Crypto at a Crossroads / DAVOS 2025

Summary

This panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos focused on the current state and future prospects of the cryptocurrency industry. The panelists, including central bankers, financial executives, and crypto leaders, discussed various aspects of the crypto ecosystem, regulatory challenges, and potential for mass adoption.

The discussion highlighted the dynamic and volatile nature of the crypto market, with growing interest from institutional investors. Panelists emphasized the need for clear, comprehensive regulation to foster innovation while protecting consumers. The recent approval of Bitcoin ETFs and the growth in stablecoin payments were cited as positive developments for the industry.

A significant portion of the conversation centered on the regulatory landscape, with some panelists arguing for a more collaborative approach between regulators and the industry. The potential impact of a second Trump presidency on crypto regulation was also discussed, with expectations of a more favorable environment for the industry.

The panel explored the integration of blockchain technology in traditional finance, with examples of how it could revolutionize areas like settlement and yield generation. The importance of focusing on the utility and real-world applications of blockchain, rather than just speculative aspects, was stressed.

Challenges to mass adoption were addressed, including the need for easier user interfaces, better integration with traditional financial services, and improved privacy features. The potential for stablecoins to transform cross-border payments and reduce costs was highlighted as a promising area for growth.

The discussion concluded with predictions for the coming year, with panelists expecting significant growth in stablecoin payments, clearer regulation, and increased adoption of blockchain technology in various financial applications.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The current state of the cryptocurrency ecosystem and regulatory landscape

– The impact of the Trump administration on crypto policy and adoption

– The role of traditional financial institutions in adopting blockchain/crypto technology

– The potential for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain

– The need for clear regulation and global standards for the crypto industry

Overall purpose:

The goal of this panel discussion was to explore the current state and future outlook of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry, including regulatory challenges, institutional adoption, and the potential for mainstream use.

Tone:

The overall tone was optimistic about the future of crypto, but with some tension around regulatory issues. There was a mix of excitement about technological possibilities and concern about regulatory uncertainty. The tone became slightly more contentious when discussing political influence on crypto policy, but remained largely constructive throughout.

Speakers

– Spriha Srivastava: International Executive Editor at Business Insider, moderator

– Anthony Scaramucci: Founder of Skybridge Capital

– Lesetja Kganyago: Governor of South African Reserve Bank

– Brian Armstrong: CEO of Coinbase

– Jennifer Johnson: CEO of Franklin Resources

– Denelle Dixon: CEO of Stellar Development Foundation

Additional speakers:

– Gareth Jenkinson: Managing Editor at Cointelegraph

Cryptocurrency Ecosystem: Current State and Future Prospects

A panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos brought together central bankers, financial executives, and crypto leaders to explore the current state and future outlook of the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. The conversation, moderated by Spriha Srivastava of Business Insider, covered regulatory challenges, institutional adoption, and the potential for mainstream use of cryptocurrencies.

State of the Cryptocurrency Ecosystem

The panellists agreed that the cryptocurrency ecosystem is dynamic and rapidly evolving, but also characterised by volatility. Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, noted the growing interest from institutional investors, while Jennifer Johnson, CEO of Franklin Resources, described traditional finance and crypto as “parallel universes”. Johnson also highlighted Franklin Templeton’s involvement in the crypto space, including their tokenized money market fund. Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, expressed optimism, stating that it’s “the dawn of a new day for crypto with clear rules coming”. Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation, emphasised that while crypto is growing, it remains misunderstood by many.

Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital, highlighted the renewed excitement in crypto due to the potential “Trump effect”, suggesting that a second Trump presidency could create a more favourable environment for the industry. However, he also expressed concerns about the potential negative impact of Trump-related meme coins on the industry’s reputation.

Regulatory Landscape and Challenges

A significant portion of the discussion centred on the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies. There was broad consensus on the need for clear, comprehensive regulation to foster innovation while protecting consumers. Kganyago advocated for transparent regulation that cuts across industries, warning against regulatory capture by political interests. He also emphasized the importance of global regulatory standards. Johnson emphasised the need for regulation to evolve alongside technology, while Armstrong highlighted the growing political influence of pro-crypto voters.

Dixon expressed a desire for regulatory clarity to enable innovation, and Scaramucci predicted a bipartisan commitment to crypto legislation in the future. The panel explored the potential impact of a second Trump presidency on crypto regulation, with expectations of a more favourable environment for the industry.

Adoption and Integration of Crypto Technology

The discussion highlighted several areas where blockchain and cryptocurrency technology is being adopted and integrated into traditional finance. Johnson noted the ongoing tokenisation of traditional assets, while Armstrong suggested that Bitcoin should be part of government strategic reserves. Kganyago acknowledged that blockchain enables faster, cheaper transactions, particularly for cross-border payments, and emphasized the importance of reducing costs for these transactions using emerging technologies.

Dixon emphasised the need to focus on the real-world utility and impact of blockchain technology, rather than just its speculative aspects. Scaramucci identified stablecoin legislation as key for wider adoption of cryptocurrencies and argued that it would be beneficial for the US dollar’s global position.

Future Outlook and Challenges

Looking to the future, the panellists identified several areas of potential growth and challenges for the crypto industry. Armstrong predicted rapid growth in payments with stablecoins and estimated that cryptocurrencies could reach half the world’s population in 10-15 years. Johnson suggested that regulatory clarity would encourage traditional firms to enter the space.

Dixon pointed out that privacy features and ease of use are crucial for mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. The panel also addressed challenges to mass adoption, including the need for easier user interfaces, better integration with traditional financial services, and improved financial literacy around cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

Agreements and Disagreements

The panellists found common ground on several key issues, including the need for clear and comprehensive regulation and the transformative potential of blockchain technology in enhancing the speed and efficiency of financial transactions.

However, there were notable differences in approach. While Kganyago advocated for industry-agnostic regulation, Armstrong and Scaramucci focused more on political influence and bipartisan support for crypto-specific legislation. An unexpected point of disagreement emerged between Kganyago and Armstrong on the role of government in asset selection, with Armstrong advocating for governments to include Bitcoin in their strategic reserves, while Kganyago argued against governments deciding which assets to hold or promote.

Thought-Provoking Comments and Future Considerations

Several comments during the discussion provided food for thought and potential areas for future exploration. Armstrong’s perspective on meme coins as a form of cultural expression added depth to the discussion about speculative assets in the crypto space. The panel’s final thoughts on what would be the defining moment for the crypto industry in the coming year included expectations of regulatory clarity, increased institutional adoption, and potential breakthroughs in blockchain technology applications.

In conclusion, the panel discussion provided a comprehensive overview of the current state and future prospects of the cryptocurrency industry. While optimism about the future of crypto was evident, the conversation also highlighted the complex challenges facing the industry, particularly in terms of regulation, adoption, and integration with traditional finance. The discussion underscored the need for continued dialogue between industry leaders, regulators, and traditional financial institutions to navigate the evolving landscape of digital assets and blockchain technology.

