Insider's “Finance Meets its Future'' was a multi-session editorial conference focused on innovation in the financial services sector. The 90-minute virtual event, on March 23rd, brought together executives in the banking and fintech industries to discuss what the future of finance looks like, how to shape it, and how to navigate it.
Shawn Douglass was joined by Caitlin Long, Founder & CEO at Custodia Bank,Guy HirshGlobal Managing Director, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange and moderator Laila Maidan, Correspondent, Markets & Investing at Business Insider for the Embracing Digital Assets discussion.
Top 3 Takeaways
Crypto began as an ideology, moved to speculators and now we have NFTs bringing affinity to brands and the blockchain bringing the tokenization of real-world assets (art/real estate) to portfolios around the globe. This is the democratization of finance.
Digital assets have already made enormous positive contributions. During this last banking crisis, DeFi worked as planned. It facilitated trust through its radical transparency – in stark contrast to the traditional banks. NFTs are bringing the future of digital rights management to industries such as art and music. Stablecoins are facilitating cross-border payments and currency exchange in seconds. Digital assets are changing the world in ways we can’t even imagine yet.
When the first website launched, everyone said that businesses would either be brick-and-mortar or web-based. Fast forward and they are all web-based. Like the internet, digital assets will become part of the fabric of life, creating less dependency on centralized banks and creating massive value around the world.
A recording of the full discussion is available here.