Cryptocurrency companies dominated the main street at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year, a notable difference between this edition and the last one in 2020.
The high-profile presence from the industry came even as the cryptocurrency market crashed. It was sparked by the collapse of the so-called algorithmic stablecoin called terraUSD or UST, which saw its sister token luna drop to $0 in May.
Meanwhile, global regulators are setting their sights on the cryptocurrency industry.
WEF is the annual gathering of global business leaders and politicians that aims to set the agenda for the year.
Against that backdrop, it was the perfect time to catch up with some of the big players in the cryptocurrency industry. Here’s what I learned.
Thousands of cryptos could collapse
There are currently over 19,000 cryptocurrencies and dozens of blockchain platforms in existence.
Blockchain is the technology that underpins these digital currencies and platforms include Ethereum, Solana and many others.
Many of the industry executives see the current state of the market as unsustainable.
Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of cross-border blockchain firm Ripple, predicted there may only be “scores” of cryptocurrencies left in the future. He said there are around 180 fiat currencies in the world and there is not really a need for that many cryptocurrencies.
