St. Moritz set the tone. Now Davos must set the direction for crypto

Before policymakers, CEOs and financiers gather in Davos, the crypto industry now tests its message in St. Moritz. What was once a niche prelude has become a proving ground where builders and institutions align on priorities destined to shape the conversation at the World Economic Forum.

From experiments to execution

The era of casual experimentation is over. The signal from St. Moritz was unmistakable: crypto is no longer treated as a lab project by traditional finance. Tokenization pilots are moving into production. “Compliance by design” is no longer a differentiator—it’s the baseline. Infrastructure is being architected with regulatory obligations in mind from day one.

This shift is reshaping how stablecoin rails are built, how custodial segregation is implemented, and how vendor risk is assessed. The takeaway for anyone seeking long-term institutional capital is clear: innovation must be matched by operational maturity. Robust processes, auditable controls and dependable uptime matter as much as breakthrough features.

Regulation: cautious optimism, especially in the U.S.

Regulation remains the defining variable, with the U.S. drawing particular scrutiny. Many in St. Moritz welcomed moves toward clearer definitions and potential broker pathways, viewing them as tangible progress after years of uncertainty. Momentum is building, but expectations are tempered. Front-end obligations for DeFi will likely tighten, not loosen, and major pools of U.S. capital will remain cautious until rules are finalized.

Even so, the mood is constructive. The industry increasingly prefers clear, workable rules—even imperfect ones—over ambiguity. Clarity enables planning, investment and risk management, allowing institutions to participate without guessing where the lines are.

Fragmentation: the structural roadblock

One theme eclipsed all others: regulation alone will not unlock adoption. Fragmentation is a structural obstacle. While AI tooling and chain abstraction help simplify user experience, they can’t fix a market design problem by themselves. Without a shared-liquidity model, abstraction merely relocates silos. Liquidity trapped by design remains trapped.

This is where architecture matters. A model centered on the wallet—where liquidity is shared at the point of intent—paired with solver-based execution, can close the gap. Instead of forcing users and institutions to hop across fragmented pools and chains, the system should route intelligently so that liquidity becomes accessible where the order originates. That approach reduces slippage, improves price discovery and makes compliance and risk controls easier to standardize.

The new institutional checklist

• Production-grade tokenization: Move beyond pilots with clear asset lifecycles, standardized reporting and reconciliations.
• Compliance as default: Build KYC/AML, sanctions screening and auditability into core workflows, not as afterthoughts.
• Secure custody and segregation: Demonstrable controls, transparent legal frameworks and resilient operational setups.
• Vendor and counterparty risk: Enterprise-class diligence, redundancy and warranties for critical infrastructure.
• Cross-venue liquidity: Architect for shared liquidity and intent-based routing to mitigate fragmentation.

From tone to direction

St. Moritz has set the tone: institutional-grade infrastructure, constructive regulatory engagement and a pragmatic view of what still blocks adoption. Davos must now set the direction. That means moving beyond broad endorsements and into tangible decisions about standards, interfaces and accountability.

What should happen next?

• Standards alignment: Agree on interoperable schemas for tokenized assets, attestations, and on-chain identity primitives that satisfy regulatory needs without undermining privacy.
• Liquidity coordination: Advance shared-liquidity frameworks and solver networks that reduce fragmentation while preserving open access.
• Clear operating envelopes: Establish predictable regulatory “guardrails” so institutions can scale responsibly, with transparent obligations for front ends and intermediaries.
• Public–private collaboration: Encourage pilots that connect policy goals (e.g., financial stability, consumer protection) with deployable technical designs.

Davos doesn’t need more noise. It needs decisions—about interoperable infrastructure, about workable rules, and about the market architecture that will make crypto usable at institutional scale. The groundwork has been laid in St. Moritz. Now it’s time to choose a direction and commit to it.