AGORACOM Small-cap Investor Relations Blog

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Traditional Stock Market’s interest in Cryptocurrency might expand the boundaries for the Cryto Market

By: Zaryab Afser

• It’s a well-known fact that in order to survive longer, one must be completely aware of the rules as well as the latest trends of the jungle.
• And one can never deny the fact, in these world of investment, cryptocurrencies are here to stay, really longer than one can think of.

It’s because of this fact that the senior market analyst at Etoro, Mati Greenspan “it’s finally happening that the institutions are finally realizing that cryptocurrencies are going to stay for yet too long and now they are actually looking for every possible way to seize the opportunities presented by crypto assets.” He also appreciates the recent JSE move and stated that this is actually the period where the adoption is gradually happening and the traditional stock exchanges are actually integrating with cryptocurrencies.

WHAT WAS THE MOVE BY JAMAICA STOCK EXCHANGE(JSE)?

3rd April witnessed a rare involvement of the traditional stock exchange when JSE came up with an announcement which stated that JSE will soon start a limited pilot to trade Bitcoin as well as Ethereum within the next few weeks.

Experts as well as traders, across the globe, firmly believe that this step will undoubtedly not only open the doors to cryptocurrency investment but also will end up expanding the boundaries for the crypto market. Moreover, the managing director of the JSE, Marlene, this initiative aims to create not only a safe but also efficient as well as a transparent regulatory framework for the trading of digital assets.

Since the world is witnessing a gradual shift towards the crypto market, JSE is not the only one to show interest in the cryptocurrency. The Nasdaq in the U.S. recently reported that it has listed BTC as well ETH indices, whereas XRP-based exchange-traded product has been listed by Switzerland’s main stock exchange, namely SIX.

Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2019/04/12/traditional-stock-markets-interest-in-cryptocurrency-might-expand-the-boundaries-for-the-cryto-market/

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Nearly 80 crypto projects supposedly backed by gold

• Cryptocurrency projects backed by gold continue to persist, with around 77 of them remaining active right now.
• Numerous gold-backed coins were launched in the last few years, with the most recent one being Tether’s Tether Gold (XAUt) which saw launch last week.
• With the popularity of gold on the rise, many speculate whether it might return as the future of money thanks to decentralized technologies.

By: Ali Raza

Everyone in the crypto community has heard Bitcoin’s alternative name of ‘digital gold.’ However, it is worth noting that there are nearly 80 other projects that are active right now, that are backed by actual physical gold.

More and more crypto projects continue to emerge with claims that their assets are backed by physical gold. According to recent data, there are around 77 active projects backed by gold right now, while around 30 others that claimed the same have failed.

Some examples of gold-backed projects that still around include Digixglobal’s DGX, Darico (DEC), the recently-announced Tether Gold (XAUt) Blockstock (BSO), GoldMint (MNTP), GramGold Coin (GGC), AurusGold (AWG), Cash Telex (CTLX), and many others.

Is gold the future of money?

Still, these projects only scratch the surface of the gold-backed altcoins in the crypto industry today, as many others were launched with the same idea in mind, some of which have even managed to fail already. As mentioned, around 30 such projects were launched over the years.

Despite this, many token developers are still not discouraged, and such coins continue to emerge, such as the coins launched by Coinshares, MKS, Blockchain.com, and Tether. Coinshares, headquartered in the UK, supposedly launched a coin backed by $20 million in gold.

Tether, the company behind the controversial stablecoin, USDT, also launched its own Tether Gold (XAUt) only last week, and it already got listed on Bitfinex on January 24th. According to the trading platform, XAUt owners enjoy the benefits of digital and physical assets alike.

The platform claims that this is a way for people to invest in gold without having to worry about issues like limited accessibility or storage costs.

However, some have already questioned projects like these, such as a known crypto supporter, John Paul Koning, who noted that these projects do not charge custody fees, but only redemption and trading fees. Koning wonders whether or not this is sustainable. Some have also questioned whether gold and not Bitcoin might be the future of money once more.

Attempts to pull it off were already made back in 1996 when they failed. Now, with decentralized technology that cryptocurrencies themselves utilize, gold might be getting another chance to take its old place as money in the e-gold form.

