The World Economic Forum says crypto and blockchain technologies will continue to be an “integral” part of the modern economy
The World Economic Forum (WEF) believes the technology underpinning cryptocurrencies and digital assets will continue to be an “integral” part of the modern economy.
In a blog post on Monday, the international organization talked about what the future holds for the crypto industry. The WEF particularly highlighted the widespread applications of cryptography and blockchain technologies, adding that their use in the financial sector is already remarkable.
“Indeed, as a test of the staying power of digital assets and blockchains at the core of financial services (and other areas of the global economy), look at what the big banks and mature financial services companies are doing, not what they are saying.”
The report said that JPMorgan has built a reputation for its friendly attitude towards the crypto sector, but the bank is no longer alone in Web3 and crypto adoption.
The WEF compared the use of cryptography and blockchain technologies to the embrace of cybersecurity and digital transformation. “The embrace of crypto-technology is just as inevitable, even if the term feels like a bad word,” the organization said.
The organization acknowledged that the crypto industry is not risk-free, just like any other sector involving money. However, it noted that the transparent nature of crypto gives bad actors few places to hide.
As reported, a couple were arrested by federal law enforcement in New York City earlier this year after officials accessed files in an online account controlled by Lichtenstein that contained the private keys to 94,000 BTC ($4.1 billion) stolen from Bitfinex . The hack took place in 2016.
The WEF also called 2022 “a terrible year for crypto.” Overall, more than $2 trillion worth of value evaporated from the crypto market cap, which has plunged to around $800 billion from its all-time high of around $3 trillion.
The organization noted that the recent events, especially the collapse of FTX, once the third largest crypto exchange in the world, have weakened user confidence in the industry and also drawn the attention of global regulators.
“Policymakers sounding the alarm about crypto’s exaggerated risks, while failing to craft sensible rules, have been vindicated by not one, but several large-scale failures.”
Interestingly, the WEF compared the 2022 crypto market crash to the dot-com bubble that burst in the early 2000s, arguing that it will hand over crypto technology and blockchain infrastructure to more sustainable companies, business models and use cases.
