WEF 2022: Serious people will stay in crypto despite market setbacks, says CCI CEO Sheila Warren

Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation, shared her insights in an interview with Cointelegraph at the World Economic Forum.

During the 2022 World Economic Forum, Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI), sat down with Cointelegraph to discuss a range of topics, including the state of crypto, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO) and safety within the metaverse. 

Warren started by comparing past WEF events to this year’s event. The CCI CEO told Cointelegraph that it’s incredible to see how projects that were just starting out at WEF events in 2018 and 2019 have now made themselves very well known. She said:

“I'm finding that old acquaintances — some of the folks that we know from the business side, from the public sector — are just thrilled. And everybody wants to talk about blockchain and crypto.”

Despite the negativity surrounding the state of the crypto markets and the recent collapse of Terra, a prominent blockchain project, Warren remains optimistic and believes in the future of the space. She stated:

“Even given recent developments, I feel very positive because I feel like we are seeing, again, a contraction that’s going to mean that very serious people remain in this space. [...] We want people that are serious about the opportunity and the potential this technology and innovation hold.”

Warren also shared her perspective on the metaverse and discussed how augmented reality can offer fluidity in movin between digital and real-life experiences.

Warren explained that the metaverse will enable people to have a more “seamless identity across different spaces.” However, she believes that this comes with its own dangers.

Related: WEF 2022, May 23: Latest updates from the Cointelegraph Davos team

When asked about how to prevent the negative aspects of Web2 and social media, such as harassment and trolling, from being brought to Web3, Warren said the community may be able to combat this through DAOs.

She explained that DAOs have screening mechanisms that serve as a gate that can stop people who want to perform negative acts. With this, each member puts in efforts to stay a part of the community.

Meanwhile, at the same event, Brooks Entwistle, senior vice president at Ripple, encouraged people to build despite a crypto winter. Entwistle believes that the current market trends present an opportunity and urged people to “reduce the noise” and focus elsewhere.

Additional reporting by Ezra Reguerra.