Spriha Srivastava: Thank you. Okay, hi, everyone. Welcome to the World Economic Forum in Davos. We have a brilliant panel today on crypto at crossroads. First, I’m Spriya Srivastava, International Executive Editor at Business Insider, your moderator for today. I’ll introduce our panel very shortly. Just to say this panel is keeping in line with the work done by the Forum on Digital Assets and Regulation. Just two quick housekeeping notes. If you’re watching, want to be involved, you could post on X with hashtag WEF25. And also, we’ll have some time in the end for questions and answers, so please start thinking of your questions now. We’ll open the floor towards the end of the panel. Great, so we have a brilliant panel here. I’m going to introduce the panel. To my left is Lesetja Kganyago, a governor of South African Reserve Bank. To his, next to him is Jennifer Johnson, CEO of Franklin Resources. Next to Jennifer is Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase. Then we have Denelle Dixon, who’s the CEO of Stellar Development Foundation. And finally, we’ve got Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital. Welcome to you all. Crypto is back. It’s dominating in Davos. It’s dominating conversations. It’s like Davos in 2020, 2021 again. I’ve had several conversations, whether it’s lunches or dinners, where we’ve been talking about the state of the crypto market, the ecosystem. Today, we’re going to explore it all. We’re going to talk about the outlook. We’re going to talk about the regulatory landscape. We’re also going to talk about the prospect for digital assets. And also, we have a new president in the White House, and we will be talking about what it could mean in Trump’s second era. Now, just want to start with a broad question for all of you, and I think maybe start with you, Governor. How would you describe the state of the cryptocurrency ecosystem that we have right now?

Lesetja Kganyago: I would say, thank you very much. I’d say that the ecosystem is actually fairly dynamic, but it’s volatile. It’s characterized by rapidly moving technological innovation, and it has a growing interest from institutional investors and adoption by institutional investors. And this calls for a coordinated and comprehensive policy and regulatory responsibility. And what you then face is that you’ve got to accept that in many instances, regulators are struggling to come to grips with exactly what they are having to regulate. And so part of it is going to be a learning journey between the players and the regulators.

Spriha Srivastava: That’s great. We will be talking about regulation and it’s great to have a central banker on the panel to talk about that. Jenny, what about you?

Jennifer Johnson: So I’d agree with most of those comments and actually probably all of those comments. I would just add what always surprises me and at Franklin Templeton, we obviously are traditional finance plus we’ve been pretty active in the crypto space. We have a tokenized money market fund. We’re a node validator on 13 layer one and layer two platforms. I’m always surprised by how big the crypto space is. People who come to these conferences, names that you would know that would come to these conferences and then how on the traditional asset management or even the traditional finance side that there’s literally blinders on to this massive growth in this community. And at some point they have to come together. And I think the challenge is from a regulatory standpoint is that it’s really difficult because it’s very disruptive, but it’s literally like two parallel universes kind of running together, running along.

Brian Armstrong: Yeah, in terms of the state of the industry, I’d say that it’s the dawn of a new day. You have to remember that the last four years in the US, it was a very hostile environment. I think the lack of clarity got weaponized and some people in the government tried to actually, I think, curtail or kill the industry unlawfully. And so with a new administration coming in, I think we have a path to get clear rules and we’re gonna have hopefully legislation passed through Congress, which will bring in a lot of new investment. And so crypto is really in its infancy. I think it’s incredibly exciting. I mean, the ETFs have brought in, they’ve broken almost every record of new ETFs of Bitcoin money flowing in. Payments with stable coins are on a tear. They grew about 300% year over year. In 2024, they did about $30 trillion in payment volume with USDC as a major player there, for instance. And, you know, I’d say about half of the Fortune 500 has some sort of pilot going in crypto. I mean, the largest financial service firms in the world, every fintech, many of the neobanks are all integrating crypto. So this is a technology that’s gonna update the financial system globally, make it faster, cheaper, more efficient. And the long-term impact of this is that it’s actually going to increase economic freedom in the world. If you want, we can come back to that topic. But to me, that’s one of those important freedoms right up there with speech, which is foundational to all prosperity in society. And if we can actually inject good financial infrastructure to every country of the world, for anybody who has a smartphone, plug them into the global economy, I think it’s gonna lift billions of people out of poverty and it’s gonna be very transformational over the next couple decades.

Spriha Srivastava: That’s great. Takes you to Denelle, who I think can comment on that quite a bit.

Denelle Dixon: Yeah, I think it’s growing. I also still think it’s misunderstood. I think that there’s not a lot of focus on the actual utility, the velocity of all of the assets, like what’s actually happening on chain that’s really transformational and getting to the points that Brian just raised. That’s already happening today and we don’t talk about that as much. And so I think that there’s just so much more to show out there. And I think that we’re right now, because of we’re in this area where I think regulation’s gonna be more favorable in the US, we’re gonna hit this opportunity to really showcase all of the real work and to work more with traditional financial services, like with Jenny’s company. Like Jenny’s been sort of in front of this, but others are gonna move into this now in a much more aggressive way.

Anthony Scaramucci: So I’ll just add one thing. If you guys have an interest in regulation, I would recommend Diana Henriquez’s book called Taming the Street. And it takes you through the formation of the SEC and how they built a framework of regulation in the United States. And what I like about the next administration is. Commissioner Atkins or presumptive Commissioner Atkins is thinking about it along those lines. So he’s going to talk to the Jennings and the Bryans and he’s going to work with the community to get fair and propitious regulation as opposed to what we’ve been doing, which is shooting in the dark. And I think, you know, I want to applaud Bryan and Coinbase because they literally went to the SEC and said, could you just tell us what the rules are? And of course, there was a lot of opacity to that. And of course, you want a court case where you had a federal judge say, hey guys, you have to tell these people what the rules are. And so we’re going back to an old-school framework, which I think will be very beneficial for the industry.

Spriha Srivastava: That’s great. I’ll come back to regulation. But one question that pops up is, you know, everyone’s suddenly talking about crypto a lot. There’s this excitement. I know you said that it’s still very nascent in terms of the market. What has shifted in the last few months? Is this the Trump effect? What’s happening? Why is everyone back talking about crypto again?

Brian Armstrong: Yeah, well, the underlying fundamentals are very good, too. Don’t get me wrong. I mean the payment growth I mentioned, the ETFs, the adoption by Fortune 500 is just, it’s great. But I think the Trump effect cannot be denied here. To have the leader of the largest GDP country in the world come out undeniably and say that he wants to be the first crypto president. He wants the industry to be built in America. You know that he’s going to direct every agency of the US government to work towards clear rules which enable innovation. This is unprecedented. And you know, it’s hard to deny that that effect has, I mean, we just yesterday saw an all-time high price for Bitcoin at 109,000. I think that’s largely due to the inauguration.

