Why Crypto Executives Keep Showing Up in Davos: Bloomberg Crypto

In this edition of the Bloomberg Crypto newsletter, stacy-marie ishmael follows the crypto crowd to Davos (virtually).

The world’s elite are once again convening in the Swiss ski town of Davos for the annual celebration of shoptalk that is the World Economic Forum.

The last mountaintop gathering happened in the immediate aftermath of Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest; the collapse of FTX into bankruptcy and the handwringing that followed certainly dampened the mood at the various “crypto houses” that lined Davos’ main street last year. Yet the champagne flowed and the DJs turned the music up loud as various crypto compliance officers said they’d love to follow the rules, if only there were “regulatory clarity”.

This year, AI is the belle of the ball and the only Sam anyone is talking about is OpenAI’s Altman.

As Kevin Ellis, the UK and Middle East boss of Pricewaterhousecoopers and a Davos regular, put it: Davos is a trade fair. “You get a sense of who's spending, who's buying, who's investing, who's got profile, just by looking,” he told my colleague Sabah Meddings. According to Ellis, those branded houses along the promenade are a good indicator of where the money was at. “A few years ago it was all crypto, and that's kind of gone.”

That vibe shift doesn’t mean crypto is entirely absent, however.

Nothing about the World Economic Forum aligns with crypto’s supposedly anti-establishment ethos. It’s all a bit “damn the man, except when it’s Davos Man.”

Indeed, several prominent crypto executives, including Grayscale’s Michael Sonnenshein, Circle’s Jeremy Allaire and Alesia Haas of Coinbase all made the trek to Davos this year. Ripple will be represented by Davos regular Brad Garlinghouse as well as its president, Monica Long. Travel budgets seem to reflect crypto’s relatively strong start to the year.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Coinbase CFO Haas highlighted the significance of the SEC’s (somewhat grudging) decision to allow spot-based Bitcoin ETFs to trade in the US. Calling it a “landmark day for crypto,” Haas emphasized the potential for these ETFs to unlock “trillions of dollars” of additional investments in the asset class. Hint, hint.

Conveniently for the crypto c-suite, there will be numerous opportunities to rub shoulders with the dealmakers and policymakers thronging the mountain town. Especially at the Scaramucci wine party, said to once again be one of the hottest tickets in town.