At the Epicenter of Wealth: How the Crypto Elite Do Business in St. Moritz

There was a touch of extravagance in the air from the start. Anyone traveling to St. Moritz will receive this free as a welcome gift. For generations, luxury has dominated the Engadine village with 5,233 inhabitants.

It is said that “all roads lead to Rome”, but in St. Moritz all roads lead to five-star hotels or luxury shops. That is precisely why the chic city attracts the super-rich from all over the world like a magnet every year.

This is ensured by events such as the White Turf, the annual polo tournament on the frozen St. Moritzer See. Since 1907, the elite of the “old money” have met at traditional horse races. Since 2018, one event has attracted the so-called “new rich” to St. Moritz: the Crypto Finance Conference (CfC), which took place from Wednesday to Friday in the luxury holiday resort of Graubünden.

Private parties and exclusive excursions

The location, the five-star Suvretta House, was also extravagant. The crypto elite, consisting of 250 “handpicked” guests, gathered there. According to the CfC organizers, “ultra high net worth individuals” with assets of CHF 30 million or more are particularly welcome guests.

After all, the participants had to be able to pay for the conference: they paid between 4,800 and 7,800 francs for a ticket – without a hotel stay. Depending on the time of booking, this costs between 500 and 1100 francs per night for a double room at the Suvretta House.

There was a full program for the high price: for three days, the CfC guests were treated to various presentations, top-class culinary events, private parties and exclusive excursions.

“To the moon”

The whole thing must have been so enticing that even $17 billion Binance founder Changpeng Zhao traveled to St. Moritz for a week-long snowboarding vacation. At the same time, Zhao was the star of the event and opened the conference on Wednesday together with general manager Nicolo Stöhr.

The room was packed to the last seat – as good as never before – as the founder of Binance talked about his beginnings in the crypto scene. How he went all in when he quit his job and sold his house in 2013 to get into bitcoin and later found the world’s second largest crypto exchange.

It was worth it for Zhao. He has achieved what many CfC participants dream of. Many of them are rich, but all want to “go to the moon” with crypto. The idiom is common in the space to describe the extreme rise of a cryptocurrency. But who is this crypto elite spending so much money on a conference and what do they hope to get out of the event?

From equity funds to crypto funds

One of them is Markus Lehner. The entrepreneur stands out at the CfC because he is constantly on the phone. “You don’t get rich without work,” he tells the journalist. In 1990, Lehner founded the first company in the Lehner Investments group, which is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. From the beginning, the Viennese have focused on setting up and managing hedge funds. “The funds have reached a total amount of 2.2 billion euros,” Lehner told Watson.

But now he is focusing his fund offering on the future, which is why he has been working intensively with digital assets such as cryptos for three years now.

That’s why he came to St. Moritz. To hear from greats in the crypto space if he is on track with the future direction of his business. “I have heard from all the speakers that we have the perfect alignment for this, and I feel very justified,” says the entrepreneur who lives in Monaco.

A Swiss participant who wishes to remain anonymous is not looking for confirmation, but a new company. He owns a family office that manages his family’s large private wealth. For him, the trip to St. Moritz is worth it. “I have already co-founded three companies based on meetings at previous crypto conferences,” he tells Watson. The CfC participation has certainly made him a little richer.

Looking for investors

A well-known CfC visitor is Fabian Hediger. According to the “balance sheet”, he should have an estimated fortune of 20 to 50 million francs. Hediger is a co-founder of the Zug crypto exchange Bitcoin Suisse, where “more than 10,000 wealthy customers own more than five billion francs worth of cryptocurrencies,” according to the website.

But did he travel to St. Moritz as head of the innovation department or as a private investor? “I’m here mainly because of the exciting network,” Fabian Hediger tells Watson. The event also conveys current crypto trends, ensures knowledge transfer and is a good opportunity to meet existing and potential customers.

“In addition to individuals looking to invest CHF 100,000 or more, Bitcoin Suisse also has financial institutions such as independent asset managers, ‘high net worth individuals’ and institutional market participants as potential clients,” says Hediger. The CfC has more than enough of it.

Also looking for investors is a visitor from the US who is only 24 years old. He boasts that he has already sold his first crypto company for several million dollars. He also recently set up a crypto hedge fund, which is currently worth $25 million. He wants to manage five times as much in five years – that’s one of the reasons he’s at CfC St. Moritz. For the chance to get even richer.