Source: https://invezz.com/news/cryptocurrency/nearly-80-crypto-projects-supposedly-backed-by-gold/

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin breakout imminent

By: Ken Chigbo

Markets 

• BTC/USD is currently trading at $8,650 (+0.40%) in the afternoon in U.S. hours, the range continues to tighten, ahead of next explosive breakout.  

• ETH/USD is currently trading at $168.25 (+0.30%), there is a lack of committed direction for now following the big pump last week.  

XRP/USD is currently trading at $0.2360 (+1.30%), price action remains very much narrow. The range to the upside of $0.2500 to the downside $0.2300. 

Among the 100 most important cryptocurrencies, the best of the day are GNT $0.043133 (+28.95%), KMD $0.712816 (+15.49%) and SXP $1.72 (+11.27%) and The day’s losers are BCN $0.000272 (-12.50%), CENNZ $0.55991 (-11.49%) and BCD $0.588775 (-4.30%). 

Chart of the day: BCH/USD weekly chart (price action moving within a bullish pennant pattern) 

Market 

Vitalik Buterin believes that Ethereum Classic can be merged into Ethereum 2.0 in the same way as a new shard-like ETH’s current Proof of Work (PoW) chain will be integrated. 

Blockchain payments processor BitPay has added support for XRP, the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. XRP has been integrated on BitPay’s platform via Ripple’s open developer platform, Xpring.  

Regulation 

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), has created a Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board (BEPAB) to make it easier for governments and other stakeholders to tap the benefits of distributed ledger technology (DLT). BEPAB is made up of several heavy hitters in the blockchain space, including IBM, R3, and ConsenSys. 

Industry  

British telecom giant Vodafone has become the latest member to leave the Libra Association. 

The original consortium of 28 members supporting Facebook’s ambitious digital currency project has only left with 20 participants. 

Huobi Group has announced the launch of Huobi Brokerage, a digital asset brokerage platform, during the annual Davos forum. As the global blockchain company’s first brokerage solution, Huobi Brokerage will provide digital asset trading products and services to institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs). 

Binance has announced the launch of its Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Merchant Program. The P2P program will allow merchants to provide fiat currency payment solutions to people around the world and earn revenue, according to a blog post. 

The Blockchain Association has filed an amicus curiae brief in response to litigation against Telegram initiated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

The Blockchain Association, a collective of advocates involved with the blockchain industry, filed an amicus curiae brief with the court of the Southern District of New York on Jan. 21. 

According to a former executive from the Bank of Japan, who made a statement on Wednesday, major central banks started to set up study groups into crypto shortly after Facebook’s threat was made clear. 

Quote of the day 

The biggest barrier to Bitcoin adoption is the lack of understanding about what money is and how it works.

Jimmy Song

Source: https://www.fxstreet.com/cryptocurrencies/news/crypto-today-bitcoin-breakout-imminent-202001221927

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Square’s Crypto Division Finally Releases Details of First Bitcoin Product

By Nick Chong

• Last year, Jack Dorsey — the chief executive of both Square and Twitter — began to openly shill Bitcoin in a number of public channels.
• Naturally, his love for Bitcoin extended into his companies, with Square announcing a new division called Square Crypto in 2019.

For instance, on the Joe Rogan Podcast, he revealed that he thinks the cryptocurrency will become a native currency of the Internet, and during an official earnings call for his fintech company Square, he took some time to tout his love for Bitcoin.

Naturally, his love for Bitcoin extended into his companies, with Square announcing a new division called Square Crypto in 2019.

Dorsey’s premise was that someone told him the most important thing he could do for Bitcoin is to “make the broader crypto ecosystem better,” hence the creation of this new division to do “what’s best for the crypto community and individual economic empowerment.”

#BitcoinTwitter and #CryptoTwitter! Square is hiring 3-4 crypto engineers and 1 designer to work full-time on open source contributions to the bitcoin/crypto ecosystem. Work from anywhere, report directly to me, and we can even pay you in bitcoin! Introducing @SqCrypto. Why?

