Fintech and the Future at the World Economic Forum

Every year the world’s political and business elite gather in Davos, Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum. According to Bloomberg, over 110 billionaires are in attendance, as well as high-profile guests like President Donald Trump and Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2019, Greta Thunberg. Though many have criticized the event for its excessive opulence, the WEF’s annual gatherings have historically served as a vehicle for international discourse regarding financial and technological innovation. This year’s theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World,” and although much of the discussion has been regarding climate change and mental health issues, there is still a fair amount of conversation and excitement regarding the coexistence of technology and finance.

Year of the Digital Currency

In the second half of 2019, we saw various governments, corporations, and financial institutions attempt to adopt new technologies and integrate them into their operations. Mainstream players like Amazon, Facebook, JP Morgan, and Citibank have attempted to hop aboard the blockchain train in the past year. Their efforts are indicative of a sense of anticipation and enthusiasm about the potential benefits of blockchain technology, and people are beginning to notice. Institutional investments are something that have long been lacking in the space, but with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s introduction of Bitcoin options and other players introducing new investment vehicles, institutional interest will inevitably increase. Crypto Valley president Daniel Haudenschild told Cointelgraph in an interview,

With those institutional investments, we see a flush of new asset classes — tokenized securities, tokenized commodities, digital commodities,”

These new asset classes may be the key to providing a much needed injection of new capital into the space. And if nothing else, this influx of big players will force governments to start taking crypto seriously and begin developing regulations and infrastructure.

Move to the Mainstream

One of the largest hurdles crypto has had to overcome in the past decade is surmounting skepticism from the traditional financial community. There is this lingering perception that crypto is a bubble and not here to stay, but we are finally seeing that perception begin to fade. There was a crypto presence at the WEF last year, but the conversation was mostly crypto-bashing from traditional financial players. This year things are different and crypto and blockchain tech are being taken as seriously as any other asset class. CEO of Circle, Jeremy Allaire, is in attendance and will participate in the session called “Shaping the Future of Financial Money and Monetary Systems.” Another significant crypto figure attending the forum is Calibra CEO David Marcus, who will speak at a panel titled “Creating a Credible and Trusted Digital Currency.” Some major players that are at the event merely as attendees are the Winklevoss twins of Gemini and J. Christopher Giancarlo, formerly of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The presence of crypto-advocates at the WEF is undoubtedly a sign that blockchain tech has gained legitimacy and worked its way into the mainstream. What is yet to be seen, however, is what this blend of finance and technology will look like in 2020.

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