For many years, the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland has been the place where world leaders, CEOs, and policymakers debated big global issues like economic growth, politics, climate, and technology. In the early years, digital currency and blockchain technology were present in the conversations, but not at the centre of them.
Panels and side discussions discussed Bitcoin and blockchain as interesting innovations, but they were often treated as technical curiosities, too risky for proper investments, rather than the new frontier in global financial investments.
This week, as the 2026 World Economic Forum took place, discussions about cryptocurrencies were no longer marginal. Leaders in the crypto and blockchain world offered it as a probable solution for financial paranoia.
David Adubiina
Brian Armstrong and the State of Crypto Policy
One of the most visible voices at Davos this year was Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase. In an interview with Bloomberg at the World Economic Forum, Armstrong spoke directly about the state of the crypto industry, ongoing policy battles, and what he sees as the next phase of growth.
He argued that the industry is closer than it has ever been to stability. “I do think that we’re at a breakout moment for crypto, and yeah, it’s a big opportunity,” Armstrong said during a live recording of Bloomberg Talks.
Armstrong also warned that competition between banks and crypto companies has become unhealthy, accusing traditional financial institutions of pushing regulations designed to suppress digital assets. “The bank lobbying groups and bank associations are out there trying to ban their competition, and I have zero tolerance for that,” he said. “I think it’s un-American. It harms consumers, and the banks need competition.”
He went further to express long-term optimism about Bitcoin, encouraging sceptics to take the asset more seriously. “I’ve said publicly I think that Bitcoin could hit a million dollars by 2030. I still think that’s true,” Armstrong said. While the comment reflects his personal outlook, Coinbase has not issued any formal guidance or press release confirming the prediction as an official company forecast.
Beyond price discussions, Armstrong emphasized tokenization as a way to broaden access to wealth creation. “For people who only make their income from labour, they’re oftentimes left out of this wealth creation engine,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do with tokenization of every asset class.” His argument centers on the idea that tokenization could open investment opportunities that have traditionally been limited to wealthy investors, bringing them within reach of a much broader audience.
Armstrong also spoke about the connection between AI and crypto, arguing that, “AI agents increasingly need to go get work done in the world, which includes making payments… We believe that stablecoins and crypto wallets are going to be the default payment mechanism of AI agents.” This was a vivid statement about how future automated systems might use crypto tools to transact.
Oluwajeminipe Fasheun-Motesho
Policy Insight from David Sacks at Davos
As Americans continue to debate a proposed wealth tax on billionaires in California, the issue also surfaced in conversations at Davos, where critics pointed to crypto as a potential way to bypass such policies.
David Sacks, the White House special envoy for AI and crypto, was blunt in his assessment. In an interview with CNBC, he said, “This is not a tax. This is an asset seizure. This is saying that we’re going to take 5% of everything you own.”
But he quickly added that he has been critical of the wealth tax because he was not convinced fraud has been rooted fully in the government.
“Before you propose new and unprecedented taxes, I think you have an obligation to taxpayers to make sure that their money is being well spent. The first place to look is with all this fraud,” he said.
He added that he was convinced that the traditional banking industry was going to eventually get into crypto, allaying fears of many that have long viewed crypto as a trend, riddled with scams.“A good compromise is everyone leaves a little bit unhappy, right? But I think what’s going to happen is that after market structure passes, the banks are going to get fully into the crypto industry.”
Sacks also spoke clearly about stablecoin regulation and yield issues. In the interview, he said, “The banks have to recognize that yield is already a feature of the Genius Act… If there’s no deal, then they’re going to lose on this issue.” This further emphasized his view that traditional banks need to adapt to stablecoin yield provisions if they want to stay relevant in the evolving market.
When the conversation shifted to regulation of AI and what that means for business creation, he said, “Imagine if in order to create a startup, you now have to hire lawyers in 50 different states. We don’t want that.” That phrase captures his argument for unified federal frameworks that prevent regulatory fragmentation.
This is in line with President Donald Trump’s agenda for crypto, which he laid bare at the conference, saying that he wants “America to remain the crypto capital of the world.”
Larry Fink, the CEO of the American investment bank BlackRock, also came in strong in support for tokenisation. “I think the movement toward tokenisation, decimisation is necessary...I think we need to move very rapidly to do that,” he said of adoption.
While the road to crypto and the blockchain competing with cash is still long, Davos this year shows that significant advancements have been made.
