If Day 1 at the Digital Asset Summit NYC 2026 was about execution, Day 2 focused on what that execution is building toward.
The tone shifted from integration to value creation, market impact, and the next phase of financial infrastructure, with a clear emphasis on how digital assets move from narrative to fundamentals.
One of the clearest signals from Day 2 came from Felipe Montealegre’s session, “The Token Problem and Proposed Solutions.”
His framing was direct: “Everything is DCF.”
Crypto’s earlier cycles often operated outside traditional valuation frameworks, particularly during the 2020–2021 period, where capital flowed heavily into narrative-driven projects. The result, as he described, was widespread malinvestment and misaligned incentives.
What’s changing now is a return to fundamentals:
As Montealegre noted, the “revenue meta” is forcing projects to focus on real value creation rather than attention-driven growth.
The implication is meaningful. Digital assets are increasingly being evaluated through the same financial lens as traditional markets.
Another notable theme was the growing impact of crypto-native trading infrastructure on traditional markets.
During a live recording of the 1000x Podcast, Avi Felman pointed to recent activity on Hyperliquid as a turning point, highlighting the role of 24/7 trading in reshaping market behavior.
In one example, Trade.xyz reached approximately 2% of global oil futures volume, a notable development in one of the most liquid and established markets.
The broader takeaway is not just volume. It is the emergence of crypto-native platforms influencing how global markets operate:
As one speaker put it, this may be “the first pitch of the first inning,” but the direction is clear.
A different but equally forward-looking theme came from Nikil Viswanathan’s session, “The Agents Are Here.”
The premise is straightforward but significant. Software agents are increasingly expected to:
Within the next decade, a large share of commerce could be conducted programmatically rather than manually.
This introduces a new layer to digital asset infrastructure. If agents are transacting, they require:
It also raises a broader question around market design. If participants are no longer just human, infrastructure must evolve accordingly.
One of the more grounded and practical discussions came from the fireside chat with Robin Vince, CEO of BNY.
The message was clear: the future of finance is not a replacement of traditional systems, but an integration of both.
Key themes included:
This hybrid model reflects what many institutions are actively building toward: a system where trust, regulation, and speed coexist.
A related theme gaining attention is the role of payment tagging in stablecoin transactions.
As stablecoin adoption grows, particularly in cross-border and institutional use cases, the ability to attach structured information to transactions becomes increasingly important.
This includes:
In many ways, this mirrors the evolution of traditional payment systems, where standards like ISO 20022 enable richer, more usable transaction data.
For digital assets, this is a critical step toward making stablecoins viable for large-scale financial workflows.
Amberdata is on-site throughout the week. Stop by the booth to connect with:
We’re connecting with institutions looking to move faster from fragmented data to clear answers, and how platforms like Amberdata Intelligence enable that through a unified intelligence layer.
If you’re at DAS, come find us. We’d welcome the conversation.