— jack  (@jack) March 20, 2019

Throughout the entire hiring process of this new division, the team photos, memes published on Square Crypto’s Twitter page, and even the grant-giving process, it wasn’t exactly clear what this team was working on.

The team leader, a former senior employee at Google, did mention products meant to improve the usability of Bitcoin as a day-to-day form of money but was slow to elucidate any ventures it was eyeing.

But today, we got our answer.

Square Crypto Unveils First Product, a Bitcoin Lightning Network Developer Kit

According to a Square Crypto blog post published Tuesday, the company has launched something called the Lightning Development Kit (LDK).

This is kind of like a traditional software development kit (SDK) but focused on the Lightning Network, a second-layer scaling solution that effectively migrates some transactions off the main chain to allow for lightning-fast, effectively free, and cross-chain transfers.

We’ve got the team. We’ve got the mission. We’ve got hit or miss tweets. And now it’s time to talk about what we’re building: Introducing the Lightning Development Kit, or LDK.  https://t.co/o73cJy7Cur

— Square Crypto (@sqcrypto) January 21, 2020

The LDK, the post indicates, will allow wallet developers to create “custom” integrations of the Network in an “easy, safe, and configurable way” through an API, demo apps, and other technical tools.

As to what exactly the LDK can be used for, at least from a top-down perspective, Square Crypto gave three examples:

1) Adding Lightning capabilities to existing bitcoin wallets — no need to create a separate wallet just for Lightning. 2) Supporting multi-device, multi-application access to a single wallet. 3) Allowing wallets to make UX/security/privacy tradeoffs such as external transaction signing and customizing their state backup to a cloud service.

Essentially, it should make the integration of the Lightning Network into existing or up-and-coming cryptocurrency software much easier than it is, and should, therefore, increase the adoption of the scaling solution with ample time.

It’s kind of like a shoehorn, but with the shoe being Bitcoin software and the foot being the Lightning Network…

Very Good Timing

The release of the LDK comes at a very good time, with the Lightning Network once again entering the minds of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Per previous reports from Blockonomi, Bitcoin proponent Hodlonaut has started what is known as the Lightning Network Trust Chain for the second time.

Last time, this challenge, which sees individuals use the Lightning Network and large BTC transactions to create a link between Twitter accounts, gained much steam. Dorsey and LinkedIn and Microsoft board member Reid Hoffman participated in the Chain, amongst other prominent members of the community.

And as a result, the Lightning Network saw a flurry of growth, with the capacity of the Network nearly doubling in value during the time the chain was being formed.

With the arrival of the second Trust Chain and Square Crypto’s new Lightning Network kit, this Bitcoin scaling solution could see a micro-renaissance, so to say.

Source: https://blockonomi.com/squares-crypto-first-bitcoin-product/

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Bitcoin’s 2020 Rally; Financial Advisors Opening Clients’ Doors To Crypto

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CRYPTO MARKETS

• Bitcoin reached its highest level in more than two months this week, climbing to $8,848 on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the price had risen to $8,897.
• The digital asset has been following a broad, upward trend all week, pushing higher after reaching a 2020 low of $6,852 on January 3.

Some market observers have cited hopes the cryptocurrency will enjoy greater adoption in 2020 when explaining these gains. Others have pointed to anticipation surrounding the upcoming halving, scheduled to take place in May, as another factor in bitcoin’s recent push higher.

Plus, why is bitcoin driving altcoins higher? The short answer: beta. Read more here. 

FINANCIAL ADVISORS CONSIDER CRYPTO

According to a new survey of more than 400 financial advisors conducted by cryptocurrency investment firms Bitwise and ETF Trends, 13% of advisors are now allocating crypto for their clients. That’s more than double the 6% of advisors that were allocating crypto in 2019. 

The number one factor driving that uptick? Crypto returns. Of the financial advisors polled, 54% cited that as the reason to allocate more investment dollars to digital currency. 

According to Bitwise managing director and head of research Matt Hougan, financial advisors are opening their clients’ doors to crypto by either acting in an advisory role—showing clients how to purchase crypto in a secure and safe environment—investing in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which trades over-the-counter, or purchasing shares in private funds that provide access to cryptocurrency.

