Despite years of development and billions in investment, Web3 remains a space largely shaped by insiders. At major Web3 events around the world – from TOKEN2049 in Singapore to ETHGlobal and Consensus – the same question continues to surface: what will it take for Web3 to truly go mainstream? Discussions often focus on regulation, scalability, and access. Yet few tackle what might be the real barrier: Web3’s lack of resonance with everyday life.
The world of sports with the world of Web3
So far, Web3 has been built around logic and code. But most people don’t engage with logic and code – they engage with stories, communities, rituals, and experiences. That’s what creates belonging and belief – the real drivers of adoption.
To understand how to build global adoption for Web3 and cryptocurrency, we should look to an industry that has already done it – online gaming. An example from TOKEN2049 came from the online gaming sector: The9Bit. Powered by The9 Limited, The9Bit introduced the idea of “Web3.5”: a gaming experience where blockchain rewards are woven in seamlessly for players who simply want to play. And it worked. Just months after its launch, The9Bit has already attracted over 2 million players – many of whom are earning, owning, and engaging with blockchain-backed rewards. By embedding digital ownership into a format players already understand and enjoy, The9Bit didn’t just simplify Web3 access, it normalised it. When blockchain meets familiarity and community, adoption follows. That’s a lesson the industry can’t afford to ignore.
Now the question is, how can we transcend mass adoption outside the digital sphere?
For this, we can look at another industry: sports.
According to Morgan Stanley, the global sports industry is now worth over US$130 billion, a figure that continues to grow as sports become more digitally integrated. But technology was not the reason the global sports industry prospered. It was because sports tap into something fundamental in our human nature: emotion, community, trust, and loyalty – the very elements Web3 is still trying to cultivate.
Sports fans don’t merely watch sports, they belong. Teams, athletes, rivalries, and traditions create stories that bind communities across countries and cultures. While Web3 has its own communities, it is still a niche, unlike the communities in sports (and even in online gaming) that have transcended into becoming global communities that inspire millions. Just look at FIFA or the Olympics.
So to unlock the next wave of growth, Web3 needs experiences that feel human, embodied, and culturally resonant, similar to what we see with sports and how it continues to be a hallmark within the worldwide experience.
Crypto fight night: A case study in cultural experience
This is the principle behind Crypto Fight Night (CFN) – a global event series that merges the world of boxing with the world of blockchain. Endorsed by the World Boxing Council, CFN is the ultimate cultural crossover event where the biggest names in crypto step into the boxing ring, delivering world-class entertainment, high-stakes competition, and unrivalled networking for the global crypto community. But CFN isn’t just spectacle. It’s a community catalyst. In an industry that strives to connect online activity with real-world emotion, CFN proves that Web3 comes alive when it goes offline. Equal parts fight night and industry meet-up, CFN is where crypto investors, developers, creators, influencers, and fans show up, not just to network, but to cheer, connect, and rally behind something they feel emotionally part of.
From Singapore to Dubai, London to Manila, CFN has proven its global appeal. In every city, it draws in audiences far beyond the crypto-native crowd – curious first timers, sports fans, creators, and partners – many of whom experienced Web3 not through a whitepaper but through adrenaline, spectacle, and storytelling.
At the last CFN event, over 1,000 attendees watched the event on-site, while in the online space, the event generated over 10 million impressions, 750,000+ livestream views, and 250,000+ peak concurrent viewers, with a social engagement rate exceeding 6%. These results demonstrate CFN’s unique ability to bridge Web3 visibility and real-world activation, transforming audience attention into tangible ecosystem participation, both online and in person.
This is what convergence through cultural experience looks like in action, and why CFN offers a powerful blueprint for adoption. It solves two major challenges:
- For Web3: It makes crypto visible, human, and emotionally resonant. It builds trust and engagement by embedding blockchain into an experience people care about and feel emotionally invested in.
- For sports: It injects new forms of digital innovation, audience engagement, and revenue through blockchain-based partnerships and storytelling.
Why real-world experiences matter now
Web3’s growth can no longer be driven by digital engagement alone. In the wake of trust-eroding moments like the FTX collapse, rebuilding credibility requires more than whitepapers and panel discussions – it demands tangible, human connection. For many, real-life experiences are what transform abstract technology into something personal and memorable.
And that’s exactly where the next wave of capital is headed. Web3 is already redirecting towards real-world assets (RWAs), decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and systems that influence the physical world. It’s no longer just about abstract protocols, it’s about where on-chain meets off-chain.
In this context, projects like CFN aren’t sideshows. They’re frameworks. They demonstrate that when Web3 intersects with culture and entertainment, adoption can soon follow. The companies that will lead the next era of Web3 aren’t just technical pioneers, they are cultural architects. Because culture scales faster than code, and the projects that recognise this will be the ones that finally take Web3 mainstream.
Rahul Suri has over two decades of extensive experience in retail, venture capital, and technology. He currently serves as Partner – Strategy at Ghaf Capital Partners and Co-Founder of Crypto Fight Night. Ghaf Capital Partners is an investment firm specialising in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency projects. Crypto Fight Night, endorsed by the World Boxing Council, is one of the world’s biggest crossover sporting events that combines the adrenaline of live boxing with the cutting-edge world of cryptocurrency.
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Featured image: Javier Miranda on Unsplash
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