Everyone is talking about blockchain

The World Economic Forum in Davos has been paying more and more attention to new financial technologies, including Bitcoin and blockchain in recent years. This year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is mainly devoted to the fourth industrial revolution and financial technology.

The world's financial and banking giants once again shared their attitudes towards digital currencies and blockchain technology. Some of them noted that the new distributed ledger solution will soon change the financial industry, while others condemned Bitcoin as a failure.

Mastercard Investments

In an interview Business Insider caught everyone's attention after the first day of the conference, Garry Lyons, the chief innovation officer at Mastercard, said that the company is "very interested in the development of blockchain technology" and that it has invested in a bitcoin and blockchain company, Digital Currency Group (DCG).

Garry Lyons continued

“It’s not just the industry that’s excited about blockchain — it’s the world, it’s everybody. Even at Davos, I’ve mentioned blockchain in every single tech panel, and some people have called it ‘here and now.’ But I think it’s very interesting, and if we don’t do it, then nobody will, and we’ll be blindsided by the rush to jump in [because the technology is still evolving].”

Followers of R3 consortium

Since the rise of Bitcoin in late 2014, the banking industry has felt the pressure of losing control of the financial world and centuries of social power. Now banks are trying to catch the train of the booming financial technology market. No doubt, the bank representatives participating in the R3 consortium will have very similar statements, but the bet is on the research of distributed ledgers rather than Bitcoin. Here are some points:

Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citi, said:

“We know that Bitcoin itself is a complete failure and demonstrates the number one law of programming and software: anything that can be programmed can be hacked, so nothing is absolutely secure.”

James Gorman, CEO and Chairman of Morgan Stanley, said:

“It’s not going to change everybody’s life tomorrow.”

John Cryan, CEO of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank, also mentioned an interest in blockchain rather than Bitcoin;

“Blockchain technology is interesting, but I don’t think Bitcoin is.”

IMF remains concerned about virtual currencies

During the conference, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its latest article on virtual currencies. Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, was quoted at the World Economic Forum on Wednesday as saying:

“Virtual currencies, and especially their underlying technology, are potentially important assets for the financial sector, improving efficiency and financial inclusion, but they can also be used as a tool for laundering.

money, terrorist financing and a tool for tax evasion.”

Game Changing Program

Switzerland has the most developed financial sector and the most trusted banks in the world. Major conferences such as the World Economic Forum are held in Davos. Maybe a new game is changing the banking reforms, and it will probably come from Switzerland.

Swiss news and information platform swissinfo.ch interviewed Guido Rudolphi, who plans to establish the world's first Bitcoin bank in Switzerland. He is optimistic about the future prospects of Bitcoin and told us:

“I’ve been following Bitcoin a lot, and this was not meant to be. This whole discussion reminds me of when the internet started. We’ve discussed Bitcoin before, but they’ve never been filled with this kind of drama.”

Guido Rudolphi

He believes that while some investors now want the technology to develop faster and profit from it as soon as possible, it is better to look at it from a "technical stance" of "slowing down growth while maintaining safety."

Guido Rudolphi also pointed out that the company may look forward to blockchain without Bitcoin in the future.

“Some companies have already jumped on the train. They want bitcoin technology without having to use bitcoin, and I predict they will fail.”

In addition, Richard Branson once again expressed his interest in Bitcoin blockchain startups. This time, Mr. Richard Branson expressed his desire to invest in IT experts in Ukraine, one of the fastest growing cities in Eastern Europe for the blockchain industry:

Mr. Richard Branson wants to invest in Ukrainian startups. Financial Technology/Bitcoin/Blockchain

#Davos2016 #WEF pic.twitter.com/gbA0qqGnaq

— Andrey Kolodyuk (@AndreyKolodyuk) January 22, 2016