St. Moritz, Switzerland- Nestled in the picturesque Swiss Alps, St. Moritz played host to the fifth annual CfC St. Moritz, a meticulously curated conference on digital assets and blockchain, which took place from January 10-12, 2024. In collaboration with the Algorand Foundation, this event transcended the traditional conference experience, weaving together three days of insightful panel discussions, riveting keynotes, engaging roundtables, delightful networking dinners, and lively after-hours socializing.
CfC St. Moritz 2024 attracted 250 industry luminaries from around the world. Among the distinguished attendees were 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.
Fueling the atmosphere of optimism at CfC St. Moritz 2024 was the pivotal approval of the first spot bitcoin ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 10. This groundbreaking moment became a focal point for discussion, as participants pondered its implications and the promise it holds for improving access to and trust in digital assets.
Yat Siu, Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, expressed the unique atmosphere of the event: "Everyone from our industry is here, talking in a very relaxed and transparent way - which is sometimes not easy to achieve at big conferences. Here it's much more focused, industry specific. You could maybe call it a Web3 Davos type of thing."
Commenting on the regulatory landscape, Deepa Raja Carbon, Managing Director & Vice Chairperson of the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, noted, "What I'm finding 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 also respect that DeFi comes with its own gravitas, its own maturity, and its own learnings. This kind of forum brings together the minds of the market and the minds of the investors.
The luminaries at CfC St. Moritz, including Chris Giancarlo and Arthur Hayes, envisioned a promising future, anticipating significant developments in 2024 and beyond. The approval of the bitcoin ETF and the upcoming bitcoin halving in April were seen as transformative factors, heralding a new era for the industry.
The conference also witnessed the birth of the DeRec Alliance, a collaborative initiative within the Hedera and Algorand ecosystems to establish an open-source, industry-standard methodology for seamless and secure digital asset recovery across wallets.
Another milestone announcement was the successful launch of crypto derivatives trading by AsiaNext, a global digital asset exchange exclusively for institutions. This development marked a critical step for institutional investors seeking a safe and secure venue to trade digital assets.
In a fusion of art and charity, CfC St. Moritz 2024 partnered with UNICEF Switzerland and Liechtenstein and Christie's to host a charity art auction in support of Giga - a UNICEF and ITU initiative to connect every school to the Internet and empower young minds. The live auction, featuring bespoke works by contemporary conceptual artist Cole Sternberg, raised CHF 74,000, with an additional donation of CHF 26,000 from the Board of CfC St. Moritz, bringing the total contribution to CHF 100,000. The second auction, featuring 24 works by local digital artists, will take place online and on-chain from January 24-31, 2024, facilitated by the renowned global auction house Christie's.
Images source: Courtesy of CfC St. Moritz 2024.
