- Landmark spot Bitcoin ETF approval by the SEC spurs positive outlook for 2024 from industry experts
- News unveiled at CfC St. Moritz includes the launch of the DeRec Alliance by the Hedera and Algorand ecosystems and the launch of crypto derivatives trading by AsiaNext
- Charity art auction “Creating Connections”, hosted at the conference, combined with a donation from the board of CfC St. Moritz raises CHF 100,000 to benefit Giga
St. Moritz, Switzerland, January 16, 2024 / AlexaBlockchain/ – The CfC St. Moritz, a highly curated digital assets and blockchain conference for investors and decision-makers, returned to the Swiss Alps for its 5th annual event from January 10th-12th, 2024. In partnership with the Algorand Foundation, the CfC St. Moritz hosted three days of panel discussions, keynote speakers, roundtables, networking dinners, and after-hours socialising.
The CfC St. Moritz 2024 gathered together 250 industry experts from around the globe, including Chris Giancarlo, former chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission; Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom; Fred Thiel, Chairman & CEO of Marathon Digital Holdings; Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation; Anthony Scaramucci, founder and managing partner of SkyBridge; Meltem Demirors, CSO of CoinShares; Carlos Domingo, Founder and CEO of Securitize; and Giovanni Vicioso, Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products at CME Group.
Bitcoin ETF Approval & Upcoming Bitcoin Halving Fuel Optimism at the CfC St. Moritz 2024
The CfC St. Moritz 2024 was marked by the milestone approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, January 10th. Speakers, sponsors and participants used the conference to discuss the implications of the approval, which promises to increase accessibility to and trust of digital assets.
Yat Siu, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman Animoca Brands, said: “Everyone from our industry is here, talking in a very relaxed environment and transparent manner – which is sometimes not easy to do at big conferences. Here it’s much more focused, industry-specific. You could perhaps call it a Web3 Davos type-of-thing.”
Deepa Raja Carbon, Managing Director & Vice Chairperson Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, said: “What I find as a regulator in the Dubai ecosystem is that a lot more TradFi funds want to participate, want to be responsible – sort of chaperones, if you will – but equally respecting that DeFi comes with its own gravitas, its own maturity and learnings to be had. This kind of forum brings together the minds of the market and the minds of the investors. The Bitcoin ETF approval as well as the Bitcoin halving in April will definitely be game-changers – you can bank on the UAE to bring those up.”
Chris Giancarlo, former Chairman of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said: “It’s remarkable. It’s a landmark event. We were discussing it here in all of its ramifications. This approval signals that the U.S. under the current administration has come to terms that crypto and digital assets are part of the future. That’s important because this has been a debate going on for the last decade – ever since the Satoshi Nakamoto white paper – as to whether digital currencies are a threat to traditional reserve currencies. After two years of clouds on the horizon for crypto, I think 2024 will be a huge year for the industry.”
Arthur Hayes, Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom, said: “2024 is putting us on the right track for an absolutely crazy 2025 and 2026. We’re now in the choppy phase, and maybe we will hit the all-time high in Bitcoin at some point this year. But next year and the year after, is when everyone is going to make a lot of money. The ETF and the halving are the icing on the cake.”
Leon Marshall, CEO of Galaxy Europe and Global Head of Sales, said: “It’s meaningful, not just for our business, but for the industry as a whole. First, there will be an inflow into Bitcoin from various counterparts. We’re talking about RAs, banks, brokers, an entire marketing arm, able to look at crypto as an asset class first with Bitcoin. But what it also means is that the career risk for any given marketer – sell side – that’s looking to sell these products to their clients, is reduced. Because it’s now in a wrapper that everyone understands, everyone has used before and that everyone is comfortable with. That’s a big game-changer.”
Kerry Langlais, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at TeraWulf, said: “For Bitcoin miners, the focus in the coming years will be on efficiency and low cost. After a tumultuous 2023, we’re now coming out of that and entering 2024 on a more positive footing. There’s a lot of growth and exciting things to happen this year.”
Industry Developments at CfC St. Moritz 2024
The CfC St Moritz continues to bring together leaders from diverse industries, projects, and organisations to form partnerships and alliances. This year’s conference saw milestone announcements from participating companies and ecosystems, including the formation of The DeRec Alliance by entities within the Hedera and Algorand ecosystems. The DeRec Alliance aims to bring together the Web3 ecosystem to offer an open-source, industry-standard methodology that makes digital asset recovery painless and secure across wallets. The news of the alliance was announced on stage at the CfC St. Moritz by Dr. Leemon Baird, co-founder of Hedera and co-CEO of Swirlds Labs, and John Woods, CTO of Algorand Foundation, during their joint panel on Layer 1 superpowers.
Also announced at the CfC St. Moritz was the successful launch of crypto derivatives trading – a crucial development for institutional investors seeking a safe and secure venue to trade digital assets — by AsiaNext, an institution-only global digital asset exchange. Headquartered in Singapore, AsiaNext is a joint venture between SBI Digital Asset Holdings (SBI DAH) and SIX, and is part of the industry’s only fully integrated digital asset ecosystem that provides an institutional-grade, end-to-end digital assets value chain to professional investors.
UNICEF Charity Art Auction for Giga: Engadin-Based Pieces By Cole Sternberg
Creating Connections – Digital Art for Connectivity: The CfC St. Moritz 2024 is host to a two-part Charity Art Auction, organized in partnership with UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein and Christie’s to benefit Giga — a UNICEF and ITU global initiative to connect every school to the internet and every young person to information, opportunity, and choice.
The first auction took place live on January 11, 2024, during CfC St. Moritz 2024. Bertold Mueller, Delegate of UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein and Christie’s Managing Director EMEA auctioned the three bespoke pieces from acclaimed contemporary conceptual artist Cole Sternberg, raising CHF 74,000 and contributing to the charity’s school connectivity efforts.
An additional donation of CHF 26,000 was made by the board of the CfC St. Moritz, culminating in a total of CHF 100,000 raised.
The second auction – online and on-chain – features 24 works by native digital artists curated by Nina Roehrs and will be facilitated by renowned global auction house Christie’s from January 24–31, 2024. Learn more about the upcoming auction at https://nft.christies.com.
For more information, please visit: www.cfc-stmoritz.com.
About the CfC St. Moritz
The CfC St. Moritz is an intimate circle of hand-picked opinion leaders and investors in the private and unique setting of the Swiss Alps. The yearly application-only conference fosters a culture of genuine connection and deliberately admits a maximum of only 250 international UHNWI, family offices, funds, and institutional investors, uniting the traditional finance sector and the crypto industry. The CfC St. Moritz was founded in 2017 and has since conducted five in-person conferences in St. Moritz, one in Half Moon Bay, California, two virtual conferences during the pandemic and several smaller events. The conference employs three people throughout the year with that number rising to 45 during the conference and is led by CEO and President of the Board, Nicolo Stoehr.
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Swiss Media Contact
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International Media Contact
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Source: CfC St. Moritz
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