Bitcoin (BTC), Cryptocurrency–While some have found nothing but dismay in cryptocurrency over 2018, as investors contend with an ongoing bear market for both Bitcoin and the general altcoin market, one financial outlet has managed to sing the praise of the industry.
Financial Times, one of the world’s leading publications on global business news, published a special report on Monday, October 1st dedicating a significant portion to an overview of cryptocurrency and calling the industry one of the most impactful developments to finance over the last ten years. While the report does single out cryptocurrency as one of the largest developments to come out of fintech and the financial industry in the past decade, the analysis does come with a backlash of criticism, particularly over the wild west nature of cryptocurrency exchanges and the overall lack of regulation at present.
Under the title, “Cryptocurrency exchanges must face up to responsibilities as they mature,” Financial Times examines whether the cryptocurrency industry will be able to integrate with growing government regulation, as well as how the overall industry will manage to stay resilient in the face of growing oversight and institutional interest–features that oppose the long-standing, decentralized values of the technology. Compared to the stock market, which operates under strict government regulations and enforced oversight, features that have been appealing to the trillions of dollars in capital controlled by investment banks, cryptocurrency exchanges and the general crypto-market have a looser appeal, one that has been able to generate substantial innovation in addition to a growing laundry list of fraud. The lack of centralization or governing authority has allowed for the experimental and open approach of the industry, however, the long-term outlook for such freedom appears to be in contention with the growing desire for institutional money and the presence of large-capital firms.
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The report quotes opponents and proponents of both sides, with chief executive of the U.K. division on Coinbase, Zeeshan Feroz, stating that he believes the crypto markets will come to resemble the maturity and entrenched nature of the traditional investment market. However, others find fault in such premise, including Peter Randall of SETL, who doesn’t believe cryptocurrency will ever mirror that of Wall Street. Instead, Randall finds fault in the lack of liquidity in the crypto markets, and believes that it contributes to a absence of resilience necessary to sustain long-term growth.
Financial Times also goes in depth on the impact of Chicago-based proprietary and futures trading with the crypto markets, and how it is integrating and thriving despite the vast price volatility. Rob Sagurton of proprietary trading firm Jump Trading, claimed that his company was actively trading the more liquid cryptocurrencies, in addition to having a hand in the futures market.
While cryptocurrency still has a long ways to go before it receives the same level of recognition and adoption as the traditional investment market, 2018 has been a year of massive new developments. Despite the sheer drop off in valuation since the beginning of the year, cryptocurrency has managed to grow as an industry and find novel outlets for use. From IBM’s Stellar-backed payment platform, to PNC adopting Ripple technology for global payments, crypto has managed to thrive away from price speculation. Given that Financial Times listed cryptocurrency alongside such monumental historic events such as Brexit in shaping the financial industry over the last decade, it appears crypto is finally gaining the attention from a broader audience.
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