Few women

What is striking about the conference is the lack of women. With 250 “handpicked” guests, there is a disproportionate number of men. According to CfC director Nicolo Stöhr, between 30 and 35 percent are women. “Our goal is to continually grow this share,” he tells Watson.

One of the few women at the conference is Lily Liu. The American, who lives in Zug, is described by several CfC visitors as an absolute crypto brain. The entrepreneur and investor has made a name for himself as a founder and manager of tech startups. One of these was the Earn.com site, which was sold for more than $100 million to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2018.

She is currently president of the Solana Foundation in Zug. The non-profit organization is committed to the growth of the network of the crypto company Solana. With a market cap of over $6 billion, Solana is one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world.

“The CfC reminds me of my beginnings in the crypto world. Here I meet a lot of old friends and at the same time I can get to know interesting new projects,” says Lily Liu about Watson. That she is one of the few women and especially one of the speakers at the conference does not bother her: “Personally, I spend more than 50 percent of my time with women in crypto space, but in general there are more men. ”

“Exciting things are happening next to the program”

One of the few CfC participants not from the crypto space is Thomas Moser, a member of the Extended Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank.

He received an invitation from the organizers for a round of discussions about digital central bank money, which was attended by about 80 of the 250 participants. The National Bank did not have to pay for the expensive ticket for the event. “It’s a good opportunity to learn where the industry is headed, while at the same time showing what a central bank’s ideas are in this area,” Moser told Watson. However, an eFranken for individuals is not on the agenda.

Probably every other attendee saw three gentlemen drinking wine and laughing out loud in the lobby bar for nearly the entire conference. “The most exciting stories at conferences like this happen outside the program,” one of them tells Watson.

They would all be novice investors and blockchain entrepreneurs, who often invest in a project together. “We have not invested anywhere in CfC St. Moritz yet,” says another member of the group. The focus is on establishing and maintaining contacts. All three think the price for the tickets is high, but rightly so. Each of them spends at least 10,000 francs on the hotel for the three days in the CfC. They are happy to be there at all. “A colleague of mine is worth several hundred million francs and was rejected,” says one of them.

A crypto company from Zug was accepted. She is with CfC St. Moritz because she is convinced “she is going to be the next big thing. In 2023, their cryptocurrency will be listed on a crypto exchange and the presale will start soon. At the conference, one would meet many potential investors.” We are definitely going to make people richer,” says the founder.

When asked about this company, the three fledgling investors say there are good people behind it, but it is doubtful whether their product is really needed.

Private jet makes the most profit

One thing most CfC visitors seem to need is a private jet. That is why Bernhard Fragner, founder and CEO of the private jet provider GlobeAir, is at the conference for the fourth time.

He is probably one of those who have benefited the most from the crypto conference – without ever investing in a crypto project. “We saw early on that a group of very wealthy people grew up here,” Fragner tells Watson.

After his initial participation, his company accepted crypto payments, which now account for 30 percent of its revenue. It was worth it: “We always sold at a good time,” says Fragner. With a total of 10,000 flights per year, a lot of cryptocurrency would come together. For example, a flight with a private jet from Paris to St. Moritz (Sadan airport) costs about 9,000 euros

Stay away from cryptocurrencies

Last but not least, politicians can also be found at the crypto conference. A wealthy Swiss parliamentarian has traveled to St. Moritz: SVP national councilor Franz Grüter, founder of several internet companies. When Grüter arrives in the hotel lobby for the interview, he is carrying a pack of Airpods from an information booth operated by the private jet operator.

However, he won’t be flying around the world in a jet any time soon. “Since I had a private pilot’s license, we talked about this passion. I’m not at the level where I fly around in private jets,” he says with a laugh, adding, “One scheduled flight is enough for me.”

He is interested in the crypto conference because of the Parliamentary Group on Digital Assets and Cryptocurrencies, which he co-founded with FDP national councilor Doris Fiala. So he had his eye mainly on the lectures on regulation. “My main goal as a private investor is not to find new things, but to exchange with people in connection with my position as a member of the National Council,” says he. Gruter.

Moreover, Parliament did not pay for his ticket – Grüter was invited for the second time. He paid all the costs himself. However, he is currently keeping his hands off cryptocurrencies. «I invested small amounts two years ago to gain experience and made a modest profit. It’s enough for a few hot lunches,” says the National Council.

Grüter is certainly the exception at CfC St. Moritz. Most participants made big money with cryptos. And they want to increase that, which is why they are traveling to the conference in the Engadine. To enrich each other. Hoping to be where everyone wants to be – to the moon.