The Solana Foundation abruptly postponed its Accelerate event in Shanghai on October 16 after a surge in registrations overwhelmed the designated venue at the Shangri-La Hotel.
Lily Liu, president of the Solana Foundation, stated that event registrations quadrupled overnight, far exceeding the event cap registered with local authorities. Liu noted that the foundation had no way to prevent people from overwhelming the venue and apologized to attendees who traveled for the experience. The foundation plans to reschedule the convention once it can better accommodate the scale of the community.
Despite the foundation's explanation regarding venue capacity, social media reports and photos indicated a law enforcement presence at the site, with officials blocking access and leaving attendees outside for hours. Observers and local sources suggested that the high publicity surrounding the convention and its cryptocurrency links may have prompted local authorities to intervene and enforce China's strict anti-crypto policies, which have been in place since 2021 and recently reinforced by the People's Bank of China.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao commented on the postponement, questioning whether organizers understood local policies and noting that a similar overcrowding situation led to the temporary cancellation of the 2025 Solana Accelerate event in Shenzhen due to public safety reasons.
