Davos World Economic Forum
TL;DR
World Economic Forum’s yearly meetup at Davos (Switzerland) has nearly come to a close, with attendees — business leaders, economists, and politicians — addressing many of the day-to-day topics. The real value and potential future of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology included a large portion of the forum discussions.
The crypto space was heavily criticized due to a harsh year that it experienced. Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England expressed the belief that digital currencies are not likely to revolutionize the financial sector. Carney stated that cryptocurrencies are not, and should not be considered real coins. He believes that they are crypto-assets at best.
BCG Digital Ventures founder, Jeff Schumacher, supported this opinion and added that “Bitcoin is likely to hit zero at some point.” Schumacher stated that he does not believe in crypto value, as it is based on nothing.
Glenn Hutchins, the chairman of North Island, took a slightly more optimistic approach. While he is far from being bullish on digital currencies, Hutchins believes that Bitcoin might have a role in the system, even if it is only to bring value back. Hutchins also believes that there are other possible use cases at the moment, some of which may not be in use as of yet.
Hutchins concluded by saying that the value of crypto depends on the usefulness of its underlying protocol.
Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University’s professor of economics, stated that the crypto sector is too small for the government to work on proper regulations. If it starts growing, however, the government will surely react.
Panelists also discussed blockchain technology, noticing how investors, banks, and corporations have seemingly developed an interest in it, including Mastercard.