Despite dividing opinions, The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos remains one of the most important and significant gatherings of business leaders in the calendar. This year’s theme was “dialogue and collaboration between business, government, and civil society can improve the state of the world.” It remains to be seen whether the event will reach these grand ambitions, but what could not be disputed was the high energy brought by the attendees.
Outside of the main conference venue, the Promenade was almost entirely taken over by technology, consulting, and blockchain companies. Whole stores, restaurants, and even a church were converted into meeting rooms and discussion lounges. Most of the blockchain discussions centered on topics of trust, transparency & regulatory frameworks which were music to the ears of us at XEROF. Some of our highlights from the week are below, read on, and don’t forget to sign up for our newsletters here.
Our busy week at the World Economic Forum in Davos started on Sunday. The XEROF team was honored to participate in the 3rd Silicon Valley Blockchain Society (SVBS) Klosters 2023 Private Dinner. The event gathered significant blockchain actors, curated by SVBS and the outstanding Amit Pradhan & E. David Ellington and supported by Ledger and Pascal Gauthier.
We listened to Pascal from Ledger talk about the importance of self-custody and control over your assets when participating in the crypto industry. A fact that is not lost on us at Xerof as we built our services from the ground up using segregated and multi-sig wallets to ensure that client assets remain precisely that, client assets. We are proud to have developed the most transparent, trustworthy, and professional services for our clients.
The most surprising guest of the evening was the keynote speaker, the inspirational Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a founder of The Art of Living, World Forum for Ethics in Business, and the International Association for Human Values. A person who has inspired millions worldwide to embrace a stress-free & violence-free world. He spoke about how to improve, calm and focus yourself in these turbulent times. Very timely and appropriate!
At the Crypto Summit in Zurich discussions on trust & transparency dominated the agenda. We found a little time to catch up with old friends Bill Tai & James Bowater — Crypto Insider discussing the importance of privacy and balancing that with the needs for regulatory and compliance frameworks, which are topics at the very top of our focus at XEROF.
During the week, we saw how crypto projects have been supporting refugees, with presentations of projects from the United Nations standing out and essential discussions on equality and inclusion in crypto, which grabbed our attention at the vast & packed equality lounge.
As well as being one of the most significant stable coins that XEROF supports, the Circle lounge was also one of the busiest locations where we had the chance to meet Jeremy Allaire, Teana Baker-Taylor, Dante Disparte & the fantastic team at Circle and discuss expanding XEROF’s relationship with them.
XEROF was fortunate to be invited to the Swedish Lunch, where Sir Tony Blair and Klas Bergling, father of late DJ Avicii, gave moving speeches. XEROF’s Swedish CEO, Nick Ntigrintakis, even got to share a ride and chat with the Prince of Sweden. XEROF’s services caught the attention of a member of the Algerian Royal Family, who extended an invitation to attend & present at a high-level meeting in Madrid later this month.
It’s true to note that the WEF2023 at Davos remains a gathering of the business and entertainment elite. Appearances from Greta Thunberg, Wil.i.am, Naomi Campbell, and hundreds of other ‘celebrities’ attest to that. Despite this, there was a huge attendance from the blockchain and crypto community, where the overwhelming discussion was about building, expanding, and educating. XEROF was proud to be present and contributing and looks forward to continuing to serve our valuable clients with transparent, trusted, and professional services.