Spriha Srivastava: Anthony, did you want to weigh in on this?

Anthony Scaramucci: Hey, listen, I mean, you know, we have to call balls and strikes. It’s probably not a great European analogy, but at the end of the day, I was there when President Trump gave this speech at the Bitcoin conference, and it was very, very clear if he won the election… the things were gonna change in the industry. And if you were on the side of the Democrats trying to support them, I was astonished at their reluctance to understand what was actually going on. And if somebody does write a history of this era, it’ll be the era where Elizabeth Warren and Gary Gensler got together for some unknown reason. Some of us have some ideas about what they were doing, but they got together and they literally helped the Democrats lose the presidency, the House and the Senate. And so it was very hard to communicate with them at that time what they were doing. But what I will say, and I have to respect Mr. President Trump for this, this industry is here to stay and there are properties in this industry, there’s companies like Circle, companies like Coinbase, Franklin Templeton, Stellar, that are gonna advance the technological innovation in the world of transactions. They’re gonna speed them up, they’re gonna make them cheaper, and it’s gonna unleash an amazing amount of global innovation. And you gotta give the president and his team credit for understanding it. And I also think we have put pressure on the Democrats now. The Sherrod Brown race in the United States set alarm bells off. And so for the Europeans in the room, Sherrod Brown was an 18-year veteran of the Senate, he was the head of the Senate Banking Committee. The crypto community, through the Political Action Committee, has dumped $40 million into that race, knocked him into the woods. And that’s very hard to do, to dislodge an incumbent with that level of power. And I think it sends a message to the Democrats as well that they need to be bipartisan with this. So I am very hopeful and very pragmatically optimistic.

Denelle Dixon: Can I just add too that for the last four years, there’s been this push from the crypto side to say we have to ignore, we have to move out of the United States. We have to not focus on what’s happening in the US. Part of the challenge to that is, of course, like the dollar is something that everybody wants and it’s set in such high demand. And so there wasn’t really an ability to ignore what was happening in the United States, even though none of us liked the regulatory environment. And so I think that this is just a signal that the importance is now clear and we need to be able to create strong regulation that makes sense for the industry and for innovation instead of trying to, whatever the reasons were for the challenges that we had for the last four years.

Lesetja Kganyago: I think I’d like to jump in. I was getting worried about where the conversation was going and whether I belong here as a central banker.

Spriha Srivastava: I was gonna come to you next.

Lesetja Kganyago: Because it doesn’t matter whether regulation is for crypto, whether it is for banking, whether it is for trade, whether it’s for consumer protection, regulation has got to be clear, clean and such that everybody could understand. So the notion that says that regulation has got to be clear and clean to facilitate crypto is just not on. That is how we view all the regulation. That’s the first one. The second point that worried me is the point that was made about how crypto went to fund to knock a politically elected person out of office so that they could get their regulation through in that manner. Mark my words, it will happen that some other grouping that wants to bring down crypto would do the same thing. And I do not think that that is how regulation should evolve. Governments must set rules that are clear, that are transparent and cut across and not be geared around political parties that industrially could throw resources because they do not like a particular approach of a particular politician or political party. And therefore we are going to throw resources to knock this one out or to keep this one in place. That for me is a regulatory capture. What we actually need is a society that frames conversations about how policies, how regulations should evolve such that regulations are clear for everyone across industries that this is how regulation is formed. If regulation is going to be established through the power of money, then we have the problem. We seem to have forgotten where we had come with the great financial crisis. And that said, let’s be clear, that it’s important for society to create an environment for innovation to take place, that there is a level playing field, that similar activities are regulated in a similar fashion. And I think that for me is very important that society rises above that.

Spriha Srivastava: That’s great, Governor. And I think-

Brian Armstrong: You’ve got to respond to that.

Spriha Srivastava: Yeah, absolutely. I think regulatory uncertainty, that still exists. There’s still lack of clarity. How do you respond to, how do you navigate? So let’s go to Jenny first. I think she raised her hand, then Brian.

Jennifer Johnson: So I don’t know how it works in South Africa, but if you just, you know, in the US, you take the securities rules. These rules were created as a reaction to the depression and to the stock market crash of 29. So they were created in the 1930s and 1940s. The challenge is you need to be able to go back to what the purpose of the regulation was, which was consumer protection, and acknowledge that the technology is advancing so quickly that you can evolve regulation to meet the technology. That is a big challenge for regulators, but we have to be able to do that because it’s going to take AI. All of these things are going to move so quickly that we have to remember the purpose of it and then adopt the rules.

Brian Armstrong: I think what we saw in this last election in the u.s. Is that there is a large group of pro crypto voters and There is no group of anti crypto voters. And so this was a political opportunity Trump realized that Sherrod Brown found that out the hard way, which is if you’re gonna be anti crypto No, but no one’s gonna vote for you because you’re anti crypto There’s a lot of people we’re gonna vote for the other party because they’re pro crypto so in my mind this is democracy working Sherrod Brown, you know, I I go to DC about once every quarter And we tried to meet with him many many times just to understand his point of view even to have a simple conversation He always refused to meet with me You know, this organ is these grassroots organizations like stand with crypto. They got to about two million Advocates who raised their hand and said they really care about crypto They felt like their rights were being violated. They wanted to see clear rules in the u.s This is not regulatory capture. By the way, it’s just bipartisan legislate, you know, you still have to get bipartisan legislation passed So it’s a stand with crypto was a very bipartisan effort But Sherrod Brown refusing to engage with The industry and to pass clear rules got him voted out of office. And so the the crypto voter is real That’s democracy working.

Lesetja Kganyago: Really I mean this becomes I don’t want the discussion to be about the u.s. Yeah, we’ll move on from that but yeah, I don’t want it to be about the u.s. I Happen to participate in global regulatory standard setting And I must say that it had happened so many times that the u.s Would choose to opt out of what is being said Globally and around not don’t have to I don’t want to bash the u.s. What I want to say is Globally as regulators we do set standards and those standards we expect to apply across jurisdictions for a simple reason, that Coinbase needs to be able to say, when I am faced with opening my business in South Africa or in the UK or this, there are certain fundamental rules that I would know that would not be violated because there is a global standard. I think that for me, that is very, very important. I don’t know-

Jennifer Johnson: But that doesn’t exist today in the regular.

Spriha Srivastava: Sorry. Well, maybe not.

Lesetja Kganyago: But can I say that the Financial Stability Board that just put in stuff on crypto that we’ve been engaging with, and maybe that’s how the US works. I just want to tell you that in the case of South Africa, the regulatory approach is an approach that engages the sector, understand what products are emerging in the sector, and almost co-create a regulatory framework together with the industry. And that, for me, is very important because what would happen-

Spriha Srivastava: I think we’ll move on because we don’t have a lot of time and I want to get to everyone. Jenny, I think you wanted to comment on that.

