More Than Both Banking and Hype: Tyson, Ferrari, and What Web3 Adoption Really Looks Like

The ballroom's low hum broke into cheers as Mike Tyson stepped under the lights: phones raised, heads craned, energy spiking. Minutes later, anticipation hardened into a single moment: the Ferrari draw that had filled timelines and Telegram threads for weeks. It looked like a spectacle, but it was choreography, a cultural bridge, and a community catalyst designed to funnel newcomers into a hands-on demo of WeFi's features.

As you might get, the Beyond Banking Summit in Bangkok wasn't a typical crypto meetup. Mike's appearance made the event legible to people far beyond crypto Twitter, while the Ferrari draw created a focal moment that rewarded participation and drove referrals. Both were deliberate choices to open the door first, and then show the product and principles behind it: self-custody, compliance, and everyday utility.

Question 1. Many projects talk about merging Web2 and Web3, but few deliver. How is WeFi actually achieving this?

We take a familiar path into new terrain. At the Summit, Tyson was our cultural bridge, and the Ferrari moment was our community catalyst. But the goal wasn't hype, it was conversion. WeFi offers instant virtual cards that plug into Apple Pay and Google Pay, optional physical and metal cards, and on-chain rails behind a banking-like interface. That's how you move someone from crypto-curious to crypto-user without forcing them to learn new jargon on day one.

Question 2. What role does regulation play in your strategy—how do you balance compliance with the self-custodial model?

Compliance is baked in because trust is adoption. The Summit's big draw, I mean the Ferrari, followed clearly published rules, ticketing, and identity steps. The draw itself then happened at the in-person event in Bangkok, with online access for transparency.

That same philosophy runs through WeFi's product: self-custody, where users keep control, plus verifiable processes that institutions can understand. You don't have to choose between user sovereignty and clear rules—you can design for both.

Question 3. You've been featured in outlets like Cointelegraph and NASDAQ. What misconceptions about crypto adoption do you most often try to correct in these conversations?

The biggest misconception for me is that adoption is either pure speculation or purely technical. Summit performances showed the opposite: you can use cultural familiarity to lower the barrier while still grounding the story in real utility. So, it wasn't just flash—it pulled a huge audience into a setting where we could demonstrate card payments, mobile wallets, and self-custody in action. And those are not trading tactics, but everyday behaviors.

Question 4. You've said the community is at the center—that users drive product improvements. Can you give an example of how user feedback directly shaped WeFi?

Users wanted tangible upside for contributing beyond simple cashback. That's why we built Energy, a reward currency that can be earned across activities and then deployed where it matters to each person—perks, fee reductions, and yield boosts. Community feedback pushed us to make Energy more flexible and integral across the ecosystem, so participation compounds into better utility instead of one-off points that expire.

Question 5. What do you mean by real mass adoption versus the "bubble" kind of adoption we often see in crypto?

Bubble adoption is temporary attention; real adoption is repeat behavior. Tyson and the Ferrari gave us a spotlight, but the goal was repeatable, real-world usage: add your card to Apple Pay, tap to pay, move value on-chain without thinking about blockchain. When someone can do that after a single demo, you've crossed the chasm. Spectacle becomes a doorway, and utility is what keeps people inside.

Question 6. Looking ahead, what steps must the industry take to make it possible for, say, a grandmother in Tokyo or a small town to confidently use crypto in daily life?

Start with language and experience they already know. At the Summit, we used familiar faces and a clear narrative, and then showed how to pay with a phone, how to use a physical card at an ATM, and how value moves instantly on-chain. If the interface is intuitive and the rules transparent, people don't need to learn crypto. They just do familiar things better. The industry's job is to make that first successful tap-to-pay or cash withdrawal inevitable. As well as to make every big, cultural moment a bridge to that first use.

About Maksym Sakharov

Maksym Sakharov (born November 6, 1988, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian entrepreneur and the co-founder & Group CEO of WeFi, Deobank. He holds an MBA in FEA Management from Zaporizhzhia National University. After early roles in software and fintech, he co-founded Whitemark in 2020 (a blockchain-based real-estate platform backed by 500 Startups) and EXFLOW in 2021 (a European OTC crypto exchange for B2B clients). In 2024, he co-founded WeFi, a fintech platform offering self-custodial wallets, asset swaps, yield-generating smart accounts, and Visa debit cards; in 2025, he spoke at the Beyond Banking Summit in Bangkok on self-custodial finance and regulatory design, with commentary featured in outlets such as Cointelegraph and NASDAQ.