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VeChain’s Sunny Lu Wants to Tokenize Sustainable ‘Human Behavior’ Like Driving a Tesla

When real-world assets (RWAs) finally became the crypto industry’s narrative du jour, Sunny Lu, the founder and CEO of VeChain, could only smile.
“I mean, we were doing this back in 2017,” Lu told CoinDesk in an interview ahead of Consensus 2025 in Toronto. “Back then, no one cared about RWAs.»
Back then—eons in crypto years—some of the projects VeChain was involved with were a dairy traceability project in China, working with Walmart China on food safety, and tokenizing carbon credits in 2018 with BYD as it was transforming from a regional car brand to an up-and-coming global giant.
«We were ahead of our time,” Lu continued.
VeChain defined a category that TradFi giants like BlackRock are now building into their brand.
Now it’s time for the protocol’s next act.
At Consensus Toronto, Lu will deliver a keynote titled “Real Decentralization for Mass Adoption,” outlining VeChain’s new approach to scaling RWAs and blockchain use beyond the crypto-native crowd.
A roadmap that involves turning human behavior itself into a tokenizable asset and bridges crypto’s usability gap with AI agents and NFT-based staking.
Tokenizing human behavior
VeChain wants to turn everyday actions like recycling or driving an EV into something measurable and valuable on-chain.
By linking real-world behavior to blockchain rewards through tools like VeBetterDAO and Tesla integrations, it’s creating a new class of tokenized assets, making sustainability measurable and incentivized on-chain.
“We’re not just tokenizing big assets,” Lu said. “We’re tokenizing the invisible ones that didn’t have market value before.”
Lu calls this “tokenizing human behavior,” a concept VeChain first explored in 2019 as a prototype through its partnership with BYD, where it tracked EV mileage to generate carbon credits.
AI Agents for the Web 2 Crowd
But real-world value doesn’t matter if people can’t access it. Crypto remains intimidating for most users, and Lu believes AI is the answer.
VeChain is building an AI agent into its VeBetterDAO ecosystem, starting with a character named “BMO,” a virtual assistant that can guide users through staking, app interaction, and eventually optimize their token strategies across the VeChain network.
“People don’t want to memorize seed phrases,” said Lu. “They want a Tesla login or a Google ID. They want to click a button and participate. Our AI agent will help them do exactly that.”
VeChain’s upcoming integrations will allow users to log in with social credentials or even Tesla accounts. For example, EV charging data can flow automatically into smart contracts and generate carbon credit rewards without user intervention.
“We’re removing friction from every part of the stack,” Lu said. “It’s like moving from Linux command line to macOS.”
NFTs as Infrastructure
To enable broad protocol-level participation, VeChain is rethinking staking. Rather than requiring technical know-how or relying on centralized validators, users will soon be able to mint NFTs that represent their staked assets and delegate them directly to node operators.
“You don’t have to give up custody,” Lu said. “Block rewards go directly from the protocol to you, no middleman. It’s more secure, more compliant, and easier for the average user.”
This system, part of what Lu calls the VeChain Renaissance upgrade, aims to boost staking participation by lowering the technical barriers while preserving decentralization.
“This is real decentralization,” Lu said. “Everyone else talks about it. We’re building it.”
10-Year Anniversary
Lu’s keynote at Consensus in Toronto will mark a personal milestone: ten years since he first presented VeChain in New York back in 2015. This time, he’s coming with receipts and plans to showcase real traction from VeChain’s AI and sustainability initiatives.
Mugshot, a DeFi app that rewards users for reusing their coffee mugs and not buying disposable cups, is approaching one million users. Another project, EVEarn, which integrates Tesla’s API to automatically convert EV charging data into on-chain rewards, boasts a 98% retention rate.
“In Web3, that’s insane,” Lu said. “Almost every user keeps coming back every week. That tells you the experience is working.”
For Lu, the future of crypto won’t be won by hype cycles or flashy tokens. It will be earned through usability.
“The goal is mass adoption,” he said. “Real decentralization is the foundation. But adoption, that’s the destination.”
Business
Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.
The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.
Keyrock, founded in Brussels, Belgium and best known for its work in market making, options and OTC trading, said it will fold Turing Capital’s investment strategies and Luxembourg fund management structure into its wider platform. The division will be led by Turing Capital co-founder Jorge Schnura, who joins Keyrock’s executive committee as president of the unit.
The company said the expansion will allow it to provide services across the full lifecycle of digital assets, from liquidity provision to long-term investment strategies. «In the near future, all assets will live onchain,» Schnura said, noting that the merger positions the group to capture opportunities as traditional financial products migrate to blockchain rails.
Keyrock has also applied for regulatory approval under the EU’s crypto framework MiCA through a filing with Liechtenstein’s financial regulator. If approved, the firm plans to offer portfolio management and advisory services, aiming to compete directly with traditional asset managers as well as crypto-native players.
«Today’s launch sets the stage for our longer-term ambition: bringing asset management on-chain in a way that truly meets institutional standards,» Keyrock CSO Juan David Mendieta said in a statement.
Read more: Stablecoin Payments Projected to Top $1T Annually by 2030, Market Maker Keyrock Says
Business
Crypto Trading Firm Keyrock Buys Luxembourg’s Turing Capital in Asset Management Push

