Hosted by: SALT, Kraken, and the University of Wyoming Center for Blockchain and Digital Innovation.
The event kicked off with Anthony Scaramucci sharing his cell phone number (917-439-3646) and speaking alongside David Ripley, the CEO of Kraken, an exchange where you can buy and sell digital assets. Ripley, a University of Illinois alum, has been involved in crypto since 2013. He emphasized two key messages:
David Ripley - CEO of Kraken UIUC alum been in crypto since 2013.
His two messages were
1)The U.S. is falling behind in crypto innovation and is no longer a leader in the space.
2) Innovation is crucial for both business growth and development.He believes the cycles are becoming more muted, (not as drastic highs and lows)
Ripley noted that crypto cycles are becoming more muted (less drastic in highs and lows). He highlighted that this year, over 50% of hedge funds have some exposure to the Bitcoin ETF, although their crypto allocations remain small. He anticipates more adoption within the next two years, especially from pension and sovereign funds. Kraken is focused on attracting more institutional and retail investors as they expand their global presence. He also sees the Middle East gradually entering the crypto space and expects another situation like FTX could occur.
Salman Khan, CFO of Marathon Digital (a global Bitcoin miner)
Khan discussed the backlog of large utility-scale projects expected to power data centers and noted increased interest from institutional investors. He predicted that energy harvesting businesses will replace traditional utility-scale Bitcoin mining within the next 4-8 years. Currently, they heat 11,000 homes in Finland through Bitcoin mining.
Amy Oldenborg, Head of Emerging Markets at Morgan Stanley:
Oldenborg advised reading the fine print regarding Morgan Stanley's recent announcement allowing registered clients to offer Bitcoin ETFs. This offering is only for taxable brokerage accounts, which represents a small part of their business but is still a significant first step.
Joseph Chalom, Managing Director at BlackRock:
Chalom is part of BlackRock’s small digital asset team and helped grow and scale the Aladdin platform. He emphasized that client demand drives everything they do. While not everyone is interested, BlackRock aims to offer crypto services in safe ways for those who are. He mentioned that clients are interested in tokenizing various assets, including buildings and income streams. Chalom also pointed out the need for a regulator-accepted digital identity solution and stressed BlackRock’s responsibility to educate the industry on crypto.
Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton ($1.6 trillion asset manager):
Johnson is the third-generation leader of Franklin Templeton, which her grandfather founded. They have tokenized a money market fund, participate in staking, and have a venture capital fund investing in the crypto space. She predicts that ETFs will eventually be tokenized. Johnson’s main focus is on blockchain and AI as disruptive technologies and emerging trends.
No comments:
Post a Comment