Jennifer Johnson: No, I was just going to say a big complaint about any global multinational financial services firm is you don’t have regulatory consistency across the globe. So it doesn’t exist. Can I just add that, Governor, what you said is exactly what we all wanted. We wanted rulemaking. We wanted there to be clarity. We wanted that to happen. That wasn’t happening for four years. And I think that’s the challenge. So I think that it wasn’t about just trying to vote people out so that we get the policies in. It was trying to get actually the thing that you are articulating that happens in South Africa.

Lesetja Kganyago: Thank you very much that the U.S. is complaining to the emerging world to provide leadership.

Spriha Srivastava: Anthony, do you expect some of this to change in Trump era?

Anthony Scaramucci: Yeah, I’m just so glad we’re not. Talking about the Trump meme coin Talking about the regulation next what was the question? I’m sorry. I just think My profits in the

Spriha Srivastava: Expect there is a lot of regulatory uncertainty out there. Do you expect more clarity to come through in the second era of Trump?

Anthony Scaramucci: I do and I think that it will happen quickly because there is a bipartisan commitment now So if you talk to Senator Gillibrand or Tom Emmer or Senator Schumer, I think there’s a big wake-up call I think Brian is right. I think there are no anti crypto voters Elizabeth Warren had on her Campaign website. I’m building an anti anti crypto army. Do you remember this me? Yeah, and was like, who’s who’s that? okay, and I think people have now recognized and so when you talk to these guys and I do and I Spent a lot of time in Washington still can only stay there for like 11 day period I get thrown out but but they will tell you okay that You’re gonna get the legislation and you’re gonna get the legislation in their minds before the end of the congressional term Remember, they want to campaign on it. Yeah, so this legislation has got to get done by February of 2026

Spriha Srivastava: Amazing. Let’s talk about the meme coin then Both Trump and Melania launched I mean meme coin Trump on it was on Friday within 48 hours market cap went to 50 billion dollars I mean, it’s bizarre to think that something that did not exist exist 48 hours ago Suddenly is you know, the same market cap as the company stripe What are we think what are we looking at this? What what does it mean to you? Is this the start of some sort of a bubble?

Anthony Scaramucci: Can I just ask the governor are they trading the Trump mean coin in South Africa or?

Lesetja Kganyago: Well, I Just baffled about the Approach the approach taken and here is my thing I don’t think it is for government or for regulators to tell financial consumers which products should come and which products should not be used. Our duty as regulators is to make sure that the products that are there are transparent, they are fair to consumers, and that consumers understand the products that they are involved in. It’s not for governments to decide which product. In our space, we don’t regulate product, we regulate activity. You can design your product, so if your product behaves like a deposit, we will regulate it like a deposit. It behaves like a lending instrument, we will regulate it like a lending instrument. If it behaves like a payment product, we will regulate it like a payment product. It’s not for governments to decide, to even campaign and say, this product and not this product. I don’t think that that is the space that regulation should be in.

Spriha Srivastava: I think we need more financial literacy then, but going back to the meme coin, what is your outlook on this?

Anthony Scaramucci: I’ll just say a couple of quick things. Number one, when you vote for Donald Trump, you get the whole thing. Okay, so don’t forget that. He’s pro-crypto, but then you’re gonna get everything that’s associated with Donald Trump. Having a Trump meme coin could alarm some people, and other people that understand his personality are actually not alarmed, and they see it as part of getting the whole enchilada of Donald Trump. My only issue with it, and I asked this question at another event earlier, I said, who thinks this hurts the industry, and who thinks it helps it? It was sort of 90-10 that it hurts the industry, and I’ll just make this statement. The reason I believe it hurts the industry is that you have older people in politics, older people in policymaking that still do not understand the industry. Like, this room, to me, makes me very bullish because it’s not full. If this room was full, I’d start to get concerned because there’s still people here in Davos that are not focused on what we’re doing in this industry, and I want the people who are getting introduced to the industry to meet Brian Armstrong, okay, or Dinell, or Jenny. I don’t want them to meet the ideas behind the Trump meme coin and the potential. negative things that are associated with the Trump meme coin. I just think it’s gonna slow down some people in the regulatory process.

Spriha Srivastava: Jenny, what do you think? It hurts the industry or it helps?

Anthony Scaramucci: I don’t answer that question.

Spriha Srivastava: Such a good response that Anthony gave. I have nothing to add.

Anthony Scaramucci: It don’t answer that question, Jen. You’re doing great in Washington, Jen. You don’t want to answer.

Brian Armstrong: I don’t have too much to add. I think you have to be a little bit careful when looking at new innovations because oftentimes they start off looking like a toy. If you remember the very early internet, there was a lot of blinking GIFs and silly cat photos, and it turned out to be like 20% of global GDP is now e-commerce. So memes are, you could think of them like collectibles, like baseball cards, or you could think of them like artwork. I think people should be able to create artwork and put it out there, and Trump happens to be the most famous person in the world right now, so that’s probably why it rocketed up so quickly. So I don’t know exactly how this will play out. I mean, memes are actually like kind of the currency on the internet of how a lot of ideas can concisely be communicated in a meme, and humor is a way for people to push against ideas that are no longer popular and sort of to make fun of them a little bit. So I actually think there could be a version of meme coins in the future where people are, memes are going viral on the internet, but people aren’t making money on it. It’s an interesting idea. So anyway, from a Coinbase point of view, we don’t try to recommend any assets to anybody. We just have our listing standards, and to your point, anybody who meets the minimum listing standards, we let the market decide at that point.

Spriha Srivastava: Did you want to comment on that, Governor?

Lesetja Kganyago: I agree. Oh, I agree, but he agrees with me.

Spriha Srivastava: Okay, all right. Let’s talk a little bit about, Jenny, I’m going to come to you, because I think we’ve been talking about digital assets, meme coins, rise of crypto. How are traditional financial institutions like Franklin Templeton and the likes of that, how are you adapting to this sort of rise?

