“There’s No Interest From Big Institutional Investors [For Cryptocurrency] So Far”
The arrival of institutions has long been seen as the cryptocurrency industry’s holy grail, so to speak, with investors clamoring for household names to allocate capital, time, and manpower to this nascent asset class. However, the hopes of many were quashed, as one of this industry’s own explained that Wall Street is hesitant to make substantial investments into cryptocurrency-related startups, products, and platforms.
The biggest roadblock to Wall Street behemoths rolling out cryptocurrency businesses may come from their own clients https://t.co/NmAnA6sCnf
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) November 8, 2018
Speaking at Libson’s recent Web Summit 2018, Nikolay Storonsky, managing director of Revolut, explained that interest from “big institutional investors” has waned. Although his comments may have been cast aside by crypto optimists, many have expressed that his insider knowledge holds credence, especially considering the fact that his startup is worth upwards of $1 billion.
Storonsky is the entrepreneur behind Revolut, a London, United Kingdom-based startup aimed at offering a one-stop shop for clients looking for financial services. As it stands, Revolut, presumably short for revolution (of the financial industry), offers peer-to-peer payments (similar to Paypal), a speculative (no depositing or withdrawing) crypto exchange, a pre-paid debit service, and a foreign currency exchange platform.
Discussing his take on the matter on stage, Storonsky reportedly noted:
Unless these big institutional investors and hedge funds move heavily into the crypto world I just don’t think banks will move because they simply try to make money from their clients.
The Revolut executive, likely referencing his insider sources, added that “there is no interest from big institutional investors so far,” in spite of the impending launches of Bakkt, Fidelity Digital Asset Services, and ErisX, all of which were likely created in a bid to attract institutional clients and their capital.
Moreover, Revolut’s managing director somewhat bearish statements come amid preliminary reports that Morgan Stanley is revving its motors to eventually offer Bitcoin (BTC) derivative products, while Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have also apparently expressed interest in similar crypto-centric ventures.
However, it is important to note that it isn’t all doom and gloom, so to speak, as Storonsky explained that the crypto market’s prospects will improve as 2019 arrives. But, staying in line with his previous comments, concluded his comments on the matter by noting that fintech will drive the cryptocurrency space, not Wall Street... or at least for the foreseeable future anyway.
Dogecoin Founder Palmer Isn’t Convinced Either
Storonsky’s claims come just days after Jackson Palmer, the creator of the Dogecoin (DOGE) project, issued an insightful op-ed and video regarding “Why ‘the institutionalization of cryptocurrency’ is a paradox.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hVmNv2LcrE
In the anti-institutionalization piece, posted on Diar and his Youtube page, Palmer, an Adobe developer, explained that the establishment of Bakkt, FDAS, a Bitcoin ETF, and similar ventures may undermine the decentralized, anti-governmental, and anti-censorship features that exist on a variety of today’s foremost crypto asset-bearing blockchains.
However, the claims from these two pundits come amid reports that institutions are still throwing wheelbarrows full of capital at this industry. Just recently, Alex Kruger, a well-known cryptocurrency analyst, revealed that approximately $5.9 billion had entered this market this year from the pockets of institutional bigwigs.
Title Image Courtesy of Chris Li on Unsplash
