A recent SALT conference in London debated the world of cryptocurrencies, digital assets, decentralised finance, and the impact of new media on markets and information. This publication recorded some of the notable comments.

As European and other governments struggle to cut public debt and handle issues such as ageing populations, people should consider bitcoin as one way to shield from the fallout, a prominent advocate of cryptocurrencies has said.

Speaking at the SALT London 2025 conference earlier in November, Authur Hayes, chief investment officer of Maelstrom, said the only forces that would spell the end of bitcoin would be if countries moved to full-reserve banking – pulling the rug under existing fiat currency systems in which current fractional reserve banks rely on state central banks to be lenders of last resort. Maelstrom is the investment firm and family office that Hayes has set up; it is headquartered in Hong Kong. Hayes founded BitMEX, a crypto exchange.

Hayes’ analysis of the case for such cryptocurrencies is an example of how some financial entrepreneurs regard government-backed fiat currencies, no longer linked to real entities such as gold, as ultimately unsustainable and prone to debasement – in other words, inflation. An open question is whether governments in democratic nations can demand changes that would require voters to accept reality.

Asked by the conference host, Anthony Scaramucci, SALT chairman, whether the problem of public finance is fixable, Hayes quipped: “It is fixable if you don’t want to get re-elected.”

While bitcoin prices have been choppy in recent weeks, the cryptocurrency has surged more than 490 per cent in the past five years, fetching $71,442 as of Sunday evening. (Bitcoin trades 24/7.) Debate continues whether bitcoin counts as a safe-haven, akin to how gold has been perceived for centuries, or is more of a speculation about tech. Gold is up 118 per cent over five years, last fetching $4,082 per ounce. Concerns about high US debt, geopolitical uncertainties and the Trump administration’s desire to weaken the dollar have buoyed the yellow metal.

The conference explored the role of cryptocurrencies, digital assets such as tokens, and the impact of decentralised finance on the modern economy. The line-up of speakers also included celebrities from the sports, modern media and political world, such as media entrepreneur, former BBC sports host and former footballer Gary Lineker, history podcasters Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, and former UK prime minister Tony Blair. 

Hayes was asked about Europe and the strains in the eurozone. 

European governments will do what they can to protect the single currency areas. That leaves open what happens to citizens’ retirement savings. “Your retirement fund is not yours – there will be restrictions,” Hayes said. “Authorities are telling Europeans exactly what they are going to do. It is all going to be funnelled to the government.”

Use cases
Another session at the conference examined developing use cases for blockchain – aka distributed ledger technology – which underlies bitcoin and smart contracts such as Ethereum.

In the US, there has been a clear shift by regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission to encourage the cryptocurrency/digital assets sector, removing a more negative, sceptical stance that operated before Trump took office in January this year, the conference heard. 

Bob Diamond, founder and CEO of Atlas Merchant Capital, and former CEO of Barclays, whose senior roles included Credit Suisse, First Boston and Morgan Stanley, said he thoughts that “blockchain will be in every exchange in every deposit-taking institution in the next 10 years.”

After a period of “complete malign neglect” under former CEO chair Gary Gensler, Diamond said, the US is moving forward to a “let’s go!” mindset.

Bitcoin enjoys positive tailwinds from lower interest rates and a more supportive regulatory environment, he said. Institutions such as Visa, Mastercard and others are interested in using blockchain technology. 

Diamond said he is excited about the potential use of digital tokens in illiquid assets, helping to widen exposure to otherwise hard-to-enter areas. “It is really important for areas such as the art market…it could be transformational.”

Stablecoins 
Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, told the SALT attendees that the central bank was bringing out a consultation paper outlining how to regulate sterling-denominated systemic stablecoins. 

As explained in the BoE's announcement on 10 November, “Such stablecoins are a new type of digital money designed to maintain a stable value and could be used for retail payments and wholesale settlement in the future.” Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value relative to a specified asset, such as a fiat currency like the dollar, pound or euro.

“We want a multi-moneyverse,” Breeden told the conference. 

She said that the BoE suggests that among retail consumers, there should, for a period, be limits on the use of stablecoins. “For stablecoins, we will be your banker…you can hold your balances with us.”

In its consultation paper, the BoE said it proposed temporary holding limits of £20,000 per coin for individuals and £10 million for businesses (with an exemptions regime to allow the largest businesses to hold more if required). These limits would be removed once the transition no longer poses risks to the provision of finance to the real economy, it said. 

The US perspective
Caroline Pham, who is acting chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, referred to the US “crypto sprint” – a joint venture between the CFTC and the SEC to fast-track implementation of recommendations from the President's Working Group on Digital Assets. That “sprint” was launched in August.

By the end of this year, Pham said, at least one federal US exchange will be hosting crypto futures trading.