Jennifer Johnson: You know, I think you have institutions falling into two categories. So on the one side, and you gotta remember, like if you think about what this, this is just a simple technology. What this technology does is it has a source of truth. It has ability to execute smart contracts. So things that we’ve written into a document and somebody’s gotta go check and go settle and do this and that can get programmed in and it has a way to pay. That actually is a massive threat to huge financial institutions who act as those roles. And so what you have is a lot of sort of the traditional, you have some traditional firms who are merely trying to figure out how to leverage the technology to do what they do today. I’ll give you an example. DTCC settles transaction securities. They’re working on just using blockchain as the source of truth in settlement. They should kind of be thinking about atomic settlement where you, the moment the trade happens, the dollars, the smart contract executes and the dollars transact because that’s actually what’s gonna happen. And then I think you have institutions and I think hopefully this is what we’re doing at Franklin Temple is we’re trying to sit there and say, okay, with this technology, imagine where you do have atomic settlement on transactions, where you don’t need to validate. Oftentimes a bank is in between to validate the two parties. I know that when I trade with JP Morgan that they’re making sure that whoever’s on the other side is gonna pay me. They’re standing in for that. If it settles automatically, you don’t need that validation. So you have parties who are thinking about, they’re thinking about what does atomic settlement mean to my business model? In our case, we built on the stellar blockchain, our money market fund where we have the record keeping and we’re the only ones who are actually running a public transactions on blockchain. There’s others shadowing it. We’re actually settling them on the chain. And so over time, as you can start to have people making payments, leveraging this yield coin. then, and maybe you hold it for five hours. Shouldn’t you get five hours worth of yield? Like that’s a big technical challenge, but actually blockchain makes that possible. So we’re thinking through, okay, well, what will that mean? And how does that evolve? And when it’s peer-to-peer transactions, how does that evolve? In the asset management industry, costs have actually gone up in, I don’t know, like the last 10 years, 80%, and revenues have come down 15%. So from an operating margin, that’s not a great trend. We have to be thinking about, how do we leverage this in our environment? I think ETFs, why should you buy an ETF today and have had the pricing lag by two hours, right? An ETF actually only prices twice a day, even though it transacts all day. Why shouldn’t it go 24 hours? Why shouldn’t the smart contract tell you exactly what those underlying holdings are worth at the time that you do a transaction? And so thinking through, I think there are firms who are actually trying to think through, what does this mean? And how do I fit myself into this model?

Spriha Srivastava: That’s great. And Denelle, Stella does a lot of work with this. We talked about it in a previous panel as well. What are the real-world impact that you’re seeing with blockchain and what Jenny was talking about earlier?

Denelle Dixon: Well, one of the things, I mean, what Jenny’s doing and what Franklin Tumbledine has been doing since 2019, which is insane to me, because they were the first ones to the market with respect to this, and they were the first ones who went to the SEC. And by the way, that part of the SEC was actually working in the United States to actually get these things approved. But the fact that it is taking these assets and eventually, hopefully, I would love the idea to get these to yield-bearing assets to be able to be leveraged in payments, because frankly, that’s what everybody wants. You wanna be able to get interest on your money even when it’s just sitting there for a few minutes. And so I think that that’s a really, really important piece of it. What we see so much on Stellar, and when I talked about velocity instead of volume, there’s so much focus on volume in this industry and how much volume is on the chain with respect to this asset. But really what the point of this technology is is that you can actually move assets extremely quickly, peer-to-peer, and get them without borders all over the world. So it should be about velocity and usage and that’s what we see so much on Stellar is we see people building all over the world and they can actually transact in you know there’s this one great story about this company Decaf who builds a wallet on Stellar where they’re actually leveraging the the USDC in Columbia, San Francisco, Columbia so that they can actually pay gig workers there. These people now take the money they can move it off chain through MoneyGram, they get their local currency and they spend it in their small town of San Francisco and so therefore they’re able to create we call it on chain effects so they get to be able to take the money it gets used very quickly it gets off chain very quickly but then it’s used locally so it actually improves the local economy. That’s the value of blockchain that’s what blockchain does so beautifully and we’re seeing this happen all over the world and we’re saying you know just think about the UNHCR they’re delivering aid into Ukraine into Argentina leveraging the Stellar Network and for them even though it’s only been five million dollars that they’ve actually sent through the blockchain they’ve saved 12 million dollars using blockchain technology versus all of their cash based assistance that’s the value of blockchain. Also the end-user receives it in less than three minutes they get the they have to do the wallet they sign up for the wallet they register but they receive the aid in their wallet in less than three minutes that’s crazy but that’s what blockchain does and this is the part that we don’t talk about and haven’t talked about for so long because there’s been so much negative attention with respect to this regulation not just in the US by the way outside the US but these are the kinds of things that help everyone in every country and this is what we want to see more of.

Spriha Srivastava: That’s great well on that note I think I’m going to open it up to questions and answers there are any questions please also introduce yourself keep your questions brief I think the gentleman at the back

Audience: I’ve got a mic coming your way. I’m Jimmy Elkazem from Switzerland. The thing about blockchain especially crypto is that people don’t understand that people use it more to speculate than to understand what crypto does and I have a question for Daniel couple of years ago last year actually we talked about tokenization And at that point, tokenization was not supposed to be regularized. We realized that. Is it still the case today? What was supposed to be regularized? Tokenization.

Denelle Dixon: That’s what Jenny’s doing. Like, security is like, we’re seeing tokenization. Stellar is the second chain, second largest chain with respect to asset tokenization. We see it all over.

Audience: But it doesn’t need government regularization.

Denelle Dixon: Oh, well it depends on whether it’s a security. I mean, I think that that’s part of the question. Part of the issue that we’ve been fighting for so long in the U.S. to get is regulatory framework around digital assets. And just think about the dollar-backed assets or the euro-backed assets. We actually have regulation outside of the United States on it. We don’t have it in the U.S. We’re hoping to get that in the next six months.

Audience: Okay, thank you.

Spriha Srivastava: I think the gentleman here in the front.

Audience: Good afternoon. Gareth Jenkinson here. I’m the managing editor at Cointelegraph. I think I’ll throw this at you, Brian, because there was no mention of a Bitcoin strategic reserve. This is one of the promises that Trump kind of made last year at Bitcoin Nashville. Obviously, we saw the Trump meme coin come out this weekend. In some way, shape, or form, this undermined the work that was being done to put forward a Bitcoin strategic reserve. Do you share that opinion? And do you think that this is still very much on the cards for the U.S. going forward in the next year? Thank you.

Brian Armstrong: Yeah, I don’t think it undermined anything with the strategic Bitcoin reserve. That effort is still alive and well. Cynthia Lummis in the Senate in the U.S. is really pushing that idea. And I think it would be a good idea for anybody who’s not familiar with it. You know, there is a proposal for the U.S. government to start to hold Bitcoin. The U.S. government, like many countries, they hold reserves in a variety of different assets, gold, oil, rare minerals like palladium. And I think they have like maybe 27 different reserves. And so, you know, many governments hold gold. I think they should start to hold Bitcoin because Bitcoin is essentially the new gold standard. It’s, I think, a very core way that you should hold assets and hold value over time, and it’s still nascent enough where it has some volatility. It’s getting less and less over time, but it still has a lot of upside potential. So I think if the US gets that legislation approved, which I hope they do, the rest of the G20 will follow, and that could be a huge driver of Bitcoin price appreciation.

Spriha Srivastava: Governor, do you want to comment on that? Do you see South Africa going towards a Bitcoin strategic reserve?

