the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently held its 2023 Annual Meeting. Participants came together to discuss difficult issues to shape policy and improve the state of the world.

The Switzerland-based international organization focused on engaging leaders in finance and government, including Ursula von der Leyenthe President of the European Commission, and Olena Selenskathe First Lady of Ukraine, among many others.

Benzinga attended and interviewed Bertrand PerezCEO at Web3 Foundation.

Perez, who has worked at startups as well as well-known companies in the field of telecommunications and payments over the course of his career, including as Managing Director PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL and COO of the Libra project meta platforms‘ META. After that, Perez joined the Web3 Foundation in September 2019. Please note that the following text has been edited slightly for clarity and conciseness.

BZ: What happened to Libra?

It wasn’t a good time. While the technology was solid – it was the best technology for issuing a stablecoin, and we had the best partners for it – we received a lot of backlash from regulators and governments around the world who feared their local currencies would be eaten up by a stablecoin. On the plus side, I think Libra has helped push governments to accelerate their regulatory agendas for crypto, stablecoins, and Web 3.0.

How did you develop your role and become CEO at the Web3 Foundation?

First, they were looking for someone to take over operational management. They later decided that I could take on the role, which is much more of getting a foothold in their day-to-day operations, but also more of setting the vision for the Web3 Foundation.

What was one of the most formative experiences for you?

I think that was when I came to Libra. I was basically a technician who was an engineer and I had to work very hard and learn very quickly in areas that were completely new to me. For example, legal framework for payments as well as PR and communication. I learned a lot about different areas…