Before the world of Bitcoin realizes its dreams as the world’s new money, it needs to convince that world that it’s a safe, business-friendly, well-regulated asset. Dave Chapman, CEO of ANXONE, joined CoinGeek’s Stephanie Tower to discuss how quickly that’s happening.
As Chapman sees it, Bitcoin has to evolve from its roots to be taken seriously as an asset. “Bitcoin started as a very much a libertarian act,” he said. “And obviously, moving away from regulations, moving away from the continual follies of finance, I do sort of believe that we have to respect its roots and its heritage, but at the same time, for crypto to become more accessible, more legitimate, more credible, it does require regulation around the space.
The hype of 2017 got a lot of attention on the cryptocurrency space, and that regulation is quickly coming on board now that the world better understands Bitcoin. “In the space of probably the last two years, we’ve seen regulators globally actually acknowledge this asset class, and we’re seeing some regulators actually take enough innovation to actually start writing or proposing rules and regulations in the crypto space,” Chapman shared.
Japan has been an innovator in crypto regulations, but Chapman notes that Hong Kong is quickly getting into the game. “In Hong Kong, the SFC (Securities and Futures Commission) have proposed a virtual asset trading sandbox regime,” he shared. “There’s no guarantee that this is going to materialize, but it’s just in proposal phase right now. The fact that the SFC have actually proposed some guidelines around this space, again, it’s very innovative.”
The regulatory space is often playing catchup to new technologies, but countries help each other and inspire each other to try new things. “We do see some regulators impose rules which are then very quickly replicated in other jurisdictions around the world,” he said. “Obviously with crypto and Bitcoin, it is borderless, it does operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so it does provide, or pose a new challenge for regulators. I do think that we will see, probably more collaboration with respect to regulations in the crypto scene.”
The future is looking bright for Bitcoin precisely because those regulators are providing more certainty. “My prediction is within 48 months, so the next two years, we’ll see this space largely be regulated globally,” Chapman boldly said. “It’s no longer a fringe or a fad, you know, and that’s one of the things that I’ve definitely picked up in the last six years of being in this business.”
With that regulation, Chapman then expects institutional investors will begin flooding in, putting their money into the market and development, launching Bitcoin to impressive new heights. “When I left traditional investment banking, it was surprising to a lot of people to go and play with magical internet money,” he said. “Nowadays, it’s the same, my old peers from the investment banking side that actually want to understand how that they can partake in this industry. There’s custody issues, volatility issues, there’s regulation. There’s a number of inhibiting factors that are preventing a lot of this institutional investment entering, but I do believe that we’re almost on the cusp of solving all of them.”
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