in scandals, it is now winning the support of recent graduates who once aspired to enter traditional finance or large tech industries.

The encryption industry blends idealism with opportunism, giving rise to a unique "anti-establishment" culture that is markedly different from traditional technology and finance sectors.

41-year-old Singaporean encryption enthusiast Imran Mohamad recalls that in 2010, an enthusiastic entrepreneur gave him a USB drive containing Bitcoin. At that time, Bitcoin was still an obscure technology, discussed only in some fringe online forums, and valued at just a few cents.

"I don't know where that USB drive went," said Imran, the current head of the Asia-Pacific market for blockchain company Move Industries. "If I had had the foresight back then, perhaps I wouldn't need to be accepting your interview today."

Subsequently, Imran Mohamad's intermittent relationship with the encryption industry aptly reflects the multiple cycles of boom and bust in this field. During the 2017 initial coin offering (ICO) frenzy, he operated a marketing company serving encryption clients.

"For most of these companies, nothing has really materialized," said the graduate of the National University of Singapore Business School. "The ones who really profit are those who mint the tokens, and then they disappear without a trace."

These publicly accessible online sales are driven by social media hype and revolve around the white paper, which outlines how to use the proceeds to develop "popular new tokens" and how much profit investors can gain from early purchases.

Due to having to threaten some cryptocurrency clients with legal action for not paying fees, he developed an aversion to the industry. Later, he returned to the cryptocurrency industry in 2022 as the head of marketing for the cryptocurrency trading platform Kyber Network, until the platform was hacked and lost assets worth over $50 million. Although Kyber eventually repaid the creditors' losses, he pointed out that these investors still missed out on potential profit opportunities.

Such experiences are not uncommon in the encryption industry, where insiders often harbor complex emotions of "fear of missing out" ( Fomo ), filled with optimism deep down, and even accept malicious behavior as the norm.

Unlike traditional industries, practitioners in the encryption industry typically do not introduce themselves through LinkedIn or submit business cards; instead, they prefer to communicate via Telegram and X, or establish connections through activities that blur the lines between work and entertainment.

Young Singaporeans like 31-year-old Aneirin Flynn are typical representatives of this subculture's free-spirited style. As the CEO and founder of a blockchain network security startup, he hired an engineer who had previously hacked into his company after discovering vulnerabilities in its code.

In the encryption industry, many people operate under anonymous identities, avoiding the use of real names or photos, fearing being "doxxed" or suffering from hacker attacks.

"He was unwilling to reveal his real name or where he was from at that time," Flynn recalled, later discovering that the hacker was from Egypt. After months of collaboration and building trust, the hacker ultimately proved to be a "good guy".

He added: "Nowadays, he has become the backbone of our company. He is a sturdy man with a thick beard, has children, and is the friendliest person I have ever met."

However, he also admitted: "But it is indeed possible that he could be a bad person."

Even the FailSafe company founded by Flynn was inspired by a hacker attack he experienced in 2022 due to a trust error with a developer, resulting in a loss of about $20,000. After obtaining an A-level certificate from Victoria College, he dropped out of university and joined a startup.

He pointed out that although Web3 advocates for an idealistic and "trustless" internet future without central authority, the reality is that "this means you can only rely on yourself."

Due to the widespread existence of fraud, face-to-face interactions have become increasingly important for cryptocurrency workers like Flynn.

Therefore, while others may prefer to network by participating in events surrounding the annual Token2049 conference, he prefers to connect by hosting events that say "sweating together and understanding how we operate under pressure."

Token2049 is a reflection of the multiculturalism in the encryption industry. This event held in Singapore attracted speakers from different fields, including Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum from Canada, Lando Norris, an F1 driver from the UK, Edward Snowden, a whistleblower from the USA, and Iggy Azalea, a rapper from Australia.

Insiders reveal that the real activities do not take place on the conference stage, but are concentrated in various peripheral events, such as invitation-only social gatherings and parties. At the exhibition site, participants can experience cold water pools or ride mechanical bulls, and these activities are just a few meters away from the discussion panels.

The origin of the anti-mainstream energy in the encryption industry is located at the intersection of the edge internet community, technology, and finance.

"Cryptocurrency is essentially a rejection of financial institutions and central banks," said Dr. Andrew Bailey, a philosophy professor at the National University of Singapore and author of the book "Resisting Currency." "Those drawn to this idea are often skeptical of other types of institutions and regulations as well."

The concept of modern encryption currency was born after the financial crisis of 2008, when libertarians, anarchists, and some criminals sought decentralized alternatives to address what they perceived as a financial system that no longer served their needs.

Different generations enter the encryption field through different means. Early cryptocurrency adopters were mostly computer programmers, who may have come into contact with this field through fringe internet communities or online black markets. Later adopters, such as Generation Z and younger millennials, are more likely to encounter cryptocurrency through viral internet memes or influencers promoting successful new pathways.

Dr. Bailey said that disillusionment is a common cohesive force.

Many people who embrace this subculture believe they have discovered a realm that can surpass others, thereby achieving short-term substantial profits.

"I don't want to underestimate people's desire to pursue success in a world they perceive as unfair," he said. "The 18 to 24-year-olds I've interacted with have a strong sense of this. I would say that their feelings now are more intense than those of their peers 5 to 10 years ago."

As a result, a subculture emerged that is dominated by young, male, tech-savvy individuals who are dissatisfied with financial institutions or feel deprived of rights.

Mr. Jeremy Tan, 34, is one of the manifestations of the public's shift in attitude towards encryption currencies. This Nanyang Technological University business graduate is running as an independent candidate for the Mountbatten constituency in the 2025 general election and has proposed that the government adopt Bitcoin as a reserve currency.

Mr. Tan stated that the end of the 2008 financial crisis gave rise to a new countercultural movement, with "Eat the Rich" and "Occupy Wall Street" igniting his interest in Bitcoin. This interest stems from his experience of growing up in poverty and his desire to find assets that would not depreciate over time.

"Now, we are seeing a similar movement," he said, pointing out that similar economic dissatisfaction is driving Singaporeans' interest in encryption. "The 'Occupy Wall Street' of our generation will be the issues of artificial intelligence and youth unemployment."

This view has also been echoed by other encryption enthusiasts and advocates. Some complain about being unable to join the "high net worth club", believing that the existing financial system is "unfair" and praising the potential of encryption to balance the competitive environment by creating a new landscape without established experts.

However, the decentralized concept of Web3 does not mean that the encryption subculture can self-regulate or have a consistent ideology.

Although encryption technology was initially conceived as a "better" alternative to centralized finance, most respondents believe that the increased interest from regulators and banks is a positive signal.

Mr. Tan also weighed the contradictions of this ideology: "The initial ideology is that the currency is being devalued, and we need to use 'resistant currency' to counter the government."

"I believe that the original ideology is meeting its updated form, as stablecoins and Bitcoin make a revolution possible, ultimately relying on technology and mathematics instead of poor financial planning."

This anti-establishment atmosphere is something many people in the encryption industry are eager to escape.

Almost all industry insiders interviewed have tried to downplay the connection between the industry and a luxurious lifestyle and global travel, instead emphasizing the "growth" of the industry since 2017.

22-year-old Columbia University student Joash Lee invests in Web3 and AI startups through Iron Key Capital. This is a funding pool club focused on investing in startups.

He stated that although encryption companies or