Lesetja Kganyago: Now, I can’t quite say. I want to distinguish between the technology that underpins this asset and the assets themselves. It’s a regulator. We do not regulate technology. We regulate activity. So we are technology agnostic. So that’s why I had said it’s not for governments to decide which assets or which products the consumer should be using. So the technology is very useful. To give you the idea, we piloted a blockchain technology in our payment space with finality in central bank money, and we were able to settle transactions that we settle in a whole day in 46 seconds, 46 minutes. We were able to do that. So the technology could be useful, and we would look at that, and I don’t think that that is a problem. I would have a significant problem with a lobby that says governments should hold this asset or hold that asset without what the strategic intent of government is. Because you see, there is a history to gold. There was once a gold standard. Currencies were pegged to gold. But if we now say that, okay, bitcoins, okay, what about platinum? What about coal? Why don’t we hold strategic beef reserves? or Martin Reserves or Apple Reserves, why Bitcoin? So it’s a public policy issue that we have got to be engaged in and I would caution against the move then that would say there is an industry with a particular interest in a particular product and we would like to impose it on society and say society must hold this as a reserve. I would have a fundamental problem with it.

Spriha Srivastava: So why Bitcoin reserve and not beef reserves and Martin Reserves, anyone wants to comment on that?

Brian Armstrong: Well, I think that, like Neil Ferguson is here, he has a great book on the ascent of money and he’s a historian and so many things have been used as money over the years. I think it’s pretty, this is still maybe a new idea but I think it’s clear at this point that Bitcoin is a better form of money than gold. It is provably scarce just like gold but it’s more portable and divisible. So you can actually use, it has higher utility I would say and it was the best performing asset of the last 10 years and so for store of value, I think it’s gonna be important for governments to hold this over time. It may not, it might start with being 1% of their reserves but I think over time it’ll come to be equal to or greater than gold reserves.

Spriha Srivastava: Okay, great. Well, let’s go to the next question. Let’s go to the lady over there.

Audience: Thank you. This question might sound very naive. I’m not from the space. My question is, who is really losing from the lack of regulation? From what I hear, the industry is flourishing and DeFi is there and more and more startups are working in this space and more tokenization and blockchains. So who’s really losing, Jen?

Jennifer Johnson: I think the risk is you have a massive industry that has both good traditional assets investments and then also some that probably aren’t and there’s no regulatory oversight or overview. Now, you can argue, well, maybe regulation’s not necessarily a good thing but if you assume that. Constructive regulation is good. You would actually like constructive regulation in this space. The challenge is there’s a lot of innovation having in this space, and it’s hard for regulation to keep up with the innovation. But I do think that there’s a risk. And what ultimately happens, like take our money market fund. There are massive stable coins out there that are completely unregulated, that transact all over the world. Oh, by the way, the owners of the stable coin collect all the yield to themselves. None of that goes out to the participants. The moment the yield is paid out to the participants, that becomes a security and then gets regulated, and therefore there’s been no growth. So I’d actually argue that billions and billions of dollars have been robbed for individuals by not getting the yield on their own money.

Lesetja Kganyago: I mean, this is a welcome development for the sector to be calling for regulation. And I’m just so sorry that you had these frustrations where you tried to engage regulators and said we need regulation and they wouldn’t come with regulation. I think we must also spare the regulators because sometimes they must understand what they have to regulate. And if you do not take them along, you might have a problem.

Denelle Dixon: I think that’s right. And I think this industry’s actually done a pretty good job of trying to take them along. But to get to another point on your question, what really loses when you don’t have regulatory clarity, particularly when the regulators were very hostile, some of them very hostile to, at least in the US, to the technology, is the technology loses. And what we wanna see is the technology and innovation flourish and grow. And so yes, you now see lots of folks come into it. That wasn’t always the case. I mean, this was, I think everybody here can say that there was this big push to say ignore the US and let’s move outside the US and let’s just forget what’s happening here. And you can’t ignore the US. But there was a big frustration. So the technology is the thing. And we want innovation to continue globally, not just in the US. We want it to continue globally. And there’s always gonna be challenges managing the different regulatory environments, but it should never be about the tech stack. The tech stack shouldn’t be the focus.

Spriha Srivastava: Let’s go to the next question. I think the gentleman over there and then I’ll come to the side if you have any questions

Audience: Hi, thanks for the panel. My name is yet. I’m chairman and co-founder of animal co-brands very active in the crypto space I guess I have two part questions for the panel The first one is when do you think will hit real mass adoption? We have about half a billion users owning crypto, but there’s about basically eight billion people in the world So we still got a way to go and in the second one as an industry What do you think we can do as an industry so we can build the kind of confidence? That we can actually onboard the billions and when do you think this will happen? Thank you.

Spriha Srivastava: That’s a great question So let’s talk about mass adoption Jenny do you want to well,

Jennifer Johnson: I actually think one of the challenges today is It actually if you’re let’s say you’re you’re managing clients accounts and You have you’re holding securities ETFs mutual funds, whatever it is Unfortunately, you have to build a whole separate infrastructure to be you know wallet by the way Those securities don’t fit in the wallet. You need the tokenizations and unless your clients are breaking down the door Frankly, they’re opening up at Coinbase and they’re sort of keeping to accounts And so I think actually this lack of wallet has been One of the challenges that hasn’t been integrated on the platforms across the board and there hasn’t been enough incentive to do it

Spriha Srivastava: Did anyone else want to comment on yeah, I can add it in I so first of all

Brian Armstrong: I think getting to half a billion users is Exceptional and we should celebrate that over the last 10 years So I feel really good about the adoption curve is looking similar to early days of Internet And I think it’ll it’ll get to half the world You know in 10 10 years or something like that 10 15. I don’t know The key piece is to get that adoption in my mind So one is that you know, we need to make sure that like traditional financial services are integrated with this So we had we saw the ETFs get approved and they were the fastest growing ETFs of all time Breaking every record and so that brought in a lot of institutional money We also need to get it working in emerging markets And so there’s great work, you know That’s the stellar foundation is doing and a lot of self custodial wallets are becoming popular there I think Nigeria is actually like I think the most popular per capita Country for crypto adoption and so we’ll see I think you know that that’s one way to get to a billion is is really the More emerging markets that you know, the regulatory clarity will help And I think one last one I would say is that we need to make crypto just easier to use, right? It’s still a little too complicated. I mean, there’s these addresses that they don’t look like human readable They look like random strings of you know numbers and letters That’s being replaced by the name like an Ethereum name system as an example so you can send it to human readable names The whole concept of private keys and like potentially losing your money like this is a non-starter to get to billions of people I think So eventually I think we’re gonna have people using crypto. They don’t even really know it’s crypto underneath They just they’re just trying to send money earn a living Get a loan for their business Those are the things that they really want to get done and use all these this new category of applications that are getting built on The web 3 apps as well. So Most people don’t understand how electricity works, but they can flip on a light switch I think that’s we need to make it that simple

Spriha Srivastava: and Anthony. Do you think all of this will help and then building confidence?

