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Philip Laurens
Philip Laurens

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VDS 2025: Where AI, Blockchain & Culture Collide in Europe’s Innovation Hub 🌍🚀

12,000+ participants. 600 speakers. One message: the future is built together.

Valencia Digital Summit 2025 proved that innovation in Europe isn’t slowing down — it’s accelerating with meaning.

This year’s theme, “Collaborate Today. Transform Tomorrow.”, set the tone for everything — from the water-floating stages to deep, off-script talks between founders, scientists, and investors.

🎤 Hollywood Meets Blockchain

Actress Kelly Rutherford (yes, Gossip Girl) opened with a talk about investing not just in speed but in value. Alongside Benjamin Buthmann (Koalo) and Sam Eshrati (TechBBQ), she explored how technology should empower people — not replace them. For once, it wasn’t humans vs. machines — it was humans + technology.

💡 Blockchain as the New Economy

One of the most discussed sessions came from Volodymyr Nosov, Founder & President of WhiteBIT. He outlined how tokenization is reshaping global markets — from real estate and art to sports clubs and securities.

  • Tokenized asset market: projected to hit $2T by 2028
  • Institutional forecasts: $10–15T within 5 years (BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs)
  • Blockchain-related jobs in Europe: +40% YoY, yet only 7,000 devs can actually build blockchain products
  • WhiteBIT’s team: 250 engineers, ~5% of global blockchain talent

Nosov’s line — “Blockchain saves billions annually — banks alone could save $8–12B per year.” — earned applause even from skeptics.

☕ Beyond the Panels

As the sun set over the City of Arts and Sciences, investors and founders debated AI, longevity, quantum tech, and private space launches (PLD Space stole the crowd). Representatives from Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Volkswagen, and IBM called Valencia “the European Singapore of innovation.”

Among 600 speakers, nearly 50% were women, proving that diversity isn’t a buzzword — it’s a business advantage.

VDS 2025 wasn’t just about technology — it was about people shaping the next digital era with purpose. 🌐✨

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