The world’s most powerful men and women have settled in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum. The various forums are largely about Russian invasion, inflation and taxes. But bitcoin and cryptocurrency are not neglected either. The WEF is an annual international gathering of approximately 2,000 politicians, representatives of companies and international organizations, academics, civil society organizations and journalists.
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Cryptocurrency dominates Boardwalk
According to the Reuters news agency, cryptocurrency companies dominate the Davos Promenade. This is a street close to the convention center for dining and shopping. During the annual WEF, the tour is traditionally manned by banks and other major financial players. This year is the turn of the future. Apparently, a lot of money was made during the bull market in the cryptocurrency sector, as many companies can afford to be on the Davos Promenade. The objective is, of course, to convince politicians and business leaders of their project. “A big step forward for the cryptocurrency industry because they have always been anti-Davos,” an industry delegate told CNBC. This is especially true for bitcoiners, as bitcoin was designed in response to the failure of a centralized monetary world. With all the powerful people in Davos, the WEF just radiates that they are in favor of a central power. Bitcoin is not represented by anyone, but it is discussed quite often by WEF and Davos Promenade participants.
Pizza and NFT
For example, the company Tether (known for the USDT stablecoin) gave away free pizzas on the Davos Promenade last Sunday. This was in honor of bitcoin pizza day. RollApp, which sells non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has set up an NFT store on Main Street to promote digital collectibles. Speaking to Reuters and CNBC, participants say the cryptocurrency industry has taken over 50-60 percent of the shops and bars on Davos Promenade. But cryptocurrency doesn’t just play a role on the boardwalk, it starts on arrival. Visitors to the WEF were bombarded with posters advertising stablecoin issuer Circle and cryptocurrency exchange Bitcoin Suisse as they disembarked the plane in Zurich or the trains in Davos. But cryptocurrency was also discussed during the WEF. Jeremy Allaire, president and CEO of Circle Pay, and Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, sat side by side on Monday to discuss remittances and digital money during a briefing. According to Allaire, the world is heading towards a situation where the concept of cross-border payment sounds as crazy as the concept of cross-border email.
Ray Dalio talks about bitcoin
Billionaire and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio is also in Davos. He spoke about it on the American news channel CNBC and discussed various topics. He expressed himself pessimistically about the US economy and US central bank policies: “The Federal Reserve will sell, individuals will sell, foreigners will sell, and the US government will sell because it needs to finance its deficit. There will be a supply/demand problem, which will result in a squeeze.”
money is garbage
Dalio said that money is still garbage. “Of course money is still junk,” Dalio said. “Do you know how quickly you lose purchasing power in cash?” “When I say money is waste,” Dalio clarified, “I mean all currencies against the euro, against the yen. All these currencies, like the ones from the 1930s, are going to depreciate against goods and services.” At the same time, he calls the cryptocurrency digital gold.
Bitcoin is digital gold
“Cryptocurrencies in particular, I think blockchain is great,” Dalio said. “But let’s call it digital gold. I think digital gold, which would be a kind of bitcoin, is something that, probably in the interest of diversification to find an alternative to gold, has a little smudge against gold and then against other assets.” By that little blemish he means investors’ portfolios. That it comes out of Ray Dalio’s mouth is revealing. To illustrate who he is: in 1975 he founded his Bridgewater fund. Bridgewater is now the world’s largest hedge fund, with approximately $150 billion in capital. Since its inception, the fund has paid out $52.2 billion to investors, more than any other hedge fund in the world.
New ideas
However, you can’t (yet) compare Dalio with Michael Saylor. Dalio is not screaming from the rooftops that bitcoin is the best invention since sliced bread. But it’s worth noting that his opinion of bitcoin has changed significantly since Davos 2020. He said at the time that bitcoin wasn’t money because it didn’t act as a store of value or a medium of exchange. Dalio now holds bitcoin in his personal portfolio. Prime Minister Rutte attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) for two days. Minister Kaag for Finance, Minister Ollongren for Defence, Minister Van Gennip for Social Affairs and Employment, Minister Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation and Secretary of State Heijnen for Infrastructure and Water Management will also travel to Davos .