Anthony Scaramucci: well, yeah, you know the one thing I would add is the stable coin legislation because I really do think if we get regulatory clarity on stable coins in the US and Our central bank actually accepts that legislation It will permeate into the other banks and I think that will make it a lot easier. I think that uncertainty about that fungibility that Dollar fungibility I think is caused a little bit of a slowdown. I would just point out Good stable coin legislation is good for the US dollar if you look at things like tether or circle they own tons of US Treasuries Which is good for the US. I think tether I think I read that they own more US Treasuries in Germany or Japan and so I just want you to think about it this way we We we got the Morse code We were sending messages at the speed of light, but we were moving the money by stagecoach and horses We now can move the money at the speed of light And so let’s get the legislation right to match the innovation of the technology.

Denelle Dixon: Can I just add one more thing on that?

Spriha Srivastava: Yeah.

Denelle Dixon: I think privacy is also another thing. We need to get to the place where we were sort of stalled in doing any work on privacy because of concerns around Tornado Cash and all the issues that came up. We need to get to the place where we’re actually focusing on that ease of use, the UX design, but also bringing privacy into it. And then it becomes easy for mass adoption.

Spriha Srivastava: Brian, we don’t have a lot of time. Just one minute left. So final question here for the panel. Start with you. 20 seconds each. We’ve talked a lot about Outlook, Trump, everything else. If we were to revisit this conversation in a year’s time, what do you think would be the single most defining moment of the crypto industry?

Brian Armstrong: Well, I think payments with stablecoins are having a real moment right now. Most people are still thinking about crypto as an asset class. They need to put 10% of their portfolio, and that’s great. But payments with stablecoins, they grew 300% last year. They hit $30 trillion of volume. I think they’re going to grow at that rate or faster this year. That would be my prediction.

Spriha Srivastava: Jenny?

Jennifer Johnson: Clarity around regulation. I think that there’s a fear for traditional firms to get involved in the space because of what could ultimately have happened with retribution. So I think clarity will help them get more comfortable, and it gives a green light to say this is an area that you should look into.

Spriha Srivastava: Governor?

Lesetja Kganyago: I think this thing, regulation, is about people. And one of the big issues that have been engaging me is the utilization of emerging technology in cross-border payments. Think of how much it costs to transmit $100 from New York to Johannesburg or Harare. For that matter, we have got to bring that cost down.

Spriha Srivastava: That’s all we have time for today. So thank you very much, everyone. Thank you to the panelists. A great round of applause for them. See you again. Thank you.

Agreement Points

Need for clear and comprehensive regulation

speakers

– Lesetja Kganyago
– Jennifer Johnson
– Brian Armstrong
– Denelle Dixon

arguments

Need for clear, transparent regulation across industries

Regulation needs to evolve with technology

It’s the dawn of a new day for crypto with clear rules coming

Desire for regulatory clarity to enable innovation

summary

All speakers agreed on the necessity for clear, comprehensive, and evolving regulatory frameworks for the cryptocurrency industry.

Potential of blockchain technology for improving financial transactions

speakers

– Lesetja Kganyago
– Jennifer Johnson
– Brian Armstrong
– Denelle Dixon

arguments

Blockchain enables faster, cheaper transactions

Tokenization of traditional assets is happening

Payments with stablecoins growing rapidly

Need to focus on real-world utility and impact

summary

Speakers concurred on the transformative potential of blockchain technology in enhancing the speed and efficiency of financial transactions.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the growing political influence of the crypto community and its impact on policy-making.

speakers

– Brian Armstrong
– Anthony Scaramucci

arguments

Democracy working through pro-crypto voters

Trump effect has renewed excitement in crypto

Both speakers highlighted the disconnect between traditional finance and the crypto space, emphasizing the need for better understanding and integration.

speakers

– Jennifer Johnson
– Denelle Dixon

arguments

Traditional finance and crypto are like parallel universes

Crypto is growing but still misunderstood

Unexpected Consensus

Importance of stablecoins for crypto adoption

speakers

– Brian Armstrong
– Anthony Scaramucci

arguments

Payments with stablecoins growing rapidly

Stablecoin legislation key for wider adoption

explanation

Despite their different backgrounds, both speakers emphasized the crucial role of stablecoins in driving crypto adoption, which was an unexpected area of strong agreement.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The main areas of agreement included the need for clear regulation, the potential of blockchain technology for improving financial transactions, and the growing influence of the crypto community in policy-making.

Consensus level

There was a moderate to high level of consensus among the speakers on key issues, particularly regarding regulation and technological potential. This consensus suggests a growing maturity in the industry’s approach to regulatory challenges and a shared vision for the future of crypto technology in finance.

Different Viewpoints

Role of government in crypto adoption

speakers

– Lesetja Kganyago
– Brian Armstrong

arguments

Need for clear, transparent regulation across industries

Bitcoin should be part of government strategic reserves

summary

Kganyago argues for clear, industry-agnostic regulation, while Armstrong advocates for governments to hold Bitcoin as a strategic reserve.

Approach to regulation

speakers

– Lesetja Kganyago
– Brian Armstrong
– Anthony Scaramucci

arguments

Need for clear, transparent regulation across industries

Democracy working through pro-crypto voters

Bipartisan commitment to crypto legislation expected

summary

Kganyago emphasizes the need for clear, universal regulation, while Armstrong and Scaramucci focus on political influence and bipartisan support for crypto-specific legislation.

Unexpected Differences

Government’s role in asset selection

speakers

– Lesetja Kganyago
– Brian Armstrong

arguments

Need for clear, transparent regulation across industries

Bitcoin should be part of government strategic reserves

explanation

Kganyago unexpectedly argues against governments deciding which assets to hold or promote, while Armstrong advocates for governments to include Bitcoin in their strategic reserves. This highlights a fundamental disagreement on the role of government in asset selection and promotion.

Overall Assessment

summary

The main areas of disagreement revolve around the approach to regulation, the role of government in crypto adoption, and the balance between innovation and regulatory oversight.

difference_level

The level of disagreement is moderate, with speakers generally agreeing on the need for regulatory clarity but differing on the specifics of implementation and the role of government. These differences have significant implications for the future of crypto regulation and adoption, potentially leading to varied approaches across different jurisdictions.

