Rare Evo 2025: Milestones, Momentum, and the Power of Community

What happens when the people behind the mission meet face-to-face?

Rare Evo is a blockchain convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada, welcoming multi-chain projects, communities, industry leaders, investors, and enthusiasts to celebrate interoperability and the convergence of traditional industry with Web3 technology. Rare Evo 2025 ran from Thursday 7 August to Saturday 9 August at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.

For World Mobile, Rare Evo 2025 was a chance to look beyond the screens, the presentations, and the virtual community calls. To stand beside the people building this network. To talk without webcams, listen without lag, and to feel the difference that only in-person presence can make.

From new partnerships to milestone launches, from groundbreaking keynotes to in-depth seminars, Rare Evo gave the people-powered network a heartbeat in the room.

Setting the Stage

The team began arriving in Las Vegas on Wednesday 6 August, flying in from the UK, Spain, Los Angeles, Reno – an impressive spread of talent crossing time zones and continents to rendezvous in one place.

That day was about preparation more than presentation. Deliveries were collected, boxes opened, and Ambassador Rob from the World Mobile Alliance graciously welcomed everyone to his hotel room at Caesar’s Palace to sort through the marketing collateral and merchandise ahead of the event.

The work was physical and unglamorous: lifting, sorting, planning – the kind of work that you barely notice when you walk past a finished stand, but which nevertheless makes the foundation of a successful exhibit.

On Thursday 7 August, setup began in earnest. A ride from community member Dario brought a part of the team to BestBuy to collect the TV for the booth.

Scan4Points was active throughout the drive through Las Vegas, proof that the network lives wherever its people bring it.

That morning, Community Manager Emmanuel Young met ambassadors Hidrex, Mic, and Rob for breakfast. They reviewed the agenda, shared ideas for community and affiliate growth, and welcomed Mic as a new ambassador.

Back at the booth, the new ambassador brought his own contribution to Rare Evo: self-funded 3D-printed fridge magnets, hand-designed totes, and stickers.

Rob and the World Mobile Alliance also added shirts and bags made by Agape International Mission (AIM), produced by survivors of human trafficking. Each item was cut, sewn, and printed by hand, giving the merchandise a meaning far deeper than its surface design.

Official branding and grassroots creativity stood side by side, forming a visual expression of the network itself. It was World Mobile, unmistakably. But it was World Mobile with its community, not just for them.

Positioned next to Minutes Network and close to Nuvola, we were ready.

Setup Day ended with some well-earned downtime. In the evening, Rob organized the first Mobiler meetup at the lobby bar of Caesar’s Palace. Ambassadors, Mobilers, the Minutes Network team, and the World Mobile crew gathered face-to-face, relaxing, socializing, and setting the tone for the days ahead.

The Booth Comes Alive

From Friday morning, booth #321 was busy with activity.

This was a milestone week for World Mobile: featuring the launch of the World Mobile phone plans, and Rare Evo was our first chance to present them in person. Onboarding Network Founders was central, and each new Network Founder was welcomed with a bespoke letter signed by CEO Micky Watkins.

Marketing AirNodes and introducing the phone plans were primary objectives in every conversation. A raffle and surprise phone plan discounts added energy, reinforcing the message that privacy-first plans and community-owned infrastructure were no longer just visionary ideas but distinct realities.

That same morning, we also sponsored the coffee hub together with Minutes Network. Sometimes, the quickest way to a prospect’s mind is through the caffeine that runs it.

Among the attendees at the booth were ambassador and content creator Dapp Central (Farid) and creative Web3 project Claynation. Some conversations will be released on their social channels as recorded interviews. Stay tuned.

Micky’s Keynote: A Central Moment

On Friday 8 August at 11:30am, Micky Watkins took the main stage. His keynote address was the defining moment of the day for Mobilers and web3 enthusiasts alike.

He opened with the Zanzibar film, revisiting the early proof points: community-hosted infrastructure, AirNodes bringing coverage, and the economics of participation.

He then turned to the present. NBA champion Tristan Thompson’s installation of an AirNode marked the first AirNode deployment in Los Angeles. Hidden Hills became the beginning of a new phase of expansion, proof that even in one of America’s most connected cities, the need for community-built coverage remains.

The keynote closed with a new horizon: World Mobile Stratospheric.