GRAYSCALE’S RECORD YEAR

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale revealed inflows of $600 million in 2019, more than 2013 through 2018 combined, after its best quarter on record. $147 million of last year’s investments came from new clients—24% of the total.

“If the persistent question is ‘where are the institutional investors in crypto?’ the answer is that they’re here and showing up in a meaningful size,” Michael Sonnenshein, managing director at Grayscale, said on the sidelines of the Crypto Finance Conference in Switzerland.

“With 71% of assets raised in Grayscale products during 2019 coming from institutions, we now have empirical data that this is part of a longer term trend—one that we have no reason to believe won’t be sustained into 2020.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cryptoconfidential/2020/01/21/bitcoins-2020-rally-financial-advisors-opening-clients-doors-to-crypto/#456e1283321e

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Bitcoin Price Tests $9,000 As Altcoins Flourish: Friday Crypto Market Watch

• 2020 has so far been particularly positive for Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. Starting the year at around $7,100, BTC currently trades at almost $9,000, charting notable increases throughout the entire week. 

Author: George Georgiev

2020 has so far been particularly positive for Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. Starting the year at around $7,100, BTC currently trades at almost $9,000, charting notable increases throughout the entire week. 

In the past 24 hours alone, Bitcoin gained another 3% to its value, increasing from around $8,650 to about $9,000 from where it retraced a bit and it currently trades at $8,900. 

BTC/USD. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin’s total market capitalization has increased to $162 billion. However, its dominance has sized down to 66.1%, meaning that altcoins have managed to recover and to claim new grounds. 

Indeed, looking at how other cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin performed, it’s rather clear that they are flourishing. All of the projects from the top 20 are in the green, charting serious gains throughout the entire week. The past 24 hours are no exception. 

Bitcoin SV is once again one of the best-performing altcoins, increasing by 10% throughout the past 24 hours. Others who marked serious gains include Binance Coin (9.14%), EOS, (8.84%), Bitcoin Cash (7.8%), and so forth. 

Total Market Capitalization: $245B | Bitcoin Market Capitalization: 162B | BTC Dominance: 66.1%

Major Crypto Headlines

$3.2 Million ETH Stolen From UPbit Is Already Laundered: Report Claims. Following the hack of UPbit which took place in November 2019, it now becomes clear that $3.2 million from the stolen cryptocurrency has already been laundered. The report also claims that this happened by using small transactions in a lot of different exchanges. 

YouTube Crypto Purge Is Back: Popular YouTuber Davinci Reports He’d Been Blocked From Streaming. Despite issuing a formal apology and saying that the cryptocurrency purge has been a mistake, it appears that YouTube is taking a charge at content creators once again. Popular cryptocurrency YouTuber Davinci has said that his channel has been flagged and that he has been blocked from streaming. 

Craig Wright’s Defamation Case Against Hodlnaut Reportedly Dismissed By UK’s High Court. Self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright, has reportedly seen his defamation case against popular Twitter user Hodlnaut dismissed. The merit for the order is the is lack of jurisdiction but the case will supposedly continue in Norway.  

Significant Daily Gainers and Losers

Ethereum Classic (31.45%)

Ethereum Classic (ETC) is undoubtedly the most significant daily gainer throughout the past 24 hours, at the time of this writing. Up 31.45% so far, ETC stands at a price of $10 and a total market capitalization of about $1.1 billion. More interestingly, ETC saw a surge in its 24-hour trading volume which is now more than $3.2 billion. 

MonaCoin (24.72%)

MonaCoin is another altcoin that managed to impress in today’s trading session. It’s up about 24 percent in the past day alone, bringing its price to $1.22 at the time of this writing. MonaCoin now sits on a market cap of about $80 million and is the 61st largest cryptocurrency. In terms of 24-hour trading volume, MonaCoin stands at about $21 million. 

Swipe (-11.83%)

Unfortunately, not all altcoins managed to increase with the rest of the market. Swipe is down about 11.8% and its price reduced to $1.30. The cryptocurrency stands on a total market cap of about $79 million and saw a trading volume of $14 million in the past 24 hours.

