INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

72 Percent Of Finance Execs Say Bitcoin Is Here To Stay, Are Bullish About Cryptocurrencies

By Samantha Chang
Published on: 08:43 PST, Sep 17, 2018

Despite the dismal price plunges of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, a whopping 72 percent of business executives remain optimistic about the future of the industry and believe virtual currencies are “here to stay.”

According to a report entitled The Institutionalization of Cryptocurrencies published by Greenwich Associates, 72 percent of 141 institutional asset managers, hedge fund representatives, and brokers surveyed believe that digital currencies are not going anywhere.

“We’ve had a terrible market for crypto this year, but people are still coming out with a lot of great innovation and a lot of great ideas,” said Richard Johnson, a vice president with Greenwich Associates’ market structure and technology group.

Some 10 percent of respondents are totally skeptical about crypto, saying they will remain fringe assets that will never be widely adopted, while another 10 percent believe a massive “regulatory crackdown” will eventually eliminate the entire industry.

Jack Dorsey: Bitcoin Will Be The One Global Currency

Meanwhile, 7 percent of surveyed finance executives believe most virtual currencies will disappear and only a few major ones (like bitcoin and ether) will survive the crypto “survival of the fittest.”

This is a sentiment shared by many in the crypto community, including tech billionaire Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, in May 2018, Dorsey said he believes that digital currencies will displace all other currencies, and bitcoin will emerge as the one global currency within the next decade.

Moreover, 80 percent of the finance executives surveyed by Greenwich Associates believe that formal cryptocurrency regulations will be rolled out, and the regulations will be good for the industry.

The virtual currency market has been criticized for being opaque because it is largely unregulated. This has fueled the image that cryptocurrencies are mostly used for money-laundering and other illegal activities. But bitcoin bulls like the Winklevoss twins — Tyler and Cameron — say that they welcome more regulatory scrutiny because it will weed out bad actors and scam artists, legitimizing the industry.

CFTC: Crypto Regulations Must Not Stifle Innovation

In recent months, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have issued statements warning potential investors to be wary of fraud and price manipulation in the cryptocurrency industry.

J. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the CFTC, said the federal government should approach regulating crypto in the same manner it approached the Internet — by adopting a “do no harm” approach, as the Inquisitr previously reported.

Giancarlo said that if federal agencies take too heavy-handed an approach to regulation, it could strangle the burgeoning industry with onerous rules that will stifle innovation.

“When it comes to fraud and manipulation, we need to be strong,” Chairman Giancarlo said. “When it comes to policy making, I think we need to be slow and deliberate and well informed.”

While skeptics are declaring once again that “bitcoin is dead,” tech billionaires like Tim Draper and Changpeng Zhao (the CEO of crypto exchange Binance) remain as bullish as ever.

Draper predicts that the market capitalization for crypto will top $80 trillion by 2023. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the venture capitalist has also set a $250,000 bitcoin price target for 2022.

Draper has taken a long-term position on crypto and refuses to be deterred by daily price fluctuations.

“I’m thinking $250,000 a bitcoin by 2022,” Draper boldly proclaimed. “Believe it. It’s happening.”

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