This week's World Economic Forum in Davos has delivered what may be the clearest signal yet that cryptocurrency has crossed the threshold from speculative asset class to legitimate financial infrastructure. For those of us operating in the liquidity provision space, the implications are profound.
The "Crypto at a Crossroads" Moment
For the first time in WEF history, cryptocurrency commanded its own dedicated panel. "Crypto at a Crossroads" brought together heavyweights from across the financial spectrum: Coinbase, Franklin Templeton, AWS, the South African Reserve Bank, and Skybridge Capital. The very composition of this panel tells you everything about where we're headed: traditional finance and crypto are no longer parallel tracks—they're converging.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong captured the sentiment perfectly: having "the leader of the largest GDP country in the world come out undeniably and say that he wants to be the first crypto president" is "unprecedented." The Trump effect cannot be overstated. We're witnessing a policy pivot that will reshape the competitive landscape for digital asset markets globally.
Regulatory Clarity: The Liquidity Catalyst
President Trump's address to Davos attendees included a commitment to sign comprehensive crypto market structure legislation "very soon." For market makers like ourselves, regulatory clarity isn't just welcome—it's transformative. Here's why:
- Institutional capital unlocked: The ambiguity that kept major allocators on the sidelines is dissolving. Clear rules mean clear mandates, and clear mandates mean capital deployment.
- Banking access restored: The debanking era appears to be ending. When market makers can maintain stable banking relationships, spreads tighten and liquidity deepens.
- Stablecoin legislation incoming: Anthony Scaramucci identified stablecoin legislation as the key to wider adoption. We agree. A regulated stablecoin framework will accelerate institutional on-ramps dramatically.
What We're Seeing on the Ground
The conversations happening at Davos reflect what we're experiencing in real-time across our trading desks. Institutional inquiry volume has surged. Banks that wouldn't return our calls eighteen months ago are now asking how to partner. The question has shifted from "if crypto" to "how crypto."
Franklin Templeton's money market fund operating on the Stellar blockchain isn't a pilot program anymore—it's production infrastructure. The South African Reserve Bank has reduced settlement times from one day to 46 minutes using blockchain rails. These aren't experiments; they're deployments.
The Market Maker's Perspective: Structurally Bullish
Short-term price volatility is noise. The structural story emerging from Davos is unambiguously bullish for digital asset markets:
- Expanding participant base: Every major financial institution discussing tokenization and digital assets at Davos represents future order flow. More participants mean deeper books and more efficient price discovery.
- 24/7 market infrastructure: Traditional finance is waking up to what crypto natives have known for years: markets don't need to close. As TradFi builds toward round-the-clock trading, they'll need liquidity partners who already operate in that paradigm.
- Global regulatory competition: The US policy shift will force other jurisdictions to compete. Europe's MiCA framework is already live. This regulatory race benefits market integrity and, by extension, liquidity providers.
The Path Forward
Armstrong's comparison of crypto adoption to the early internet is apt. We're somewhere around 1997 in that trajectory—past the proof-of-concept phase, entering the infrastructure build-out. The companies and protocols that will define the next decade of finance are being capitalized and scaled right now.
For LQD Markets, the Davos signal is clear: prepare for scale. The institutional wave that Bitcoin ETF approval initiated in 2024 is about to accelerate. Our focus remains on infrastructure resilience, exchange connectivity, and the operational excellence that institutional counterparties demand.
The crypto winter taught the market hard lessons about risk management and operational integrity. The market makers who survived are battle-tested. As Davos 2025 makes clear, we're entering a new phase—one where that resilience will be rewarded with the kind of institutional flow that transforms markets.
The infrastructure is ready. The regulation is coming. The institutions are mobilising. For crypto liquidity, the next chapter starts now.