Despite a challenging year for the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors, the passion and vigor in this space haven’t disappeared, as confirmed by the Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Brynly Llyr.
Although the interest of financial institutions in cryptocurrencies might have declined, there is still interest in investing in blockchain as a technology in 2023, as Llyr told Forkast News’s Angie Lau in an interview in Davos, Switzerland, published on January 26.
Explaining this phenomenon, she highlighted blockchain’s existing and potential use cases, as well as the ongoing and persistent drive that its developers still hold:
“It is about what the blockchain can enable, what is possible, and I still see a lot of enthusiasm around there. (…) We see a number of use cases and developers that continue to be energized and continue working on these projects. And I think you still see money coming into them.”
Diversification and path of the user
Focusing on the positive sides of a decentralized system, the Head of Blockchain and Digital Assets also singled out the diversification that it can offer as one of the goals to strive for and which is possible once the wider public is fully aware of blockchain’s utility.
“Some of the benefits of a decentralized system is that you get a lot of different viewpoints and a lot of diversity in what is being developed. (…) How will we get there? I think we follow the path of the user. I think when people realize that using these products makes a difference in their lives and they start using them, and we see where the adoption is, that’s where we go.”
WEF’s interest in blockchain and crypto
Notably, Llyr became the head of blockchain and cryptocurrencies at the WEF after the international non-governmental and lobbying organization, funded by its 1,000 member companies, posted a job advert for the position on July 19, as part of its growing focus on digital assets.
More recently, Nigel Green, the CEO of financial management firm deVere Group, warned that the WEF would “spectacularly fail” if it doesn’t focus on crypto regulation at the 2023 summit in Davos, urging world leaders to up the ante instead of just talking when it comes to regulating digital assets.
Meanwhile, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci has declared that the “rampant pessimism” voiced by world leaders at the recent WEF summit, was “enormously bullish” for risk assets like crypto, as Finbold reported.
