Ken Moelis, the billionaire former president of UBS, is no stranger to the turbulent world of crypto. He has a personal investment in Paxos, a blockchain firm, and last year likened the industry to the California gold rush of 1848.

Now, he has compared the digital asset sector to another formative moment in business — the birth of the internet, and has set up a department in his investment bank, Moelis & Co, to cash in on it.