Regulation does not pose an “existential threat to crypto”: head of the Blockchain Association

[ad_1]

Regulators around the world have cracked down on cryptocurrency trading and stock market operators have pulled back.

Binance said on Monday that users in Singapore will not be able to trade on its main platform. Chinese crypto exchange Huobi will stop taking new customers on the mainland. And US Securities and Exchange chairman Gary Gensler told a conference this week that people would be hurt if the crypto markets remain unregulated. But crypto insiders say that by its very nature, decentralized finance and crypto will find ways to survive and thrive.

I don’t think there is an existential threat to the crypto markets because of the regulation, Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association, told Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit Plus: Crypto Investing. Decentralization is incredibly powerful and these networks can exist in many different places. China has repeatedly tried to crack down on crypto. They may become more aggressive on this front, but as long as the internet persists, crypto networks will persist as well.

Concerns about regulation have recently hit crypto prices. Bitcoin, for example, fell below $ 42,000 from a high of over $ 50,000 in early September. Volatility is not unusual in the crypto markets, and investors are still expressing confidence, with entry into crypto commodities and funds continuing for a sixth straight week, according to CoinShares. Even in China, some buyers have not been deterred by the recent government rhetoric.

Nic Carter, co-founder of CoinMetrics and general partner of Castle Island Ventures, is convinced that free markets will prevail.

The story continues

When markets and state clash, generally speaking, the market will eventually win, he told the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit Plus. There are countless examples throughout history of countries trying to ban currency conversion, and they have always failed … It just so happens that the cryptocurrency behind the virtual, being something that is peer-to -peer by nature, something you can fully support on a smartphone, is particularly resistant to state control.

Carter and Smith agree that more regulation in the United States is likely inevitable, and in some cases even necessary. Smith, whose role is to engage with policymakers on behalf of crypto and blockchain companies, said it wasn’t as if the space was now fully unregulated.

To say that this space is the Wild West is just not true, she said. I want to remind people that there are many entities that act as intermediaries in the crypto space that are registered. They have state licenses to transmit money.

Smith said there is a disconnect between the SEC and the industry over how securities law is applied to crypto. This was brought to light by a series of tweets from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who mocked what he called the SEC’s sketchy behavior. Ultimately, Coinbase said it would come up with a regulatory framework and try to work with policymakers.

We have a lot of regulatory work to do, said Smith.

Julie Hyman is the co-host of Yahoo Finance Live, weekdays 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET. Follow her on Twitter @juleshyman and read her other stories.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Read the latest cryptocurrency and bitcoin news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard and LinkedIn

[ad_2]