WEF 2022, May 25: Latest updates from the Cointelegraph Davos team

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).

WEF 2022, the first in-person World Economic Forum event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to bridge traditional finance with the future of money on its fourth day.

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

The fourth day of WEF 2022 will see the likes of Anthony Scaramucci and David Branch discuss the journey of crypto investors. In today’s coverage: Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Cornèr is moderating an Equality Lounge panel titled “Why Web3 Needs Women at the Forefront,” and more.

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

4:00 pm UTC

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Hyperledger’s Daniela Barbosa said, “Don't be scared about CBDCs!”

1:40 pm UTC

Cointelegraph’s own Joe Hall moderated the NFT Shop Davos panel “Is regulated KYC’d DeFi really DeFi?”

1:00 pm UTC

Blockchain Hub Davos 2022 became the stage for insightful discussions revolving around the nonfungible token universe. Veritic CEO Stephan Holzer and Seal Storage Technology CEO Alex Altman talked about the importance of NFTs, their role in society and how the community can attract the mainstream to the technology.

Read the full discussion here.

12:30 pm UTC

In the panel discussion “NFT Innovation and Infrastructure,” CasperLabs senior program manager Ashok Ranadive, WISeKey co-founder Carlos Creus Moreira, Ernst Leitz Labs founder Jane Cui and popular artist Dario De Siena discussed the current progress and challenges in the NFT space.

Talking about the key issues faced by NFT platforms, WISeKey’s Moreira explained that technological challenges and an increasing amount of fraud are vital concerns. He also stressed the need to take things slowly and understand the prospects of the tech first before moving into developing products.

While talking about the challenges faced by NFT artists and marketing difficulties, Cui said the artist community, especially digital photographers, is very enthusiastic about the prospect of the metaverse. However, artists often face monetization challenges because many lack an understanding of how the tech works.

She added, “There are risks and technology gaps, but looking at the companies at WEF working towards filling those gaps, I believe there is hope for these artists.”

11:30 am UTC

Nonfungible tokens, the metaverse and gaming were the key topics of discussion at Davos Blockchain Hub. Seal Storage Technology CEO Alex Altman talked about the current downtrend in the NFT market while explaining the good side of the space.

Altman said:

“The good thing about that is it exposed tens of millions of people to NFTs as well as the technology that got businesses and people accustomed to how to use it and interact with it. Overall, it’s also pumped hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, into the infrastructure and actually developing that out.”

Veritic co-founder Stephan Holzer talked about the role of NFT custodians, saying they help propagate mainstream adoption. He explained:

“I really believe custodians play a crucial role in mainstream adoption by making it simpler and more secure. This enabled us to onboard 300 million people to the cryptocurrency space, and this also led to innovations such as NFTs.”11:00 am UTC

Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderated a panel titled “Why Web3 Needs Women at the Forefront,” joined by Meta vice president Nicola Mendelsohn, Global Blockchain Business Council CEO Sandra Ro, Harvard Business School’s Sarah Endline and Splunk government relations head Bill Wright.

Read the full discussion here.

10:00 am UTC

In a discussion on female role models, Meta vice president Nicola Mendelsohn quipped that Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, who remains pseudonymous, could very well be a woman. She explained:

“I will give you one: Satoshi Nakamoto. I mean, we all assume it’s a man, right? Is that our bias? It’s just a name — it could well be a woman.”

Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr added that she believes the creator of Bitcoin is a group of people comprising both men and women rather than an individual.

Global Blockchain Business Council CEO Sandra Ro shared the following comments on the future of women in Web3:

“I am very bullish on women’s future. We are in an era of collaboration irrespective of borders and countries. We need to support women entrepreneurs from all walks of life.”9:30 am UTC

The Cointelegraph team greeted renowned blockchain advocate Anino Emuwa, founder of 100Women@Davos and Avandis Consulting.