World Economic Forum (WEF) president Børge Brende has cautioned that massive flows of capital into artificial intelligence and digital assets could spark speculative bubbles, even as new technologies drive global growth.
Speaking in Berlin, Brende said the world is navigating “geopolitical disorder”, yet economies such as India, China, and the United States have shown “incredible resilience”. He linked much of this strength to surging investment in emerging technologies.
This year has seen US$500 billion of investments in AI alone. So what we can be worried about is that there may be bubbles developing — be it a bubble in crypto or an AI bubble.
Børge Brende, World Economic Forum president Brende urged patience from investors but said technological innovation would remain a powerful engine for productivity, predicting gains of up to 10% over the next decade. He described advancements in artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, energy and space as part of “a big paradigm shift”.
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The Norwegian official, who succeeded WEF founder Klaus Schwab, also warned that rising global tensions and protectionist trade policies threaten investment. “Uncertainty is the highest tariff,” he said, calling for renewed cooperation to manage shared challenges such as pandemics and cybercrime.
His comments come as institutional interest in crypto continues to grow, with rising demand for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and stablecoin adoption.
Stablecoins are rapidly entering mainstream finance, with global institutions and payment firms adopting them for cross-border transfers and settlements. Citi projects that within five years, up to 10% of global post-trade transactions could occur via stablecoins and tokenised assets, underscoring their growing role after new US regulations such as the GENIUS Act spurred corporate adoption.
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Crypto-related ETFs are also becoming mainstream. Not only have US Bitcoin spot ETFs broken records as the fastest-growing ETFs ever, but Solana spot ETFs, launched just last week, also set records as the strongest performers of 2025.
Last week, however, US Bitcoin spot ETFs saw large outflows, with Wednesday through Friday alone seeing US$1.15 billion (AU$1.75 billion) exit the funds. Meanwhile, BTC dropped 7% over the week and 2.5% on the day, currently trading at around US$107,529 (AU$163,910).
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