Cointelegraph had the chance to work with various incredible media at the World Economic Forum in Davos. We exchanged ideas, we commented on events, we hired speakers to get an interview. But with a colleague we could not stop ourselves from doing an interview ourselves – Mike Butcher is the one who established a quality trend for technology journalism, the one that took the first steps of the media covering the development of Blockchain and crypto, the editor-in-chief.

We discussed with Mike the role of the media in the digital economy and the volatility of media-induced markets,

the modern journalist's responsibility to the market and its readers, as well as his reportage work on Telegram TON ICO and crypto mainstream

CT: Thank you very much for joining us. So here we are in Davos and the first topic addressed is the digital economy. Blockchain is the word that is heard everywhere. How do you think the media is now handling everything related to Blockchain and Crypto?

Mike Butcher: This is interesting because the mainstream media are trying a lot to play wrestling. in these subjects. Most journalists, even in the field of technology, are not necessarily up to the challenge, as the Blockchain and cryptocurrency industry has really become a big problem as it is not a problem. ;last year. Before that, it was considered an interesting technology, but people did not really care about it as they are now.

So the mainstream media are catching up and you see a lot of simple mistakes made about mixing the differences between tokens and coins. It is difficult. I think we'll get there, but it's certainly a fascinating time.

CT: How do you evaluate the influence of the media on the volatility of the market now in the fintech?

MB: I think that there is a small problem because it is necessary that journalism is much more robust on this space. A large part is certainly released. I think we need to do a better job. It would be nice if everyone could do it a bit more as if independent journalism would be better. 19459004 19459003 CT: What is it worth you to be published? I mean that now companies are using Blockchain in their names or launching ICOs and think this is worthy of interest. What is the thing that catches your eye for you?

MB: The thing about TechCrunch is that we are fundamentally interested in the underlying technologies of all this new world, so we're not really going to write about ICOs and that sort of thing. We prefer to talk about the underlying technology, the real applications, the disruption, the stuff. Of course, it's worth mentioning the fact that they could do an ICO, but that's not really what should drive the news. And also I think some ICOs are interesting, many are not. It is the fundamental technology that counts

CT: You are there! one of the first launch of TON ICO, Telegram ICO, so how would you rate the project? What really caught your eye?

MB: I was not just one of the first. TechCrunch and my story I made with Josh Constine were the first deep dive into the makeup of Telegram's ICO, how it will work in the full-fledged economy. What this means: Generally, for the long-term survival capability of Telegram itself and there are huge implications on how this will affect other existing social networks like Facebook, which is of course very precious now.

So, what interests us is that it seems like they're going to have their own currency, in the same way that people use WeChat in China to trade in the value with each other and pay for goods and services. I think it 's fascinating because Telegram' s ICO and therefore the currency YOUR is coming, it basically means that it will be the first mainstream app with a currency attached, which no one else will. never did before. It's really a big problem, so for obvious reasons, it's great news for TechCrunch.

CT: And the other highlights of the year 2017? What has caught your attention the most? What influenced you and inspired you in Fintech and news?

MB: I think it was fascinating to see the skyrocketing of challenger banks, like Revolut or Starling. Europe . I believe that competing banks are suddenly starting to give consumers a taste for new banking systems and banking brands. And then, once they have a taste for that, they might also be interested in what's happening in the crypto world. It is fascinating to see the emergence of Coinbase as the first truly popular consumer application in this field. Who knows what 2018 will bring? I think a lot of interesting things in this space.

CT: What are your expectations?

MB: I have no waiting. I just have to write the bullets that are raging for a moment. I think a lot of people are talking about a market fix. I think this will probably happen in the real world economy, as well as in the crypto world. In fact, quite funny, with these market corrections, you actually get a lot more innovation, so the cycle goes on.

CT: What about the attitude of the public towards crypto and blockchain? How did it evolve during this time when you were working for technology-related media and what do you think it will come in the coming years?

MB: I think 2017 was when we saw crypto become a mainstream discussion. When you have taxi drivers who talk to you about Bitcoin – that's when you know it's very common, then it's a big problem. For a variety of reasons, this is not necessarily a fabulous thing because it means that it's very bubble. It's a very bubble market at the moment. But I think the fundamental underlying technology of Blockchain technology will not go away. It's here to stay. This is the authentication layer for the Internet that the Internet has always needed and here the sky is the limit.

CT: What about Davos and the crypto community here? Is it different from other crypto communities at the different events you have encountered? Do you think the level of discussion is different here or the views towards Blockchain and Crypto?

MB: I think there is a lot of exaggeration. Remember that most people who attend Davos are really in the financial and asset management community. This means in any case that they are naturally predisposed to understand the concepts around cryptographic resources. But in terms of technology, they're often late, so you go to dinner and talk about Blockchain, but they do not really know what they're talking about. It's really fascinating to watch. It's not as geeky, shall we say, as some of the events I've experienced, to cover the space, but it's also very interesting and it's worth it, I think. But as someone said to me the other day, "Why do we crypto Davos when we should just make our own version of Davos for the crypto community?" And that is probably what will happen.

CT: Perfect! Well, enjoy your stay in Davos and thank you very much.

MB: My pleasure. Thank you!