Davos, CBDCs, and the Rise of Bitcoin Art
The word from Davos is blockchain not crypto, cashless futures, and CBDCs, while Brekkie von Bitcoin gives us his take on the emergent field of bitcoin art.

The word from Davos, Switzerland, is blockchain not crypto, cashless futures and CBDCs, while Brekkie von Bitcoin gives us his take on the emergent field of bitcoin art. Listen or subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
That’s a wrap! The World Economic Forum is over, and the key ideas coming out of Davos for our industry are: 1) a continued "blockchain, not crypto" narrative; 2) a belief in the inevitability of cashless futures (without much concern about the negative implications) and 3) the rise of CBDCs.
On the CBDC front, the WEF put out a toolkit for governments that are considering their own currency, Japan announced a project to explore a digital currency as a counterweight to the influence a digital yuan might bring China and a BIS study says one in 10 governments anticipate having a digital currency within threew years.
Finally, we close by asking prolific bitcoiner and artist Brekkie von Bitcoin about the state of bitcoin art and why even the hardcore financially minded folks in the space should care.
Topics discussed:
Notes From the WEF: Cash Is Dead, Long Live Digital Cash
Central Banks Warm to Issuing Digital Currencies
Japan Ruling Party Lawmakers to Float Idea of Issuing Digital Currency
More For You
Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Barclays Sees ‘Down-Year’ for Crypto in 2026 Without Big Catalysts

Spot trading volumes are cooling, and investor enthusiasm is fading amid a lack of structural growth drivers, analysts wrote in a new report.
What to know:
- Barclays forecasts lower crypto trading volumes in 2026, with no clear catalysts to revive market activity.
- Spot market slowdowns pose revenue challenges for retail-focused platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood, the bank said.
- Regulatory clarity, including pending market structure legislation, could shape long-term market growth despite near-term headwinds.