Source: https://cryptopotato.com/bitcoin-price-tests-9000-as-altcoins-flourish-friday-crypto-market-watch/

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

75% Think Bitcoin Will Double in Price This Year: Crypto Twitter Survey

Author: Kiril Nikolaev

An economist ran a poll to check the pulse of the bitcoin market. An ultra bullish atmosphere may signal that a trend reversal is incoming

• The bitcoin rally is making many crypto investors euphoric.
• An economist ran a poll to check on the pulse of the BTC market.
• An ultra bullish atmosphere may be a sign that a trend reversal is incoming.

Over the last couple of weeks, bitcoin has been slaying bears and disbelievers. On Tuesday, bitcoin printed a fresh 2020 high of $8,903.20. The crypto token’s renewed bullish vigor is driving many retail investors into euphoria.

One retail trader is already predicting that bitcoin will hit $20,000. | Source: Twitter

The ecstatic atmosphere probably drove Alex Kruger to measure community sentiment. The trader and economist ran a poll asking Crypto Twitter (CT) what they think would be BTC’s 2020 high.

Results reveal that CT is feeling ultra bullish. That’s bad news for bitcoin.

Nearly Half of Survey Participants Believe Bitcoin Would Breach $20,000 This Year

Kruger recently ran a poll that involved the responses of over 4,000 participants. Results show that 47.1% believe that bitcoin would trade above $20,000 this year. Close to 30% think the coin would settle between $14,000 and $19,999. The remaining 25% said the cryptocurrency will trade at $13,999 or lower.

Poll results may foreshadow massive capitulation. | Source: Twitter

The survey reveals that nearly 75% of participants believe that bitcoin will print gains of over 100% this year. Almost half see the cryptocurrency skyrocketing by over 180%. These are ultra bullish predictions even by bitcoin’s standards. The results tell me that it is wise to take a contrarian stance.

The Wisdom of the Crowd Is Rarely Correct

When it comes to investing, the wisdom of the herd is often wrong. This is especially true of bitcoin. The digital asset has a tendency to mislead the crowd and burn retail investors.

We saw this happen in the 2017 bull market. Many retail investors hopped on the bandwagon just as bitcoin was peaking around $20,000. Countless got wiped out as the cryptocurrency entered a vicious bear market.

This happened again in December 2018. At the time, bitcoin was trading at $3,000. Many capitulated as calls for a massive drop to $1,800 reverberated on social media. What did the cryptocurrency do? It left disbelievers with their jaws on the floor as it soared to a 2019 high of $14,000.

The Crypto Dog considering the possibility of a bitcoin drop just before the cryptocurrency skyrocketed. | Source: Twitter

These examples show that it’s prudent to look at the other side of the coin. Getting pulled by the herd is a bad trading strategy.

Source: https://www.ccn.com/survey-reveals-bitcoin-will-double-in-price-this-year/

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Storming the Gates: How ‘Crypto Davos’ Became a Thing

• In recent years the WEF Meeting has come under fire as a place where wealthy elites gather to discuss solutions to problems they helped create and perpetuate – problems many blockchain startups are working to solve.
• But the reality of Davos lies somewhere between these two extremes.

This is part of a series of op-eds previewing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. CoinDesk will be on the ground in Davos from Jan. 20–24 chronicling all things crypto at the annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elite. Follow along by subscribing to our pop-up newsletter, CoinDesk Confidential: Davos.

Sandra Ro is the CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), which is organizing the four-day Blockchain Central Davos event.

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), renowned as a place where business executives, government officials, entrepreneurs and NGO leaders convene to create positive change, is days away.

In recent years the WEF Meeting has come under fire as a place where wealthy elites gather to discuss solutions to problems they helped create and perpetuate – problems many blockchain startups are working to solve. But the reality of Davos lies somewhere between these two extremes.

So why engage? Why do we keep going back?

WEF 2020

2020 is special: It’s the 50th anniversary of the WEF, a non-profit foundation created in 1971 to engage society’s foremost political, business and cultural leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

This year’s WEF theme is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World.”

Some of the broad questions to be asked: What does “stakeholder capitalism” mean? Is it tracking progress towards the Paris Agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? How does technology fit in?