Partial Agreements

All speakers agree on the need for regulatory clarity, but differ on the approach. Kganyago emphasizes industry-agnostic regulation, Johnson focuses on evolving existing frameworks, Armstrong highlights political influence, and Dixon stresses the importance of enabling innovation.

speakers

– Lesetja Kganyago
– Jennifer Johnson
– Brian Armstrong
– Denelle Dixon

arguments

Need for clear, transparent regulation across industries

Regulation needs to evolve with technology

It’s the dawn of a new day for crypto with clear rules coming

Desire for regulatory clarity to enable innovation

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the growing political influence of the crypto community and its impact on policy-making.

speakers

– Brian Armstrong
– Anthony Scaramucci

arguments

Democracy working through pro-crypto voters

Trump effect has renewed excitement in crypto

Both speakers highlighted the disconnect between traditional finance and the crypto space, emphasizing the need for better understanding and integration.

speakers

– Jennifer Johnson
– Denelle Dixon

arguments

Traditional finance and crypto are like parallel universes

Crypto is growing but still misunderstood

Key Takeaways

The cryptocurrency ecosystem is dynamic but still volatile and misunderstood

There is a need for clear, transparent regulation that evolves with the technology

The ‘Trump effect’ has renewed excitement in crypto, with expectations of more favorable policies

Adoption of crypto technology is growing, with potential for significant real-world impact

Stablecoins and payments are seen as a major growth area for crypto

Integration of crypto with traditional finance remains a challenge but is progressing

Resolutions and Action Items

Work towards clear regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies

Focus on improving ease of use and privacy features to enable mass adoption

Pursue legislation on stablecoins to facilitate wider integration and adoption

Unresolved Issues

How to achieve global regulatory consistency for cryptocurrencies

The appropriate role of governments in holding cryptocurrencies as strategic reserves

How to balance innovation with consumer protection in crypto regulation

The long-term impact of meme coins and speculative assets on the crypto industry’s reputation

Suggested Compromises

Co-creation of regulatory frameworks between industry and regulators

Regulating crypto activities rather than specific products or technologies

Integrating crypto capabilities into existing financial infrastructure gradually

I would say that the ecosystem is actually fairly dynamic, but it’s volatile. It’s characterized by rapidly moving technological innovation, and it has a growing interest from institutional investors and adoption by institutional investors. And this calls for a coordinated and comprehensive policy and regulatory responsibility.

speaker

Lesetja Kganyago

reason

This comment provides a balanced and nuanced perspective on the crypto ecosystem, acknowledging both its dynamism and volatility. It also highlights the need for comprehensive regulation, setting the stage for further discussion on regulatory challenges.

impact

This comment shifted the conversation towards the regulatory aspects of crypto, prompting other panelists to discuss the challenges and opportunities in regulating the crypto space.

To have the leader of the largest GDP country in the world come out undeniably and say that he wants to be the first crypto president. He wants the industry to be built in America. You know that he’s going to direct every agency of the US government to work towards clear rules which enable innovation. This is unprecedented.

speaker

Brian Armstrong

reason

This comment highlights the potential impact of political leadership on the crypto industry, introducing the idea of how a change in administration could significantly affect the regulatory landscape.

impact

This comment sparked a discussion about the role of politics in shaping the crypto industry, leading to debates about the appropriateness of political influence on regulation.

Governments must set rules that are clear, that are transparent and cut across and not be geared around political parties that industrially could throw resources because they do not like a particular approach of a particular politician or political party. And therefore we are going to throw resources to knock this one out or to keep this one in place. That for me is a regulatory capture.

speaker

Lesetja Kganyago

reason

This comment challenges the idea of using political influence to shape regulation, introducing an important perspective on the ethics and integrity of regulatory processes.

impact

This comment led to a deeper discussion about the proper role of regulation and the dangers of regulatory capture, prompting other panelists to defend their positions on political involvement in the crypto space.

The challenge is you need to be able to go back to what the purpose of the regulation was, which was consumer protection, and acknowledge that the technology is advancing so quickly that you can evolve regulation to meet the technology.

speaker

Jennifer Johnson

reason

This comment provides a thoughtful perspective on how to approach regulation in a rapidly evolving technological landscape, emphasizing the need to balance consumer protection with technological advancement.

impact

This comment helped to refocus the discussion on the core purposes of regulation and how to adapt regulatory frameworks to new technologies.

Memes are actually like kind of the currency on the internet of how a lot of ideas can concisely be communicated in a meme, and humor is a way for people to push against ideas that are no longer popular and sort of to make fun of them a little bit.

speaker

Brian Armstrong

reason

This comment offers an interesting perspective on meme coins, framing them as a form of cultural expression rather than just a speculative asset.

impact

This comment added depth to the discussion about meme coins, moving beyond simple dismissal to consider their cultural significance and potential future developments.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by introducing nuanced perspectives on regulation, political influence, and the cultural aspects of crypto. They moved the conversation beyond surface-level observations about market trends to explore deeper questions about the role of regulation, the impact of political leadership, and the cultural significance of crypto phenomena like meme coins. The comments from Lesetja Kganyago, in particular, consistently challenged the panel to consider broader implications and ethical considerations, while comments from industry insiders like Brian Armstrong and Jennifer Johnson provided insight into how the industry is navigating these complex issues.

How can regulation be developed that is clear, transparent, and applies equally across industries?

speaker

Lesetja Kganyago

explanation

The governor emphasized the need for regulation that is not tailored to specific industries or influenced by political contributions, but rather provides a level playing field for all.

How can regulators adapt rules to keep pace with rapidly advancing technology while maintaining consumer protection?

speaker

Jennifer Johnson

explanation

Johnson highlighted the challenge of evolving regulations to meet new technologies while preserving the original intent of consumer protection.

What are the implications of atomic settlement for business models in the financial industry?

speaker

Jennifer Johnson

explanation

Johnson raised this as an area for exploration, considering how instant settlement could change the role of intermediaries and create new possibilities for financial products.

How can the crypto industry better showcase the real-world utility and transformational impact of blockchain technology?

speaker

Denelle Dixon

explanation

Dixon emphasized the need to focus more on demonstrating the practical applications and benefits of blockchain beyond speculation.

What steps can be taken to improve financial literacy around cryptocurrencies and digital assets?

speaker

Spriha Srivastava

explanation

This was implied as necessary in response to concerns about speculative behavior and lack of understanding in the crypto market.

How can privacy features be integrated into cryptocurrencies while addressing regulatory concerns?

speaker

Denelle Dixon

explanation

Dixon mentioned this as an important area for development to facilitate mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.

What potential impact could a Bitcoin strategic reserve have on global economies and currency markets?

speaker

Brian Armstrong

explanation

Armstrong suggested this as a significant development to watch, with potential implications for Bitcoin’s price and adoption by other countries.

How can the crypto industry build confidence to onboard billions of users?

speaker

Audience member (Yat)

explanation

This question addresses the challenge of achieving mass adoption and building trust in cryptocurrencies on a global scale.

What innovations are needed to make crypto easier to use for the average person?

speaker

Brian Armstrong

explanation

Armstrong highlighted this as crucial for reaching mass adoption, suggesting areas like human-readable addresses and simplified key management.

How can emerging technologies be utilized to reduce the cost of cross-border payments?

speaker

Lesetja Kganyago

explanation

The governor identified this as a key area for exploration to address the high costs of international money transfers.