A hydrogen-powered aircraft platform capable of delivering direct-to-handset connectivity from 20,000 meters. A clean-energy system designed to extend coverage across vast regions worldwide.

The keynote was a rallying point that became the North Star for every single World Mobile crew member and supporter in the room. We powered through the day with palpable energy and conviction.

Showing up Where it Matters

The day did not end for us when the expo hall closed. World Mobile also sponsored key events beyond the convention floor.

In North Las Vegas, we headlined the Beezhive after-party at North 5th Brewing Co., an invite-only gathering featuring 200 attendees. With food, music, drinks, and giveaways, it was a lively social setting where we could meet people outside the conference halls and share the mission in a different atmosphere.

We also backed the Web3 Influencer Awards at the ARIA, held inside the Van Gogh cultural exhibit. The immersive backdrop set the tone for a night that celebrated creativity, visibility, and the voices shaping this space.

Both events gave us the chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with the wider Web3 community, not just as speakers on stage but as sponsors committed to showing up where it matters. It was about putting our name, our time, and our energy behind the projects and people that make this movement stronger.

Seminars That Brought the Mission to Life

On Saturday 9 August, more than 70 people attended the World Mobile Seminar Series. Each session offered a different lens on the mission, from the global to the local, the technical to the personal.

1. Empowering the Unconnected: Real Impact Through Connectivity
   This session showcased deployments in Africa, particularly Malawi, where people-powered models have delivered service where traditional networks failed.

2. Taking on the Giants: Launching in the USA
   Here, the focus shifted to the United States. The team presented the phone plan rollout strategy, centered on privacy, rewards, and ownership. With Network Founders leading the way, the session showed how users are becoming builders.

3. Introducing HD1: The Next Evolution of DePIN
   Co-Founder Emmanuel Gratch opened with a rallying cry about the future, setting the stage for HD1. This new layer gamifies and franchises participation in the sharing economy through NFTs, affiliate marketing, and collaborative ownership. The session showed how it transforms abstract participation into tangible outcomes.

4. Connecting Hidden Hills – The Tristan Thompson Mini Documentary
   NBA champion Tristan Thompson installed the first AirNode in Hidden Hills and became a World Mobile phone plan subscriber. The film underscored a simple truth: connectivity gaps cut across all demographics, and solutions must be built for everyone.

Straight after, community member Alex M hosted an unofficial EarthNode workshop, diving into setup, operation, and rewards. It was another reminder that the movement extends beyond the official program and thrives on grassroots initiative.

For those who missed the seminars, we will be re-delivering them in an exclusive webinar series.

Community Beyond the Conference

Rare Evo was also about shared experiences outside the hall. Informal meetups turned online aliases into real-world friendships.

On the final evening, Rob from the World Mobile Alliance organized a group trip to see the Blue Man Group, bringing together more than 70 Mobilers for a night of laughter and shared celebration. It marked the end of Rare Evo with the same energy it began: people showing up for each other.

A Win for the Community

Rare Evo 2025 closed with a proud moment: World Mobile won the Best Community award.

The award belongs to every Mobiler who carries the mission forward, whether you were in Vegas or supporting from across the world. Whether you are operating an AirNode, running an EarthNode, onboarding friends into phone plans, or simply showing up with questions and belief.

The win is a milestone. The movement is the story behind it. And we are all part of that story.

What Happens Next

The conversations and commitments made in Vegas will shape product rollouts, influence strategy, and guide design choices. They reinforced something bigger too: decentralization is not only a technical project. It is a social one.

Rare Evo 2025 underlined the progress already made and the ambition still driving us forward. We introduced phone plans and onboarded passionate Network Founders. We spread the word for AirNodes and celebrated our expansion to LA. We unveiled HD1 as the next layer of DePIN participation. And we introduced Stratospheric as a new frontier for global connectivity.

“When you bring this community together, you see what makes us unstoppable. It is the passion, the belief, and the conviction to build something better for everybody, standing firmly side by side. This is what all great movements have in common.” – Micky Watkins, CEO, World Mobile

The team has returned from Las Vegas with renewed conviction. As long as we keep showing up for each other, keep building together, and keep putting people first, we will not just scale a decentralized mobile network. We will prove that an empowered community is the strongest infrastructure of all.

Join the movement. Reclaim power.