“With the world at such critical crossroads, this year we must develop a ‘Davos Manifesto 2020’ to reimagine the purpose and scorecards for companies and governments,” said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF.

If the world is at a crossroads, what is the role of cryptocurrencies, digital assets and blockchain? And who gets to shape and influence this future?

In short, should “Crypto Davos” collaborate with the established elites?

Crypto Davos, four+ years in the making

Crypto pioneers set up shop with Davos side events four or five years ago. These were modest gatherings to discuss the future of cryptocurrencies. Very few elites knew what this was, or paid it much attention.   

Just as bitcoin and ethereum began as organic grassroots initiatives, Crypto Davos grew mainly by group chats and word of mouth. However, by 2018, Crypto Davos reached peak excess, coinciding with the boom of ICOs. This was followed by muted numbers in 2019 with the bust, and now, in 2020, a mix of Crypto Davos stalwarts are returning alongside mainstream corporations that are ahead of the curve in embracing blockchain and, sometimes, cryptocurrency. (Unfortunately, the mantra of “blockchain good, crypto bad” lingers in certain corporate and government circles, though it is dissipating over time.)

What happens at WEF’s official gathering is important, but most who have attended Davos previously know that “the Promenade” is a beehive of activity around cryptocurrencies, blockchain, AI, cybersecurity and other emerging technologies. Many crypto people who attend Davos never step foot inside the main event and do not hold a coveted “white badge.” Instead, they hang out on the Promenade and participate in a myriad of panels, networking events and meetings, mixed with late-night partying and bonding.

The Promenade blockchain events are in high demand and considered cutting edge, thereby attracting some high-profile leaders who might seem out of place under normal, stodgier circumstances. Seeing rock stars, actors, CEOs, billionaires, social-impact entrepreneurs and developers together is not unusual at Crypto Davos.

Where else do you see both Jamie Dimon and Jamie Oliver walking down the same block within meters of each other? Or Michael Douglas walking into an MIT-hosted lunch on AI and blockchain? (Seriously, that happened back in 2017.)

So why did a bunch of crypto people start coming to Davos in the first place? Switzerland’s crypto-friendly environment partially explains the attraction.

But the secret sauce of Davos is not just about discussing important ideas.

Once you make it to this normally sleepy town, you are jumbled together with 30,000 influential people on a few blocks of a “main street.” It makes for an intense and rewarding four days of networking and deal-making, which sets the tone for the rest of the year.

Crossover appeal

Crypto Davos, despite its outsider status, has influenced and changed the course of mainstream Davos.

Just look at 2020’s big thematic on “stakeholders in a cohesive and sustainable world,” which covers everything from economics to climate change to technology, and includes topics like digital identity, digital asset regulation and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

In 2020, many, if not most, corporations participating at Davos have internal blockchain projects and/or are members of digital asset groups. Five years ago, the CEOs of these same corporations probably did not know blockchain existed.

Crypto Davos has profoundly influenced the interest and growth of digital assets and blockchain technology among some of the most elite institutions, governments and world leaders.

Not bad for a bunch of outsiders.

Selling out?

To the cynics and anti-establishment crowd, we debate every year why we pay exorbitant rates to put together an event at Davos. The high costs, occasionally not-so-subtle hostility from the mainstream, increasingly strict town council rules and the general logistics nightmare are enough to deter most.

However, we return, because our supporters love attending. Why? Because we have met some of the most awe-inspiring people at Davos, from rocket scientists to world leaders to humanitarians.

With a combination of bright, motivated people, ideas turn into action here: from investments to business deals to project launches. No matter how great the tech, we are humans who make connections by meeting each other, spending time with each other and, ultimately, collaborating with each other.  

The key for Crypto Davos is to keep influencing and building bridges with the establishment to yield the societal change we want. Blockchain works best when it’s collaborative. The same holds true at Davos: Crypto Davos can improve and scale with the resources of large institutions; Establishment Davos can reimagine business models and government services to create a more equitable and functional society.

This grand experiment works best if people collaborate across geographies and disciplines.

Long live Crypto Davos (at least until the next better version comes along).

Source: https://www.coindesk.com/storming-the-gates-how-crypto-davos-became-a-thing