Crypto trading firm Keyrock said it’s expanding into asset and wealth management by acquiring Turing Capital, a Luxembourg-registered alternative investment fund manager.
The deal, announced on Tuesday, marks the launch of Keyrock’s Asset and Wealth Management division, a new business unit dedicated to institutional clients and private investors.
Keyrock, founded in Brussels, Belgium and best known for its work in market making, options and OTC trading, said it will fold Turing Capital’s investment strategies and Luxembourg fund management structure into its wider platform. The division will be led by Turing Capital co-founder Jorge Schnura, who joins Keyrock’s executive committee as president of the unit.
The company said the expansion will allow it to provide services across the full lifecycle of digital assets, from liquidity provision to long-term investment strategies. «In the near future, all assets will live onchain,» Schnura said, noting that the merger positions the group to capture opportunities as traditional financial products migrate to blockchain rails.
Keyrock has also applied for regulatory approval under the EU’s crypto framework MiCA through a filing with Liechtenstein’s financial regulator. If approved, the firm plans to offer portfolio management and advisory services, aiming to compete directly with traditional asset managers as well as crypto-native players.
«Today’s launch sets the stage for our longer-term ambition: bringing asset management on-chain in a way that truly meets institutional standards,» Keyrock CSO Juan David Mendieta said in a statement.
Read more: Stablecoin Payments Projected to Top $1T Annually by 2030, Market Maker Keyrock Says
Business
Gemini Shares Slide 6%, Extending Post-IPO Slump to 24%

Gemini Space Station (GEMI), the crypto exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, has seen its shares tumble by more than 20% since listing on the Nasdaq last Friday.
The stock is down around 6% on Tuesday, trading at $30.42, and has dropped nearly 24% over the past week. The sharp decline follows an initial surge after the company raised $425 million in its IPO, pricing shares at $28 and valuing the firm at $3.3 billion before trading began.
On its first day, GEMI spiked to $45.89 before closing at $32 — a 14% premium to its offer price. But since hitting that high, shares have plunged more than 34%, erasing most of the early enthusiasm from public market investors.
The broader crypto equity market has remained more stable. Coinbase (COIN), the largest U.S. crypto exchange, is flat over the past week. Robinhood (HOOD), which derives part of its revenue from crypto, is down 3%. Token issuer Circle (CRCL), on the other hand, is up 13% over the same period.
Part of the pressure on Gemini’s stock may stem from its financials. The company posted a $283 million net loss in the first half of 2025, following a $159 million loss in all of 2024. Despite raising fresh capital, the numbers suggest the business is still far from turning a profit.
Compass Point analyst Ed Engel noted that GEMI is currently trading at 26 times its annualized first-half revenue. That multiple — often used to gauge whether a stock is expensive — means investors are paying 26 dollars for every dollar the company is expected to generate in sales this year. For a loss-making company in a volatile sector, that’s a steep price, and could be fueling investor skepticism.
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