WEF 2022, May 24: Latest updates from the Cointelegraph Davos team

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Disclaimer: This article is being updated all day long. All timestamps are in the UTC time zone, with updates in reverse order (the latest update is placed at the top).

The first in-person World Economic Forum event since the COVID-19 pandemic started continues to bridge traditional finance with the future of money on its third day.

The Cointelegraph team — including editor-in-chief Kristina L. Corner, head of video Jackson DuMont and news reporter Joseph Hall — is deployed on the ground in Davos, Switzerland, where the event is held, to track the most recent developments from WEF 2022.

Check out all the important details from May 23 in one easy-to-read page!

The third day of WEF 2022 will see Mathias Cormann, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, share his thoughts on a reimagined global tax system and industry experts discuss decentralized finance (DeFi) as the future of decentralized governance.

As a part of “Crypto’s Carbon Footprint” — one of the most anticipated sessions of the event — chief executives from FTX, Stellar Development Foundation, SkyBridge Capital, DataKing and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance will talk about the environmental sustainability goals of crypto mining operations.

Don’t forget to check this article regularly to be notified about the most recent announcements from the event.

Polkadot founder Gavin Wood discussed the value proposition of Web3 technology with Cointelegraph and gave a few tips on how to survive the crypto bear market.

Check out the highlights from the interview here.

Klaus Schwab and Hilde Schwab performed a special concert in solidarity with the people of Ukraine titled “Our Shared Humanity.”

Panelists at the World Economic Forum session on crypto’s carbon footprint seem to be seeing FUD — fear, uncertainty and doubt — galore surrounding the environmental consequences of crypto mining.

Check out this article for an overview of the discussion.

During the panel “The Future of Crypto,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez reminded attendees to look at Bitcoin (BTC) from an innovation perspective rather than seeing it as just an investment asset. He also said that volatility is a part of the crypto market, but that it only bothers people during a bear market.

While the common perception of the WEF is that it’s a gathering of industry bigwigs and “financial elites,” Soramitsu CEO Makoto Takemiya described WEF 2022 as seeing “barbarians” storming in to make things interesting. Moderated by Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, “The Future of Money” panel discussed the roadmap of digital finance.

Check out this article to get the full scope.

The panel discussion “The Future of Crypto” saw the likes of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Sheila Warren discuss the importance of programable currency independent of human intervention — that being Bitcoin (BTC).

Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr is on stage to moderate a panel titled “The Future of Money: Where Are We and Where Are We Going.” Joining her on stage is Soramitsu CEO Makoto Takemiya, Oesterreichische Nationalbank treasurer Johannes Duong and Stellar Development Foundation chief operating officer Jason Chlipala.

Chlipala compared the possible impact of the Terra crash to that of Facebook’s Diem stablecoin, formally known as Libra. He explained that just like Diem’s plans led to an acceleration in central bank digital currency programs around the globe, Terra’s TerraUSD (UST) crash would prompt regulators to come up with stricter stablecoin regulations.

Takemiya talked about the changing perception around the WEF and how it is no longer a club of elites. He said:

“The stereotype of the WEF is the entrenched financial elite that is looking to preserve their wealth —that may or may not be true. Blockchain companies are the ‘barbarians at the gate’ of the WEF.”

During the panel discussion “Rules of the Road for Digital Economy,” Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach talked about the role regulation can take in reducing the unnecessary noise around a nascent technology like crypto. He said:

“Not everyone is screaming for regulation but it does reduce the noise in the crypto world. Engaging actively with regulators and being principled, I am optimistic.”

Miebach also believes SWIFT, the leading cross-border fiat payment network, will go out of style within five years.

The panel discussion shifted toward quantum computers — their progress and how they will impact various fields, both centralized and decentralized. Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM Corporation, noted that progress has been significant in the area. When asked about the world’s first functional quantum computer, Krishna responded: “I think it can be a reality by 2025.”

The expert panel went on to discuss the role of quantum computers in the metaverse and how they can change computing in augmented reality.

While answering a question on digital and decentralized transformation among traditional enterprises, Antonio Neri, CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, said that Web3 and blockchain are key topics of discussion among executives, but the conversation is more about which is a more efficient way of data processing and storage.

The “Strategic Outlook on the Digital Economy” panel discussed building socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable economic growth. The panel included the likes of Nicholas Thompson, publisher and CEO of The Atlantic; Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM Corporation; and Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture.

The main discussion revolved around the evolution of the metaverse and its potential at the industrial level. Accenture CEO Sweet talked about the numerous use cases of virtual reality worlds and the company’s future plans to integrate employees into its metaverse.

“Metaverse has a ton of potential, and it could prove to be beneficial in many domains. 100,000 Accenture employees would be integrated into the Accenture metaverse over time.”

She went on to cite the example of the COVID-19 pandemic and how the metaverse helped Accenture connect and carry out meetings in three dimensions.

IBM CEO Krishna talked about the role of artificial intelligence and augmented reality (the metaverse) in handling tasks that are dangerous for humans, citing the example of nuclear power plants, which could become inaccessible in case of an emergency. This is where the metaverse and artificial intelligence could be of great help.